One Piece: The search for the Ultimate Adventure
by Straw Hats Writer Dan
Summary: A young writer named Daiki joins the Straw Hats to chase his dream: live and write the Ultimate Adventure, the best adventure of all time. Please read and review!
1. Just a normal boy called Dan

**ONE PIECE: THE SEARCH FOR THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE**

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**1** – Books and pirates! The story of a boy called Dan

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Loguetown, 22 years ago. Wealth, fame and power. A man conquered everything this world had to offer. Pirate King, Gold Roger, who would come to be publicly executed. His last words inspired millions of citizens to go explore the sea and search for adventures… Search for his greatest treasure.

"My treasures? If you want them, they're up for grabs now. Go get'em! I left there everything I had!"

Well, I wasn't there to witness this great moment since it happened a few years before my parents even thought about conceiving me. Or even married each other, for that matter. But I do know about it because that was the first thing I was ever told about the world of pirates.

Brush Island, East Blue.

This is my homeland. It's a somewhat large island that, seen from above, resembles a brush, hence its name. Brush has both flat and mountainous terrain, with the great majority of villages and populated areas located at the flatter regions, close to sea level. There's a larger city which connects all those villages, called Stylo, and that's where I live.

Brush is a generally peaceful island, but every once in a while, it comes through rough times. The climate's mostly sunny over the year, if you take away the three-month rainy and cold season. Because of the constant sunlight and the high temperatures, most of the town's houses are painted white. I live in the "line" that separates the downtown from the city's outskirts.

My name is Daiki, but that's enough of a weird name for me to like being called by a nickname, Dan.

It's simpler, right?

18 years old, living with my parents. Actually, it's just me and my mother, since my father passed away a few years ago.

"Daiki, dear! Are you done yet? Come down already!"

"No, I'm stuck! Just one last sentence!" I said as I gripped my pencil tightly in my hand and tried to come up with an appropriate ending to yet another of my one-shots.

"Please hurry! I need your help for the house chores and you know it!"

"Be patient! I'm coming!"

This voice is from my mother Karen. She's a well-known mystery novelist in the island. People usually joke she put an entire library beside my cradle right after conceiving me, so I could read them in my formative years. Truth is she's the one who taught me all about writing. What's ironic is that now she complains about the time I spend on it…

It can't be helped. She's my mother after all.

Throughout the years, I turned into sort of a writing maniac. I'm just not in a good mood until I work in a story well enough to like it. Since me liking my own stories doesn't happen much often, I tend to write and rewrite them indefinitely until Mom bursts through the door, decides I spent too much time not helping with the house duties and drags me down to the kitchen.

Thus, bickering ensues.

"Daiki! Come down now!" Yeah, better stop now. She's getting angry. Trust me, you DO NOT want to see her angry.

"Oh, man…" I sighed. "Coming!"

I went downstairs to the laundry area where Mom washed some clothes. She's always dressed in her apron, hair pulled back in a ponytail most of the time.

She's at times strict with me, but, that's because she wants me to be a good person. Like every mother in the world. She'd give her life for my sake, but I'm never letting her do that.

"Daiki, my dear!" She called. "You're spending too much of your day in your room!"

"I'm practicing, mom." I replied. "Don't you always tell me to do that?"

"Yes, but you should get out more often as well. There's a whole world out there to give you inspiration. So, what are you writing this time?"

Yes, I said she'd protect me for as long as she could, but she wants me to fend for my own ass too. Keep a sharp mind and sharp body for the future or stuff like that.

"It's a little drabble about the adventures of a group of explorers searching for the greatest treasures of the world!" I said, stars in my eyes.

"Oh, there you go. That's all you write about, don't you?" She said, somewhat indifferently. "How about this: don't just draw from your imagination to write your stories. Why don't you go have some real adventures of your own?"

"Wha?" That's what I mean with 'fend for my own ass'. Or at least learn to. "Here we go again…"

"You're eighteen already." She insisted. "It's time for you to think about starting your own life. Find a goal of your own and act on it. Your father had a goal. He wanted to travel the world. Even if he was a pirate-"

"If you're going to talk about that again, why don't you shut up?!" I cut her word, only to freeze immediately at what I just said. "Sorry… I… I just…" Whenever I hear the word 'pirate', I have this knee-jerk reaction to shout angrily. Believe me, this is not the first time it happens.

"Father…"

Yeah, my father was a pirate. His name was Jahn Richards. Even though he isn't here anymore, he's still my hero. I catch myself every once in a while recalling all the stories of adventures he told me when I was little.

"Don't you remember the joy of your childhood? All the times you were happy whenever my dear told you some of his wacky stories?" She said.

"Yeah, I do, but…" I replied, meekly.

The day a group of pirates invited him to become their comrade and leave us is always on my mind. I always wondered why a married man would leave his son and wife to go travel around the world…

"Goodbye, sweetheart… goodbye, little Dan." I said, mimicking what he probably said at that time.

It's probably unwise for a man with a family to just leave it for a big trip, knowing full well he might never get back, but all it took him to convince me was a promise…

_"I will be back. Be sure of it."_

I was five when he left us. I loved him even though I didn't know much about anything.

"Explore the world, huh…" I whispered, lost in my recollections.

Dangerous enemies, mysterious islands, desperate situations, he went through it all. He never abandoned the smile in his face. He was always more than happy to tell me about his adventures. He'd also leave a lesson I take with me ever since:

_"Friendship is the key to success. If you have friends on your side, the impossible will be nothing."_

"Hm? No! No, no, no! It's different with me! I don't want to become a pirate!" I caught myself, quickly shaking my head left and right to shrug off all the thoughts running on my head.

"Quit lying to yourself, son…"

"What?"

"No, nothing!" She waved it off. "Ah, please, could you go shopping? We're short on food. Here, the grocery list and some money. Use it wisely, ok?" She said, gently shoving me to the door.

I glanced at the list and sighed before I left my home to take a walk around the city. Shopping… I could use that to get some air and put my mind at rest.

Sometimes it's just boring to walk all by myself, but this time it wasn't.

In my way to the market, I heard a lonely, loud shout overcoming the noisy avenue, right before much louder noises came from a nearby restaurant. A few people burst through the doors, running away and screaming.

"Wait, wait, please!" I stopped one of the fleeing customers. He panted and seemed to be terrified. "What's happening in there?"

"Pirates!" He screamed, still breathing hard and trying to calm himself. "Pirates are… pirates wreaking havoc! They just barged in to take the money and tear the whole place down!"

"What? Why?"

"I don't know but… if I were you, I'd run as far away from them as possible!"

"Please do it." I said, looking forward. "I want to check this out."

"Don't do it! They're dangerous!"

"Sorry, gentleman, but… whenever I hear the word 'pirate'…" I said, clenching my right fist and looking ahead. "I just have this itch to beat them to a pulp…"

The man didn't reply, somewhat taken aback. He then probably said mentally 'screw it, I'm outta here' and left.

"Good luck!" He still shouted, a few feet away.

I slowly walked closer to the entrance to stand right beside the door and eavesdrop on the action inside. Aside from the loud crashing noises that occasionally came out of the restaurant, the supposed pirates spouted threats after threats.

"That goes to show you all! No one who messes with Captain Slayer's crew will be alive to tell the tale!" One of them, very burly-sounding, bellowed.

"Today, we're taking over this restaurant… tomorrow, the whole island!" Another one, just as loud and melodramatic.

What? They intend to take Brush over?

Yes. It doesn't happen all that often, but it happens. Every once in a blue moon a hostile pirate crew comes to the island just to turn it right the hell upside down and pillage whatever they can find. Most of the time, the people gather together and overpower any assailants by their sheer numbers and determination, but in that blue moon, the invading pirates are too powerful for them to take on…

Since that whole large-scale raid and setting-the-island-on-fire incident, each and every citizen raised his/her awareness about the homeland, but more on that later, when it's appropriate…

Because now…

"Haha! Just wait, we're coming back for more!"

"Not on my watch."

…now's the time to kick ass!

"Huh?"

Three in total.

As soon as they walked out of the restaurant to the quickly-emptied avenue, carrying rather large bags of… whatever it was they were stealing, I managed to turn their eyes to myself.

"Huh, just a boy? What, wanna play with us?" It turned out that the burly-sounding guy was indeed burly. Dressed just like a pirate mook, with a bandanna, plain t-shirt and simple shorts.

"As long as you're pirates, I have plenty of reasons to play with you." I said, trying my best to stand my ground.

"Hoh… looks like we've got ourselves a cheeky bastard to deal with, right, Butcher?" Standing right beside the burly guy, there was a thin, blonde-haired guy, who carried a dagger in his waist and smirked at his partner-in-crime.

"I love how these people don't know their place… just pathetic." Another one spoke up, cleaning his nails on his black t-shirt. He also had an oversized knife on his waist.

"Now, I distinctly remember you saying something about taking over this island, is that right?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Wha… H-how do you know?!" The burly man shouted.

Wait, they were trying to hide it? Not very smart…

"Y'know, if you were trying to be secretive about it, announcing your plans to a restaurant full of people doesn't help your cause." I said, cracking my knuckles.

"Grr… enough talk!" The blonde guy yelled. "It doesn't matter whether you know or not! You will be powerless when Captain Slayer gets here! We're going to take over this island and set it up as our base!"

"And now that you know this precious little snippet of information…" The pale guy in the black t-shirt stepped forward, already unsheathing his knife. "…we have no choice but to silence you."

"Anytime you want."

I clenched my fists, standing upright in preparation. The three dropped their bags in the ground and rushed through the street with their weapons out, screaming.

"Finally…"

I would talk more to myself, but they jumped at me all at once, thrusting their knives forward. I knew better than to just try and face them head on.

I rolled under them in that small gap they left when they were in mid-air, standing back up as they stopped and turned their eyes back to me.

Not missing a beat, the burly man stepped forward and brought his fist back before he landed a punch in the roomful of air where I was right before I dodged out of the way. Surprisingly fast for a man with his build, he kept swinging his arms at me and leaving me no choice but to keep dodging and swerving.

Somehow he increased the speed of his punches and landed a few in my chest and face. I flew a few feet backwards and fell on the ground.

"Ouch, that hurt…" I said, slowly getting back up. "I must've gotten rusty…"

"That's all you can do, kid? Haha, you're all talk!"

"Don't worry, big man, I'm not even started!"

I stood up again, immediately being greeted with a fist to my face.

"Hahah, one more in the jaw! You're too… huh?"

"Sorry, pal. Close, but no dice."

This time, I stopped his oversized hand with my own, ready to take his opening and show him the result of my years of training.

"This is how you punch!"

Clenching my fist as hard as I could, I landed a sock right in his belly, sending him a few steps back. Since he looked likely to withstand that single punch, it was the code for me to hit a stride. Two steps forward and I jumped to land a kick in his chest, got back to the ground and crouched prior to jumping again and kicking him in the jaw.

"Bastard!"

The two knife fighters came down on me, swinging their weapons left and right. As one of them swiped, I evaded the knife and punched him right in the stomach, quickly moving out of the way as the pale guy tried his luck but missed, giving me a chance to grab his arm.

"Don't run around with pointy stuff."

"You…"

I twisted his arm and slammed him full force on the ground.

"Stamp Stomp!"

Just to be sure, I stomped his chest.

One down, two to go.

"I'd better dispose of you quickly… I have some shopping to do."

I sprinted down the avenue, determined not to give them any leeway. I surprised the already-staggering blonde guy, disarming him with a punch to the face followed by a knee to the gut. The burly guy was back on his feet, however, quickly landing a punch on my face in return. It hurt like a bitch, but I was well enough to keep going.

"Damn… Mom's gonna beat me up if I get back home with a broken nose…" I said, tending said nose.

"Whazzup, momma boy? Gonna cry now?" The burly guy taunted.

"No, me make _you_ cry now."

He charged again, bringing a fist forward, but I dodged it and landed a punch in his gut.

"I can't deal with you lot all the time. Leave us alone!"

Another two punches in his belly and, to finish…

"Conclusion!"

A jump and a boot to the head and the last of the trio is down.

Cleaning my hands and brushing off the dust in my clothes, I walked to the large bag they were going to steal and took it back to the restaurant. As I made my way there, a man who I think is the owner ran to me.

"Wha-wha-what happened out here? Where are those thieves?" He asked, panicking.

"Over there, sir." I pointed to their lifeless bodies on the street. "Want me to dispose of them?"

"Yes, please…" It then dawned on him. "Wait, you dealt with them? How?!"

"Why, violence-based negotiation, of course. Here's a bag. Is it yours?" I asked, putting the bag down.

"Yes, it's the food and money they looted… or tried to… I don't know how to thank you for…" He said, at loss for words.

"Don't mention it. Anyway, I'll take these three far away before they wake up and spread the news. I don't know how or why, but they want to take our island to themselves."

"Oh no… not again…" The owner grimaced.

"I know. I won't let it happen."

I said, walking away, waving an arm to the restaurant owner, and dragging the unconscious trio to a safe place.

"Your father said the same thing before he died! You should run away!"

"Yeah, maybe I should!" I stopped, turning my head to him. "But then, we'd all be dead."

I then went on my way, tending to the pain in my jaw and nose. Oh boy, Mom's going to lay a good verbal smackdown on me again…

…

"You got into a fight?! _Again_?! I can't believe it!"

See? Verbal smackdown.

"Uh… yes?"

She sighed, palming her face. "Come on, where did you get hurt? Did you break something? What did you do now, huh?"

As soon as I arrived home with the groceries, she dragged me to the sofa to check my wounds. Just a few scrapes and an aching jaw and nose. Nothing broken, it seems.

"Nothing, just beat up some pirate thugs trying to rob a restaurant."

"Ugh… is that chronic hero syndrome of yours acting up again?" She said, giving me _that_ look. The condescending look that would make any child shrink into a corner and admit their mistakes.

"Hero syndrome? Mom, they tried to rob a restaurant! You think I'd let them have their way? Not in a million years!"

"I know…" She said, in a calmer tone. "I know you want to protect our home, but that's just like me or any other person living here. Don't take all the responsibility to yourself. When push comes to shove, the people get together, as it always happened. We can fend for ourselves just fine."

"Always, except for that damn one time!"

She remained silent.

"Everyone was powerless to stop them, even Dad!" I said, standing up and turning away from her, facing the door. "He trained me for a reason. He left me his treasure for a reason! So that if anyone tried to invade, I'd kick them out just like he did!"

"You can't do much alone, son." She said and paused. "I'm going to bring the bandages."

She walked out.

As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. I may be strong, but I'm just one guy.

The Marines do come to help whenever the people don't succeed in driving off the pirates by themselves, but they usually take too long to get here, since there's no Marine base set up and no future plans to set one up… it seems they just forget about us when we don't call.

Which immediately brings me back to that large-scale raid. We did send the emergency call, but when the Marines arrived, it was more to assess the damage, treat the wounded and bury the dead. Too late to watch the pirates run wild through the town, loot everything they could before they set it ablaze…

Dad went to confront their leader and fight back as many of them as he could but… he was killed. No matter how strong he was, he was just one guy.

I lived my life up to that point hoping one day I could be a cool pirate just like he was and travel the world just like he did, but that single incident showed me the harsh reality. Showed me how cruel and unforgiving pirates can be. I ultimately decided I wanted no part of it.

Problem is: Dad's adventures instilled a desire in me. A desire I tried to suppress, but that is still there. The desire I have to gather enough courage and go on a great journey around the world. Gold Roger's death instilled that same desire in many a person, awakening their dreams with the promise of romance, adventure and the greatest treasure of the world, the One Piece.

Mom knows more than what she lets on. She's been pushing me forward since the day I told her my goal, when I was little. It's pretty grand and vague coming out of a child's mouth.

I want to write something I call the Ultimate Adventure. The best and most exciting adventure of all time.

However, I don't want to write it just with my imagination, but with real life experience. Meet real hardships and troubles, make friends, make enemies, meet different people and different places, have a look at what the world has to offer… in short, be a cool adventurer and tell people about it.

Thus, I live every day with these conflicting thoughts at the back of my mind.

We better get back to earth now… I drifted off way too far. Sorry, I tend to wander into the recesses of my mind when there's nothing to do to keep it busy…

I sighed before lying on my back at the sofa in the living room. Mom's sure taking her time with the bandages…

"Huh?"

Just then, I noticed a little face hiding behind the front door. I sat back up to look back at him (or her) but the boy (or girl) disappeared and ran away. I humphed, dismissing it. The kids sometimes peek at our houses and do that knock-and-run prank. You know, at the thirtieth or so time, you tend to stop caring about it altogether, but Mom always threatens them with her wooden spoon whenever she catches the little pranksters. Or a leek onion. One or the other, it always winds up in their butt.

Uh, what was I talking about?

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**********Hmmm... it seems that danger's already around and much earlier than expected! Will the visitors be pirates after all? Anyway, it's gonna be a very special visit for our young writer! Just wait... Chapter 2 is waiting for you! Don't miss it!**


	2. Pirates are coming! Who are they?

**2** - A pirate ship arrives! Also, an unexpected request!

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Another day at Brush.

Not quite as peaceful since the citizens of Stylo kept in contact with each other, in permanent watch for a pirate attack. Other than that, life went on just as it does in the other days.

Which means… here am I, confined to doing the house chores again. To this day I wonder what went through Mom's head to buy a two-story house for only three people… or two, since my Dad's gone. Wait, she didn't buy it, my grandma did. They lived here together and when she passed away, before I was born, Mom promised her she'd take care of the house and repeat the tradition when her time comes as well. Guess I'm next in line then…

Anyway, I was sent out in another mission: to buy a broom.

Apparently she kept sweeping the floor so hard with the previous broom, it split in half and she had to throw it away. Mom doesn't let a single speck of dust uncleaned. She's so aggressive with the broom and mop she asks me to evacuate the house before every full cleanup. And that's once a month.

All those thoughts crossed my mind on a peaceful walk to the once again bustling downtown. To my chagrin, however, the walk stopped being peaceful as soon as I arrived to the streets.

"Catch that thief!"

It all happened in a few seconds. I spotted a little kid running through the people, right before he bumped into me. The offender and I fell to the ground. The kid appeared to be nine or ten years old and dropped some food cans and fruits.

"Hey, wait!" He stood back up and tried to run away, but I stopped him. "Where are you going with such a… wait…"

I stopped on my tracks as soon as I noticed he had the same face of the person that hid behind my front door yesterday.

"You are…"

"I… I…"

"Calm down, I won't-"

"There! It's the little thief!" A voice shouted not too far away.

Right before people arrived to surround both of us, the boy released his arm from my grasp and fled from the scene, not caring about what he stole. Cries of 'that damn kid' and people thanking me for recovering the stolen items coursed through the small crowd.

"Umm… sorry? Thank you? I don't know! What's going on?!"

"Aah, dang! Why'd you let him escape?" One of the citizens asked.

"He's just a kid, don't gang up on him like that. Who's that boy, anyway?" I asked, standing back up.

"He?" The gentleman replied, as the crowd dispersed. "Ah, he's a brat who keeps stealing things everywhere. Bags, fruits, anything that catches his eye, he'll try to snatch."

"Why does he do that?" I asked.

"Dunno." He said. "Honestly, doesn't that boy have parents to teach him stealing is wrong?"

"Maybe… maybe not…" I answered, looking far away at the still running boy.

Why do I keep meeting him? What if he really doesn't have parents to take care of him?

"Nah… forget about it." I erased the thought.

Getting back home with the brand new broom, I handed it over to Mom and went out again. I wonder if she's happy with me going out more often now…

I strolled around the city again, this time passing through it to go to the beach. Imagine my surprise when I find the boy sitting in the sand and watching the sunset.

"Um… hey!"

He turned his head around and saw me, getting a bit startled and turning his head back again. Still a bit uneasy, I decided to get closer.

"I just want to talk to you! Can I?"

I thought he would think I was lying and run away again, but not this time. He just sat there and said nothing, so I walked close and sat right beside him.

"So, um… what are you doing here?"

"Nothing." He said flatly. Apparently he wasn't in the mood to talk. I didn't want my presence to bother him, so I tried to be as friendly as possible.

"Umm… I know you might not be comfortable with a stranger asking you this, but… why do you keep stealing things from people?" I asked.

"I have nothing and nobody wants me. That's why. Everyone's mean to me!" He replied, ranting.

"Umm… don't you think that's because you're the one being mean to them?" I asked.

He didn't reply.

"Look, stealing is wrong and you should know that." I said. "Don't you have parents… or family?"

"No." He replied quicker than I thought. "I never had. I was born alone."

"Come on, you wouldn't be born if you had no-"

"They died already!" He screamed. "I wandered my whole life by myself and nobody wanted to take care of me or be friends with me!"

That's a surprising argument coming out of a ten-year-old…

"People always shove me aside and tell me to go back to my family. They don't even realize I don't have one! So, that's my answer. They're mean to me, I'm mean to them!"

"Am I being mean to you now?"

"You're… huh?"

"I said… am I being mean to you right now?"

"No, but…" He stuttered and lowered his head, trying to come up with an appropriate response, ultimately failing to do so.

"Look, wanna come spend the night at my home?"

"What?" He raised his head again.

"We have a warm bed and plenty of food. I'm sure Mom would love to meet you." I said, trying to cheer him up.

"Really? You mean it?" His eyes widened, and he tried to sketch a smile.

"A-yup. Isn't it better than sleeping here, lonely and sad?" I said, crouching and looking him in the eye. "Since all you want is someone by your side… can I at least be your friend?"

He didn't need words to express his happiness. He couldn't find them anyway.

…

Back at home, he lived the first night of what I hope is the rest of a happier life. Since Mom wanted to give birth and raise a second child, she was more than glad to "adopt" him. At least for the night.

She then cooked us a meal, the first the little boy didn't have to steal from anybody. He enjoyed it so much, he was on the verge of tears.

"You can cry as much as you want now… you have a shoulder to lean on." I said, pushing him close to me.

We filled our bellies, got to know each other for a while, tired out and went to the upper floor to sleep. We didn't have clothes his size, so I borrowed him a shirt of my pajamas for the night, settling that tomorrow we'd go buy him some nice new ones.

"Thank you for taking me in…" He said as he laid on the hammock I set up for him.

"You're welcome. I'm sure even if I hadn't done that, someone would've eventually done it. This world isn't all bad people after all!" I smiled.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Whoops, totally forgot! I'm Daiki, but you can call me Dan. And you?"

"I…" He started. "I don't have a name. Nobody came up with a name for me…"

"Really? So, gotta think of a fitting name for you… Let me see…" I thought for a little while and… "Got it! Kenny! How 'bout that?"

He gave me a weird look. "Kenny? That's weird!"

"It's a name you'll carry for your entire life. If you don't like it, speak now or forever hold your peace." I said.

"I like it, big bro Dan!"

I froze for a moment there. I never, even once in my life, thought of having a little brother to take care of… partly because I suck when it comes to kids. However, our life's made of moments like this.

I gave little Kenny a good night and we slept waiting for a day full of fun.

…

…

…

The morning sun greeted us. Kenny and I woke up, did what people do in the morning: have breakfast, brush our teeth and get ready. We then left home to walk around the town.

"Today we're going for a little walk around town! I want you to have fun, lil' Kenny!"

"Ok!" He agreed. "Let's go!"

Unfortunately, the island bell's ringing cancelled our walk. Located at the top of a very high hill, it stays active throughout all day, ringing every time there's a ship coming. The only catch is that it doesn't tell whether the incoming ship is friendly or hostile…

"The island bell…" Kenny said, as the bell kept ringing.

"Damn… just as I was ready to… wait…"

As soon as I saw the people start to scramble in the streets, some of them hiding, some of them making preparations, it dawned on me.

"Waitwaitwait! Damn, I completely forgot!"

The thugs of yesterday talked about their captain coming here… you mean, is this it? Is it him coming?!

"Kenny, we're doing our walk later. Big bro's gotta take care of some stuff right now."

"What? Why? What's happening?" He asked, confused.

"I heard about a threat of pirate attack yesterday. They might be coming now, so I have to check out. Please hide with Mom, ok?"

"Why do you have to go?" He asked. "Can I tag along?"

"NO! Absolutely not!" I firmly denied. "Things are likely to get ugly and I don't want you to get hurt. I will protect this island, even if it takes my life!"

"Don't say such horrible things!" Kenny said.

"You're going again, son?" Mom said, worried above anything else.

"I have to go. You heard the bell, right?" I said. "If those pirates are really coming, I have to deal with them!"

She cringed. "I told you, don't go there all by yourself! The townspeople are preparing as well. Talk to them!" Mom said. She always says something like this when the situation arises. I heard her words but I couldn't reply as I hurried to my room to get my weapon.

I always forget to walk with it in my hands or close to me and that might come back to bite me later. Danger doesn't have a schedule. Weapon in hand, I sprinted downstairs. Just before I walked out the door, I stopped as I felt a hand grab me. And then two. I turned around to see Mom and Kenny holding me back.

"Please be careful, son." She said. "Please let this be a false alarm… I don't want to lose you!"

"You're not alone anymore. Kenny's here now, isn't he?" I said as I caressed his head.

"That doesn't help. I want you here, alive with him!" She said.

"Big bro, be careful!" He said.

"Don't worry. I won't lose." I said, holding my weapon. "Be sure of it!"

With those words, I mustered up my confidence and left my home, heading towards the beach to meet the mysterious ship. I left the city, running through the roads with only one thought in my head.

"I will protect the island… with all my might!" I whispered.

"Daiki-kun! Where are you going?"

"Higgins-san!" I said, walking to him. Once a battle-worn adventurer, he settled down as clerk of a store near our home. His mind and skills are still razor-sharp, though. "Why, meet the pirates, of course! So, what does their ship look like?"

"Looks like a small model. Not very threatening, but we can never be sure." He replied.

"Alright, I'm going to meet them." I said.

"Don't take any risks, Daiki-kun. As soon as it spells trouble for you, get back. I have a few folks in standby in case things get ugly."

"Thanks, Higgins-san."

"Be safe out there!" He called as I sprinted away.

One thing that attack taught us was to get closer together and fight for our own safety.

I arrived at the beach sooner than I expected. I decided to hide behind a rock so I could spy the movements of the forthcoming ship.

"What do we have here…" I talked to myself.

Indeed, the approaching ship wasn't all that huge. It looked like a caravel-class ship with a sheep for a figurehead. A boy with a hat sat on it. My fears came to reality as the ship came closer. The black flag with the skull confirms it.

It IS a pirate ship!

The ship finally lowered anchor and it didn't take long for them to hop off and walk towards the forest.

The first was a man wearing a white shirt, black pants and boots, a sash around his belly, a bandanna tied to his arm and, his most distinguishing feature: the three swords on his waist.

Also, his green hair.

Beside him walked a young guy dressed in a sleeveless shirt under a brown mechanic's jumpsuit and carrying a satchel. What stood out most about him was his long nose.

The third was an orange-haired girl dressed in simple clothes. I have to admit she's cute. I'm quite shy with women, but that's straying from the matter at hand.

Last, that boy with the hat, dressed in blue boardshorts, a sleeveless red jacket and a yellow straw hat with a red ribbon around the crown.

All in all, they don't seem to be all that threatening. But again, looks can be deceiving.

"Stop right there!" I jumped out of the rocks. "Where are you going?"

They stopped on their tracks, giving no answer.

"Huh? I asked a question!"

"Wow, calm down! We're just here to… uh, collect supplies to get on with our trip…" The girl tripped on her own words.

"Huh, like I'd fall for that." I brushed off. "You're here to pillage! That's what all pirates do!"

"No, Iike I said, we're here to-"

"No excuses!"

Then, I drew out my weapon.

My father's heritage…

…A pencil.

Ok, it _does_ sound ridiculous, but this is NOT your common pencil.

"Hahahahaha! What can you do with a pencil? What a joke!" The boy with a long nose laughed as well.

Don't believe me? I'll show you.

風 "Gust!"

The laughter stopped as soon as I summoned a burst of forceful wind. It was way stronger than I intended it to be, though…

"Damn… I'm going overboard again…"

The gust kicked up a huge curtain of sand, blocking my vision. I coughed and tried to keep my focus and control the attack. I have to scare these idiots out of here!

針"Needles!"

As the dust settled down and my vision cleared, I pulled a sheet of paper out of my pocket and summoned a rain of needles at them. The group retreated a few steps with the longnosed boy hiding behind the hat boy again.

"I won't let pirates attack my village again!"

I outstretched my arm, channeling my energy to the pencil.

Soon…

"Enpitsu… Yari!" (Pencil Spear)

With a strong invocation and a bright blue glow, my pencil turned into a long spear with a straight blade. With a battle cry, I sprinted and swung down my lance on them, but the swordsman quickly drew out two of his swords and stopped my charge.

"What an unusual weapon…" he muttered.

"You never saw a pencil do this much damage!" I muttered back.

We then exchanged blows, with me attacking and the swordsman in the defensive. He swerved out of the way of my lance, defending from my attacks with apparent ease.

"Come on, let us through, please!" The girl explained. "We're just here to get some food, that's all there is to it!"

"Focus!"

The swordsman called my attention before he launched a quick flurry of slashes I struggled to avoid. The constant dodging opened the way for the swordsman to disarm me with such force my spear was thrown backwards and I fell on my butt. I winced and sweated hard as I saw his sharp sword a few inches from my face. His expression frightened me more than I ever felt in a long while.

I thought about standing up, but with a sharp sword this close to my face, there wasn't much I could do without him slashing me. I thought this was it, but he sheathed his sword back and the others glared at me as I stood back up.

"What a cool weapon you have, man!" said the guy with the straw hat.

"Umm… sorry… We're used to expect people reacting like this. We're pirates, after all." Said the girl.

I just spared a glance at them, grabbed my lance and turned it back into a pencil.

"Wow!" The straw boy cheerfully shouted.

I breathed out and recovered. "So what were you talking about?"

"Um… we just stopped here to get supplies, er…" The girl meekly said.

"I'll escort you to town. But. Try any of your funny stuff with me or anyone else and I'll be more than happy to kick you all out. Are we clear?!" I raised my voice.

"Ok! Ok! You don't need to threaten us!" The longnosed guy replied, flailing his arms around.

I guided them back to our town, always keeping an eye on their movements… and being bugged by that straw hat guy walking uncomfortably close to me and staring non-stop at my pencil.

"What's up? Have you never seen a pencil in your life?" I asked, gruffly.

"Not like this one! It's so mysterious! What else does it do?" He asked, still annoyingly cheery.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, annoyed.

"Because this pencil is so~~~~ coo~~~~~~l!" His eyes were shining so brightly, it creeped me out, despite my best efforts to ignore him.

After a few silent moments, the girl broke the ice. "You don't like pirates?"

"No, I don't. So?"

"Yeah, it's normal. I'm yet to trust this deal myself…"

"Hey!" The straw hat boy reacted.

"Hmpf." I scoffed. "How ironic… Hi pot, I'm the kettle. You're black."

"I have my reasons." She said.

We arrived at the town. Some people stopped to watch as I walked out of the forest with them. I then told the whole deal to Mr. Higgins before I guided the pirates to the market. He would relay the information to the people while I kept a watchful eye on them as they went on shopping.

"There. We have our supplies now. Happy?" The girl said, right as we left the market.

"Yes, now leave."

"Stop implying we're murderers, ok? We DON'T do that." I tried to trust her really hard, I really did, but it just didn't click. "You can escort us back to the ship if you don't believe me. We won't touch anyone, ok?"

Since she was so insistent on breaking my frown, I decided to relent for a while.

"Come on, let's chat a little. What's your name?" She asked.

"Before you ask somebody's name, you should introduce yourself first." I replied.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. My name is Nami. And you?"

"Daiki."

"Daiki… what a weird name…"

During the walk, I relaxed a bit and asked them a few things.

"What are pirates like you planning to do? Where are you going after you leave?"

"Us?" The hat boy parroted. "We want to sail all the way to the fabled Grand Line! But I still need to get more people to join me… I gotta have a musician onboard!"

You're kidding, right… the Grand Line?

"A musician? For what?"

"To sing journey songs!" He said, happily as ever. "Pirates like singing!"

Nami sighed. "Talk about that after we get a cook! By the way, do you cook?"

"Not much. I'm a better writer than a cook. Wait, why are you asking me that?"

"We badly need a cook right now…" She said.

"Umm… ok. So what?"

A long, awkward pause ensued, until…

"Wanna join us?"

The hat boy's question stopped me cold. I turned around and stared at them for a few seconds.

"What?"

"Yeah! I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who's going to become King of Pirates!" The hat boy declared proudly. A pause and he then pointed his finger at me. "And… I want you to become my comrade!"

Again… what?

Did I hear that? A pirate? Me? It's so sudden I have no choice but to laugh it off.

"Ha… haha… ahahahahahahahah! What?! King of Pirates? You can't be serious. I never heard so much bullshit strung together at the same time! Get real! No offense, but I want no part in your stuff!"

_"Quit lying to yourself…"_

Mom's words and an image of my father played out in my mind.

As my laughs waned away, I stared at them for a few moments. "Sorry about that. Ok, seriously now. You're really talking about becoming King of Pirates? As if that's easily achievable!"

"I don't want it to be easy!" The boy named Luffy stated firmly. "I want to be King of Pirates by the most exciting ways there are!"

Ok. I'll process that sentence later. Moving on…

"Also, why on earth would you possibly want me as your comrade?" I asked. "Some random guy you met five minutes ago?"

"It's because you have a cool pencil… you've got some nice skills… and because you're a writer!" He reasoned.

"Me? Yeah. So? How's a writer of any use in a pirate ship?"

"You can write about the stuff we do!" He said. "Hey, I have an idea! You can write down all our adventures from now on until the day I become King of Pirates! How about that?"

His idea stunned me for a moment.

"Yeah… I like the sound of that!" The long nosed boy spoke up. "Come aboard! You can record our great adventures and eternize our name forever and ever! That way, the people of the future can know all about the great feats of Captain Usopp!"

"Hey, I'm the captain!"

Just when both of them started to argue right there about something or other, I unwittingly began to look at a random point in the horizon and think about their offer. After a few moments, I caught myself and stepped in.

"A-a-anyway, thanks for the invitation. I'm not joining you."

"Why?"

"Because you're pirates… and that's pretty much all there is to it." I lowered my head and closed my eyes. "I had a tragic experience with pirates."

"Tragic?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, and I don't tend to talk about it to strangers. Come on, you're walking back to your ship, right? Go ahead and leave, please."

"We're not leaving." The swordsman said.

"What?"

"Well, this guy decided to add you to our group, so, he won't stop pestering you until you accept it." He pointed to the smiling Luffy.

"You can't be serious. I really don't want to-"

"It happened with us."

"Huh?!"

"Yeah! Come with us!" Luffy said. "It's going to be fun!"

This can't be happening. A group of people who I had never seen before, and I thought were hostile, want me to join them, completely out of the blue?

I was frozen right there, before the straw hat boy's ear-to-ear smile.

"A… uh…" I wanted to say no, but it just wouldn't come out. "A… at least let me think about it!"

I hightailed back home. My head began to ache with the conflict in my mind.

…

"Son, what happened? You were taking too long, I was about to leave and search for you." Mom asked as soon as I burst through the front door.

"It's nothing… I'm fine." I tried to wave it off.

"No, you're not." She insisted, easily seeing through my front. "There's something bothering you."

"What about that ship?" I expected Mom to ask that question, not Kenny…

"It was a pirate ship."

"Ugh…" She groused. "How'd it turn out? You're not bruised or anything… did they do anything to you?"

"No, they didn't." I comforted her. "I walked them to the market so they could get some supplies and leave. Also…"

Once I told it…

"THEY WANT YOU AS THEIR COMRADE?!" My mom jumped out of her chair, in a mix of concern and surprise.

"Yeah. I don't know what to say…" I said, scratching my head.

"How about taking the chance?" She said, overeagerly.

"What?!" I seethed. "Are you telling me to leave? With pirates I've only met an hour ago?! No, scratch that, with _pirates_, period?"

"This is what you wanted, right? You want to pursue your dream, don't you?"

"No, I… why are you even saying that?!" I asked. "If I go, I might die, you know? You knew that when Dad did the same thing, yet you encouraged him to go for it and look how it turned out!"

"Then make sure you get back!"

Her terse response stopped me cold.

"He did get back, didn't he? Your dad died when he was done being a pirate." She said, holding my hand. "Also, think about it. Not every pirate is out there for blood and money. Your father was an example of that. He met people just like him, people who raised the Jolly Roger just for the thrill of the adventure! Hold on to that belief and go live your Ultimate Adventure! Go see the world out there!"

Those words defeated any reply I could have.

However, our talk was interrupted when the lighthouse bell rang again. This time, together with gunfire and explosions, which prompted me to leave again.

Oh God, is it that Slayer's crew? Or was it merely those four revealing themselves? Well, whatever it is, the island's under attack!

"O~~I! Daiki~~~i!" Luffy called me as he spotted me leaving the forest. The four then hopped off the ship. "You're he~~re!"

Wait, they remained in their ship the whole time? So, not them, huh… which means… Those thugs called their captain!

"Ya joinin' us yet?" Luffy asked.

"Stop asking that." I said, sparing a glance at him. "Don't you see the island's about to be attacked?"

"Yeah, I see it. Want help?" Luffy grinned.

"What?"

"You aren't going to take on that ship alone, are you?" Luffy said, cracking his knuckles. "Well, I'll lend you a hand. Comrades help each other, don't they?"

I sweatdropped. "Huh. Stand back, this is my problem to―Hey, I'm not your comrade!"

"Give up already." The swordsman said, clutching one of his swords. "He doesn't take 'no' for an answer. We're helping you, but in return… you have to help this guy become King of Pirates."

"Guys, we don't have time to talk about that!" The long nosed boy pointed to the galleon.

That's it. They've managed to drive me into a corner. A corner I actually wanted to be driven to, as much as I hated to admit it.

"Thanks for the help." I sighed, drawing out my pencil. "But can you let me decide _after_ we're done with this?"

"Hmmm…" Luffy pouted. "Ok!" Then he smiled.

Here I am, forced by the circumstances to work together with pirates against other pirates. There's no other choice! Let's do it!

* * *

**Dan: "I can't believe it... two pirate ships in such a short time!"**

**This time the pirates arriving at Dan's homeland aren't that nice after all, already showing their fangs! What will Dan do? How he is going to defend his home? What will be his attitude towards those following the one who claims will be the next Pirate King? Will Dan join them in their quest? Find it all out on Chapter 3! I'm waiting for you!**


	3. The second wave's even more dangerous!

**3** - Clash! Captain Slayer's Pirates vs Straw Hat Pirates!

* * *

As the ship approached shore, tension built up with their every shot. It was only a warning of their arrival, and a sign that they will do a lot worse if they manage to go through us.

"Get ready, Dan… Just one more threat to deal with." I whispered to myself.

At last, the ship landed. It was many times greater than the one of those four. It took a few moments for anyone to hop off. A single person led the way for a small troop to step on the sand. They appeared to be the 'foot soldiers' (if you can call them that, they're pirates) since they wore simple attire, some of them wearing bandannas on their heads. Every single one carried a weapon… and the urge to invade. Units hopped off and then later, they landed by the dozens. The captain then walked to the front of the ship.

"This island will be ours! Atta~~~ck!" The leader sent the order from there, pointing his sword forward.

Under his command, the men rushed forward through the beach!

"You all! Get ready! They're coming right to us!" The swordsman quickly prepared a fighting stance, unsheathing his three swords, and holding one of them in his mouth.

I wonder how he can swing it around…

Nevermind! If it can help me deal with them, the better!

"Ok!"

"Nami! Go hide somewhere!" The swordsman called.

"No need to say twice!" She promptly ran away from the soon-to-be center of the battle.

Meanwhile, Luffy cracked his neck and grinned defiantly. "Alright! Let's get'em!"

"What about the longnose?" I asked.

"Usopp?"

"Get'em guys! I'll back you up from here!" He shouted from behind the rocks.

"No, I'd rather have you here on the front line-"

"Let's go already!" Impatiently, Luffy whined.

Yeah, enough talking. Let's get to the action!

The swordsman, Luffy and I rushed to face the underlings. Gripping my pencil tightly, I focused my thoughts on a spear.

"Enpitsu Yari!" Swiftly, the pencil glowed before it transformed.

"Wow!" Luffy got stars on his eyes again…

"Stop admiring!" I snapped him back to earth.

"It's always time to admire the shiny!" He replied.

"I'll get the ones in this side. Luffy, get the ones in your side! Boy, get those in the middle! Got it?" The swordsman proposed.

"Yeah!"

"Scatter!" I called.

Here starts our clash with the mooks, armed with various weapons, from swords to hammers. I first sprinted past a group of them and turned around to have a quick analysis of my surroundings.

"Ok. Many against me… too many to count…" I skidded to a halt and faced them. "Not many enough to beat me! Let's get this party started!"

I launched myself to the attack. In my sprint, I unleashed a string of slashes here and there, stopping to block the sword strikes of some of them. I spotted a few of them at the corner of my eye, taking the opening to attack from behind right before I spun my leg backwards and kicked them. The weakest of the bunch fell on the ground, but a few of them got back up and faced me again.

"I have to end this now…" I muttered to myself. "Mom says every once in a while… the feather is mightier than the sword!" I decided to turn my lance back into a pencil. "I'm all out of feathers, but a pencil will do!"

雷"Thunder!" I pulled out another sheet I stored in my pocket, wrote on it and then raised it to the air.

"Hey guys! Look up!"

They started to look around in confusion. The symbol written in the sheet began to glow before crackling noises coursed through the air. A bigger noise crackled before scattered blue discharges fired out of random spots in the clean air.

Cries of "What?" coursed through the bunch as lightning bolts struck the sand, completely at random. Then, for some fortunate reason, those bolts hit their intended target, knocking the entire group out.

"Yay! Victory!" I said, raising an arm with a V-sign. Only to almost be fried by a couple of stray lightning bolts. The scare was enough to make me jump backwards, though.

"Whoops… that was close… That still needs some work…" I said.

"Aaagh! Get away from me!" Huh?

I quickly turned around to notice a few of them already past me, trying to hurt the long-nosed guy and Nami.

"Damn, I got distracted! Luffy-san! The longnose and Nami-san are in danger!" I called.

He turned around, briefly looked at the scene and begun to sprint, punching the air…

"Gomu Gomu no…"

He punched the air faster and faster before his arms began to stretch _waa~~~ay longer than any normal person possibly can_ and…

"…CANNON!" He brought them back like a cannonball, punching the bandits all at once and sending them several yards away.

"Wow, how did you…? Did-did… did your arms just stretch?!" I asked, shocked.

Luffy merely smiled. "Yeah! I'mma rubber man!" He confirmed, briefly stretching his cheek.

There's only one explanation for that.

DEVIL'S FRUIT! The mysterious fruits that grant absurd powers to anyone who eats a bite… but takes away the user's ability to swim.

"Watch out!"

No time to rest. A small chunk of the group Luffy was fighting took advantage of our little distraction to lunge at us again.

"Eek!"

"Hissatsu: Namari Boshi!" (Finishing Move: Lead Star)

Before the group could hit us, a rain of pinballs hit them first, knocking them to the ground.

"I said I'd back you up, didn't I?"

I turned and saw the longnosed guy holding a green slingshot and thumbs-upping us.

"Longnose? You did it? Wow… that's awesome! Thanks!" I cheered.

"The name's Usopp!" he replied.

"Ah, alright! Thanks, Usopp-san!" I stumbled, but corrected myself.

Immediate danger resolved, Luffy and I went to help the swordsman, who still had some enemies to defeat.

"There's no end for them…" he muttered while crouching to block a batch of attacks. He brought the swords in his hands over his back as a bunch of mooks swung their cutlasses at him.

"Want some help?" I said as I arrived to the scene, bringing Luffy with me.

"Nah… no big deal. Just stay there and watch!" He replied as he managed to push back the attacking swords and get back to an upright position.

While we watched the scene, he initiated a sword move stance, crossing the swords in his hands and joining them in a hexagonal cross with the one in his mouth.

"Oni… Giri!" (Demon Slash)

I only saw him crouch before he vanished. It was so fast I only saw a blur, catching him back after it was finished. Not long after, we heard a crowd screaming, blood spurting here and there and all the attackers falling down. The swordsman resheathed his blades and the situation finally calmed down.

For now, anyway.

"Wow, how can you move that fast? That was awesome! Who are you?" I caught myself cheering just like Luffy.

"Three-Sword Style user. Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro." He said.

"Roronoa Zoro… Can I call you Zoro-san?" I asked.

"Call me whatever you want. I don't really mind." He replied.

"Wait a second… Pirate Hunter? Why's that name?" I asked again.

"It's a long story, don't bother to ask now. I'll tell you when you come to our ship… because this mess's not over yet." He said.

I simply sighed. "Ok, then."

Long Nose Usopp and Nami came out of the rocks when suddenly…

"What?!" / "Ouch!" / "Hey!"

Weird black whips emerged from the sand and immobilized the three of us.

"Caught like flies. Now you will not escape me." I heard someone say back at the ship. The voice was low, but strong enough to make itself be heard down here.

Hold on, that can only mean one thing…

The boss. The captain finally appeared. He was dressed like a stereotypical pirate. He wore a flashy blue hat, a long wavy navy-blue coat, sported a fluffy-looking moustache and a sword on his back. Unfortunately, no parrot and no eyepatch, so let's say the image's incomplete.

"Who'd think I'd ever have to use my Muchi Muchi no Mi to deal with pesky idiots like you…" He raised his voice. "Well, too bad for you all. Because once I let'em loose, no one survives. I'm Captain Slayer… and this is the last time you will ever see me."

The grip tightened even harder, but I knew I couldn't let go of my pencil no matter what!

"Another… Devil's Fruit… user…" I heard Zoro mutter while he tried to break free.

He still held one of his swords in his hand, but his grip slowly loosened. When he finally let go of it, the sword appeared to cut one of the whips, leaving his hand free. Before it could fall to the ground, Zoro grabbed the sword back and cut the rest of his whips in an instant, but Luffy and I were still stuck.

"I'll get you out!" I heard Zoro say, but he was interrupted by the sound of a slingshot firing.

The shot hit the captain's head, made him lose his focus and fall to the ground. The whips vanished and we were freed.

"Thanks again, Longno… I mean, Usopp-san!" I said.

He gave me a quick glare but did a thumbs-up nonetheless.

As soon as the so-called Captain Slayer stood back up again, he called his top three fighters to battle us.

"Wow, you bugs managed to knock out my men and drag_ me_ out of my ship? Phew, that rarely happens, but I'll give you a fighting chance. My three immediates will be more than a match for you all." Strangely, his mannerisms counteracted his attire.

"Houou! Dekkao! Matsuri! Come down here now!" The captain shouted.

"Right!" Three voices replied in unison.

Hopping off and landing in a cool-looking pose, his three wise men came down. The first was a burly man who carried an axe. The second's normal in height, normally dressed but he came down doing some karate stances. And the last one had a decorated spear, with a different model of blade from mine.

"Dekkao!" The big guy shouted.

"Houou!" The karate guy did the same.

"Matsuri!" The spear guy finished.

"And… Captain Jack Slayer." The captain joined them. "We'll crush you and raid this island!" They shouted together. Wait…

Hold on, Slayer is actually his surname?! I thought it was a nickname of sorts or…

Nevermind.

"NOT EVEN IN YOUR DREAMS ARE YOU GOING TO RAID THIS ISLAND! UGLY MOUSTACHE!" I shouted, angrily pointing my finger at them.

"What?! Don't insult my moustache!" The captain broke out of his shell and snapped. "Grrr, enough! That's it, I'm out of patience now! Stay put there and let me steamroll you lot into oblivion!"

Without another word, the four of them charged.

"Hold on. Four against three?! Not fair!" I thought to myself.

_"Listen, kid. In the world of piracy, words such as 'unfair' have no meaning at all!"_

A small tidbit of advice knocked at my mind right then.

"Fairness be damned then!" I said.

Luffy headed to fight the captain. Zoro got the axe guy. I was left with the karate guy and the spear guy. Oh, great. Two at once… I'm going to need some help if I want to get out of this alive!

"Enpitsu Yari!" I shouted and watched as my pencil converted to a spear again.

"Doesn't matter who you are or where you come from… Bring. It. On!" I then waved it over my head before striking a pose.

"My pleasure!" The spear guy rushed to me, quickly swinging his weapon around.

I blocked his spear with mine and thus rang the 'signal' for us to start our battle of spears. We "tested" our strengths for a moment before backing down. I would soon be in trouble as the karate guy, Houou, launched himself in a surprise attack. He was promptly hit by another lead star.

"Usopp-san!" I thought. "How come he always lands a hit?"

Oh yeah! It's four against four! Usopp's our support!

Houou stood back up with a grunt and turned his eyes to Usopp, who immediately fled the scene with an enemy chasing him around.

Unfortunately, that distracted me enough for Matsuri to rush in again and try to land a slash. I blocked, but the shock pushed me backwards. I stumbled and retreated a few steps, trying not to lose my footing. When I recovered my balance, I charged him with a quick succession of forward thrusts, but he had no struggle at all to block or evade all of them. On the final slash, his block was so strong that it was an attack of its own, almost disarming me altogether.

"Damn!" I grunted.

"That's all you've got? You have much to learn in the spear arts!" He said.

"Aw… come on… That's just my warm-up. Here I come!"

I attacked again, jumping for a slash…

…but I spin-kicked him in the face instead. That sent him flying backwards to the ground.

"You should've paid attention to my feet! Who's the weak one now?" I said, pointing at him.

He's certainly tougher than a simple minion. I'll need more than just a kick to knock him out. He stood back up again and split his spear into two daggers. With them, he launched a quick flurry of stabs to the air I had a hell of a time to evade.

"Why do you care so much about this puny island? You obviously don't have the strength to defend it." Matsuri had the nerve to talk as he tried to shove a blade into my guts.

"What do you know? I have people who care for me and that's the strength I need!" I said. "Instead of you who chose the path of piracy and darkness!"

I tried to block his attacks but some of them ended up hitting me, ripping my clothes and leaving wounds. I retreated a few steps and put a hand on my waist, enduring the pain and seeing my clothing slowly gaining a blood-red tint.

"Enough of this shit!"

針"Needles!" I wrote the character in a small sheet and shouted the word, summoning a rain of needles toward him.

He jumped to evade, but didn't do it in time to evade all of them. For some reason I can't figure out, he completely froze in place.

"No… needles! Needles in my legs! Anything but that! No~~!" He shouted in fear, gawking at the needles stuck in his legs.

Lucky!

I put my pencil back in my pocket and let my fists do the talking.

"Just so you know…" I said as I started my sprint. "This puny island… IS MY HOME!"

I hit him with a succession of quick punches, finishing with a stronger fist to the face. When it was finished, it left him in the ground with no power to stand up again.

"Rain of Fists!" I called after the attack.

"Don't say it… later…" He called before fainting.

"Uh… whatever!" My finishing pose.

Fight over, I sat down to take a few deep breaths and recover from the fatigue. Moments later, I watched Usopp defeating the karate guy with sheer aiming power while Zoro took out the big one with his swift and precise slashes, breaking his axe. Luffy still battled the captain. Nami watched it all as well, still hiding behind the rocks.

"Aren't you going to help Luffy?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah! There's still one man to take down." I then stood back up and cracked my joints.

Usopp, Zoro and I went to see the conclusion of the fight between Luffy and Captain Jack.

"You damn brats!" He groused, grinding his teeth.

Looks like Luffy took a few hits already, judging by the whip marks all over his body. He kept swerving Slayer's whip swings as they cracked with each impact.

"Hold on, whips don't crack in the sand, do they?" I asked.

"Hell if I know…" The swordsman replied.

"Shouldn't you two be helping Luffy right now?!" Nami shouted to him.

"He'll be fine, let him deal with it." Again, the swordsman retorted. Hold on, his name's Zoro, isn't it?

Back to the fight…

"Eek! Get those weird whips away from me!" He tried his best to avoid them.

After much evading and swerving, one whip encircled his hand. Instead of screaming, Luffy withstood the pain and grinned. Slayer froze for a second as he noticed Luffy taking the advantage to pull the captain close and land a punch right in his gut, strong enough to send him flying. Thrown in the sand, Slayer laid there for a few seconds.

"Ow… that hurt… you insect!" He cursed standing back up again, but stumbling to keep upright.

Luffy swung his arms backwards and stretched them before he ran to the flailing captain. The finishing move is about to strike! "Gomu Gomu no…"

"No… no! NO!" Slayer's legs betrayed him at the final time… he stood there until…

"…BAZOOKA!" Luffy's arms shot forward and he hit the captain with a single, violent strike of his palms. It was so strong it sent Slayer flying all the way back to his ship!

"Haha! Game over, Captain Jackass!" Luffy celebrated.

"What now?" Seeing that the battle's pretty much over, Nami finally could come out of her hideout. "When they wake up, they'll attack again! What are we going to do?" She said, worried.

"I have an idea. Leave it to me."

I drew a small and simple fan on a sheet, put it in the ground and watched it materialize. Taking a glimpse at Nami's befuddled look, I wasn't done yet.

"Now…"

大 "Grow!"

I wrote the symbol on the fan and channeled my energy to it.

"Wow!" Luffy was amazed as he watched it grow many times in size.

"Look, I won't let you escape before you tell me how the hell that works." Nami, surprised.

"I'll be glad to. Later." I said. "For now, just go with 'It's magic.'"

風 "Wind!"

I wrote it in the back of the fan and swung it. At first it failed to fire, but after a while, an intense gust of wind rushed by and blew the ship off shore, sending it back to the endless sea. Thing is, the gust hit back and blew me away to the bushes.

"Are you alright?!" I heard them shout.

"Ouch… damn… that needs some work too…" I grumbled, scratching my head as I scrambled to get back up. "I'm fine, guys! Uh, mostly!" I screamed.

"Don't come here again, you bastards!" What? Is someone else here?

It turns out there is, because after the fight was over, a small group of people, who apparently watched it all, came out of the trees when the invaders left. What I didn't expect was to find out Mom and little Kenny amongst them.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing here?!" I said as they rushed to me.

"Don't play dumb now, son." She punched my shoulder. "Your little brother and I saw it all from up there. You were fantastic!"

"Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Super cool!" Kenny jumped around.

"Aw… don't make such a fuss. I did what I had to do." I said, slightly embarrassed. "Thank those guys instead, they helped me a lot."

"Think nothing of it." Luffy said. "That's what we do for our comrades!"

"Yeah, thank yo-Hey! I didn't accept it yet!" I replied.

"Yet? So you're going to accept it eventually!" Oh crud. "Alright! We're going to wait here until you come with us."

"No, I… no, I'm not going! I said I wouldn't be going with you!" I insisted, albeit on the verge of giving up.

The briefly-disrupted peace returned to our island. Night was soon to come.

"Alright, alright, you'll have time to decide." Nami groused. "The sun is setting already, it's useless to set sail today. Daiki-san… can we… possibly spend the night at your home?"

"Eh? Hmmm, I don't know… It's pretty tough to host four people… Mom?" I answered, tossing the question to her.

"Huh? Come on, we can't let them sleep under the moon, can we? The house's big enough for four guests. But, I'm going to need your help, son." She said.

"Alright. We'll get hammocks and food ready for you guys." I said.

"So, these four are your friends, eh? They seem to be nice." As the group talked amongst themselves, Mom pulled me aside and checked them out from a distance.

"Umm… I wouldn't call them friends yet, but you're quite right." I said. "They're not as bad as I thought." I then turned to the girl: "Well, Nami-san, there's your answer. We'll host you in my house for the night."

"Wahoo! I'm super hungry! Do you have meat?" Luffy cheered.

"Lots of meat!" I smiled. "Let's go have dinner, then?"

"Yeah!" He said.

The group accepted our invitation and we all walked back home. The onlooking crowd dispersed as well, but there was still one person left calling me.

"You could've called, you know." Mr. Higgins walked out of the bushes towards me.

"There was no need, Higgins-san." I replied. "I got plenty of help actually."

"I know, I saw you out there. That should teach you not to shoulder all problems by yourself."

"I know… I just can't afford to see our people getting involved in this."

"Daiki-kun…" He sighed. "You still have much to learn about your powers. It's a shame your dad was gone before he told you all about it, but I guess it's better for you to find out on your own."

"You're saying I should go with them?"

"That's up to you to decide." He punched me lightly in the chest. "Don't worry about us if you want to go. Our island is safe. You're not the only one willing to fight if needed to. Everyone can do it. Even your mother."

"Huh… thanks for the words, Higgins-san."

As I turned to walk back home, he left a final bit of advice.

"Watch your back, kid. There are many ways the world wants you dead."

Yup, he definitely wants me to go…

As much as I didn't want to admit, I felt genuine happiness. I felt I could trust those four. It's not decided yet, but their presence lit the fire of piracy in me again. I just wanted to lead a normal life but something at the back of my mind still pushed me to follow my father's footsteps.

In the end, that's what I really want to do.

…

We got back home. There, Mom and I prepared a great feast for the seven of us after she treated our wounds. The house is quiet all the time, but tonight it was noisy.

"Look! More meat!" Luffy, who I would find out to be a big eater, stretched his arms every once in a while to steal the food in our plates.

"Hey, that's mine!" I pouted.

"Pirate-niichan! Did your arm stretch just now?!" Kenny stared wide-eyed at the straw hat boy.

"Yup!" He confirmed. "Because…"

He then stretched his cheek. "…I'm a rubberman! I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi so, stretching like that is piece of cake to me!"

"Awesome!" It was Kenny's turn to shine his eyes with excitement.

We stuffed ourselves full and rested in the living room. After the dinner was done, Luffy repeated his proposal.

"So, weird name Daiki, are you gonna be our comrade, or not?" He said, smiling.

W… weird name?

Oops, almost forgot about that. His question made me pause to think, despite my being without time to do so. Mom and Kenny kept staring at me, eager for an answer.

"Wha… wh-why are you all looking at me that way?" I said, feeling a blush coming. "Ok, I'll go! I'm going. B-but I'm not doing that for you people's sake, okay? I have my plans."

"So tsundere…!"

"What?"

I surely heard Mom whisper something, but she just whistled, looking away from me.

"Alright…" I sighed, recomposing myself. "If you want a writer, here he is!"

Looks like I was the only one not overly happy with my decision… at least on the outside. Inside, I could feel the joy flourishing. Memories of Dad flashed through my mind again.

The day he departed…

The day he came back…

The stories he told me…

…and the day he died.

I'm about to head on a one-way trip towards the unknown!

"Ok, guys! And Daiki-san. Tomorrow we're outta here!" Nami called.

"Why did you single me out?" I said.

"Wow, I'm sleepy…" Usopp yawned. "Let's go to bed already…"

Mom brought three more hammocks to the guys and brought Nami in to share her bed. Kenny and I went to our room. Well, after the ruckus that was our dinner I lost the last bits of sleep I had. The wounds still hurt a bit, but the bandages took care of it, so it's nothing to complain about.

"Big bro, are you going with them?" Kenny asked, probably imagining my absence.

"Yeah." I answered. "Don't worry, little bro, I will be back. I don't know when, but I'll be back for sure."

Kenny just nodded, not saying a word.

"I guess dreaming to be King of Pirates isn't so far off after all…" I chuckled lightly.

"Aww… I just got a big bro and now he's leaving?" He pouted.

"Yeah, that sure sucks…" I agreed. "But don't worry. Mom will take care of you just like she took care of me. Let's go to the land of dreams then?"

"Ok. Good night, big bro!" Kenny said before he closed his eyes.

"Good night, little bro." I said before I did the same.

We went to sleep in what would be the last night before the great day.

The day I sail off to my first ever great adventure.

The day I become a pirate!

* * *

**Now that Dan and the Straw Hat Pirates have come to terms with each other, the group's gained one more member! Finally, our hero will have the chance to go on the adventure of his lifetime! But he still has one last request before the departure. Chapter 4 waits for you! Don't miss it!**


	4. Young dreamers, go forth!

**4** - Final tour around Brush! Luffy and Dan, two young men talking about dreams

* * *

I have to say. It was a fantastic night of sleep. I slumbered especially well after that lively dinner-party. Only every once in a while this house had more than three people in it, when Mom would invite her friends for writing discussions or just to talk about random stuff.

"Waahah… good morning…" With my eyes still heavy, I slowly woke up together with the sun, rising in the horizon. "Good morning, little Kenny…"

Kenny woke up right then. He still wriggled around in bed, half-asleep. Looks like he's a slow starter too… After a little tandem stretch, we made our beds and walked to the living room in the floor below. We found Mom, Zoro and Nami already up on their feet. Usopp was on the process of rebooting.

"Good morning, boys!" Mom greeted us.

"G'morning, mom… Guys… Huh?"

I noticed Luffy sleeping in a weird position, loudly snoring with his mouth hanging wide open and a string of drool coming out of it.

"Luffy-san's still out, huh?" I asked.

"Seems so." Zoro replied. "He always sleeps a lot after a big feast. Well, it's early in the morning so, no problem."

"Ah… G'morning…" Usopp completed his reboot, rubbed the sleep off his eyes, hopped out of his hammock and yawned once more. "What a good sleep…" He then stared at Luffy.

"Luffy still out… the sun always wakes up earlier than him…" He commented.

"Kids, breakfast is ready!" Mom called.

"Come on, Mom, we're not ki-"

"Breakfast? Food? FOOD!"

Before I could finish, the captain acknowledged the password and immediately woke up.

"Huh? Who talked about breakfast? I'm super hungry!" He opened his eyes in a moment, jumped out of the sofa and rushed to the table before any of us could get there.

"Talk about food and he's up." Nami mused. "Besides… I still don't know how he digested all that food in one night!"

"I'm bugged if I know… Luffy-san, you're rubber all over, right?" I asked.

"Yup. Like I said, I'm a rubber man!" He cheerily replied.

"Is that so… Then, it might be his rubber stomach that did the trick…" I mused.

Not missing the call any longer, we all walked to the table to have some breakfast. Mom laid in the table lots of bread, cheese, ham and a jar with juice for all of us.

"Daiki-san, got your luggage ready?" Nami asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"Ok, then! After the breakfast, we'll leave-" Nami wanted to say…

"Wait, wait." I interrupted her. "Before we leave, I just want to ask you one final favor."

"What is it?" She asked.

"I want to tour you all around this island. It's going to be the last time I'll do it in a long while, so I want to show you Brush before we go. I want it to be the starting monologue of my adventure!" I said.

"Hmmm…" Nami put a hand on her chin. "How about it, Luffy? Do we leave right away or not?"

"A tchour? Shure, why not?" Luffy said as he chomped down a piece of bread.

"Sounds like a good idea to me too…" Nami said. "Alright. After breakfast, we're all going for a stroll, then we'll sail off right away. We don't have much time to waste! Guys, deal?"

"It's fine to me…" Zoro said.

"Yoohoo! Cool! Agreedch!" Luffy said, chewing still.

"Huh, that sounds nice! That way, I can tell you all the greatest tales of the adventures of Captain Usopp!" Usopp bragged.

"Hey! I'm schtill the captchain around here!" Luffy whined, not bothering to swallow his food first.

"Usopp-san, you sound just like my father talking like that." Kenny and I laughed.

"Really, do I? Why?" Usopp asked as he was finished laughing.

"Because…" I thought about the words, slowly walking around the living room. "Since he came back from his trip, he would often tell me crazy stories about his adventures in the Grand Line… I was just a little kid and I was very excited. He made the world sound so fabulous and weird I thought it was too good to be true. Nevertheless, his stories just made me curious about the places he traveled and the people he met." Usopp stared at me the whole time.

"Who knows? Maybe your stories can amaze Little Kenny here too…" I said as I kept patting little Kenny's shoulder.

"Alright! I've got a listener now… Be prepared, Kenny-kun! I shall thrill you with the marvelous stories of Captain Usopp!"

"Like I said, I'm the captain!" Done chewing, Luffy still tried to reaffirm his position.

We all laughed over it. After finishing breakfast, we changed out from our pajamas and went out to the streets. We'd come home again before setting sail so I could get my baggage and call Mom to watch my departure.

A group of six walked out of the house to a final tour around Brush before we leave and set out towards our dreams!

"And now, we-" I wanted to call, but…

"First, if you don't mind…" Nami cut my word. "I'd like to go to a clothing store. I need to buy some new ones for me."

"Really? Well…" I thought about it.

"Ladies first, right? It's a chivalry rule!"

I tend to agree with any suggestion as long as it comes from a lady, so I naturally obliged.

"Daiki, be careful with this woman." Zoro pulled me to a side and hissed an advice. "If you're not, she's going to walk all over you and make you her servant or something!"

"Why do you say that, Zoro?" Nami, smiling as a vein clearly popped in her forehead.

"Back at Syrup, remember?!" He yelled, more overtly annoyed. "You stepped on me to climb that hill! I slipped tons of times trying to walk over Usopp's oil, remember?!"

"I apologized for that already!" Nami tried to talk her way out of this.

"Wait, Syrup?" I interrupted their little argument.

"Yeah!" Luffy confirmed. "That's where we met Usopp, defeated an evil butler and got our ship!"

"Is that one with a sheep for a figurehead?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Luffy confirmed again. "It's called Going Merry. It's small but it's fun!"

"I don't know how a ship can be 'fun'…" I mused. "Anyway, we'll make a quick stop at a clothing store somewhere around here." I turned to Nami. "Please, don't take too long… ok?"

"Don't worry. I'll be quick." She winked at me.

I then turned back to them all. "After that we'll walk around the island, is that fine to you all?"

"Ok!" Everyone agreed.

"Well then, let's go!" I yelled.

After this brief stop, we continued to walk through the bustling commercial street. Vendors and merchants screamed their sales as people walked back and forth through the barracks and stores.

"So, you guys said you're still looking for a cook." I recalled. "Let me guess, none of you can cook, can you?"

"No." Usopp stated.

"Nope." Zoro as well.

"No, I just eat." Luffy commented.

Well, duh?

"I can. And my food is delicious." Oh!

"You can? So why are you looking for a cook anyway?" I asked.

"That's because she charges us for the food." Before Nami could answer, Zoro did it.

"Zoro!" She tried to stop him, but came too late.

"What?! You have to pay to eat?! Outside of a restaurant?" I asked, surprised.

"I'm an expensive woman, boy!" Nami said, winking again. I sweatdropped.

"I think I have a bad feeling about this…"

We walked slowly, stopping at times so Luffy and Usopp would curiously look everywhere. They were the most marveled with the city's architecture and the people walking around the stores. We then arrived to a clothing shop where Nami tried lots of extravagant clothes, some of them kind of skimpy to me. She then left willfully empty-handed, saying she was looking for something more casual.

Women… What is in them that makes us men (especially me) so confused?

"Don't take too long, eh?" Zoro hissed.

Eek… he heard me…

"Eeheh…" I was left wordless. "It's not my fault!" I hissed back.

Quickly forgetting that, we went out of the urban zone and walked to the Nemuriuta forest. There, I told them all about the legend of the lullaby that plays at night, although nobody ever figured out where it came from.

We then went to the Frost river, the largest of Brush. The most known fish of East Blue swim there at times. We stood there for a while admiring the Hijou lake, named like that because of its unusual shape: it resembles a seahorse.

Out of the lake, we walked to Brush's lighthouse, stationed at a higher altitude. A guide followed us upstairs to the tourist spot where we could see most of the town. We couldn't go all the way up to the actual lighthouse because there lies the island bell and, for safety reasons, if you're not an employee, you need special permission from the mayor to go there.

In the route, I told them the little I know about the island's geography, about the dozens of villages' roads connecting them to each other and to the main city. Nami appeared to be the most interested in it all. I literally felt the shine in her eyes as she asked increasingly specific questions, to all of which I replied with either 'I don't know' or 'Ask an actual geographer'.

"Nami-san, why are you that much interested in geography?" I asked.

"I wanted to map this island before we left but I have no materials… Damn! Listen, boy, we have to get back here someday, ok? No island shall go unmapped as long as I live!" She bellowed with a clenched fist.

"Are you a navigator?" I deduced.

"Yes! And I want to be the best in the world!" The fire in her eyes told all I needed to know.

Walking away from the lighthouse, we trekked to Brush's hills. Far away, the island's mountainous landscapes were more visible. We enjoyed a few moments to rest and feel the wind in our bodies, sitting or lying down in the grass.

"A little rest now… Alright, come here, Kenny-kun! Let me tell you the awesome stories of Captain Usopp!"

Not missing a beat, little Kenny walked to where Usopp was sitting. Not missing his cue either, Usopp started to talk about whimsical stories and entertained my little brother for a while.

As Zoro and Nami amongst themselves and enjoyed the free time, I sat next to Luffy, curious about him.

"First off, Luffy-san, where did you get your hat?" I asked him as I stared at it.

"Ah?" He took it off his head to look at it too. "It's a gift from a friend. He's called Red-Haired Shanks. He gave it to me-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!" I flailed my arms, trying to interrupt him. "Sh-Sha-Shanks?! You mean THE Red-Haired Shanks?! Do you… know him?!"

"Yes, I do. Why the surprise?" He replied nonchalantly.

"Why the surprise, you ask?! I'll tell you! He's the man! He's simply amazing!" My eyes were shining. "Shanks… Shanks is one of the best pirates of all time! I can remember it like yesterday. My father told me about the day their crews bumped into each other… Shanks initially challenged my dad to a duel, y'know, to test their strengths, but soon they were hanging out just like friends. They shared some beer together… they both liked to party for no reason at all… I would like to meet him someday, he seems like a nice guy."

"Damn right, he's awesome!" Luffy replied.

"Ah, sorry, I got too excited there… About the straw hat, you were saying?" Back to the original subject…

"Yeah, he gave me this hat back in the day he left my village to travel around the world. 'Take care of it. I want it back when we meet again', he said. That was long ago…" Luffy reminisced. "Shanks is the most awesome pirate I know. Whoever meets him will soon know he can lift the mood and get anyone to party with him!"

"Wow… you're just making me idolize him even more, you know?" I said.

"See?" Luffy replied. "Before he sailed off, he left a lesson I'll carry with me forever."

"He said: 'Listen… you can pour drinks on me, throw food at me, you can even spit on me. I'll laugh all that stuff off. But here's something I'll never let slide… Nobody hurts a friend of mine!'"

Well said… very well said…

"He's my idol." Luffy continued. "He's the one who inspired me to be a pirate. And this straw hat is my treasure."

His treasure…

"That's nice…" I wandered into my own thoughts. "Just like mine…"

"What? Do you have a treasure too?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah." I then showed it to him. You know what I'm talking about. "It's the pencil you couldn't stop staring at. Doesn't look like it, but it's the weapon my father used to fight."

"Really? How does that work again, huh?" Luffy asked.

"I myself don't know for sure… I only know it draws from the power in my soul and gives me strength to fight… and this is my greatest recollection of him. The day he died, he left it with me."

"Your father's dead?" Luffy asked, surprised. "I'm sorry. My endolences."

"Wait, what?"

"No, I meant, my candescences." Luffy said, 'correcting' himself.

"You mean condolences, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's the one." Luffy confirmed.

"Ah, don't mind it. I can't get totally over it, but I keep on living." I comforted him. "He died on an enemy attack. The invading forces were too strong, even for him. Either that or he got careless… It happened five years ago."

I stood up, looking at the blue horizon. "One of the reasons I'm going is that I want to find and get my revenge on the man who killed him. Just like Shanks, Dad's my idol too. He's the one who lit the pirate flame burning inside me and now I know I truly want to follow his trail. I want to see the world out there."

"Then let's get going! I'm sure we'll make our dreams come true!" Luffy stood up as well, more enthusiastically than he already is. "One way or another we'll make it! We'll get to the Grand Line, sail around the world, find the One Piece and I will be the King of Pirates!"

"As for me… I never thought I would ever say it, but I'll finally be able to write my Ultimate Adventure!" I lifted my arms.

"Ultimate Adventure? What's that?" Luffy asked.

"It's simply the most exciting and thrilling adventure of all time!" I said. "And I plan to publish a big book with all the details of the adventure when we are done."

"Wow, cool!" Naturally, he was excited.

"Are you talking about dreams, you two?"

Zoro and Nami finally joined the talk.

"Yeah, we were." I said. "How about you, Nami-san, do you have a dream you want to share?"

"I do." Nami grinned. "Someday, I'll draw a world map. I want to cruise the world and map every place I see with my own eyes."

"Nice… Hold on, that's why you said you want to get back here!" I said.

"Absolutely! And once I have enough gear, you'll bring me back here to map your island. No. Matter. What. Ok?"

"O-o-okay…" She said it so forcefully I had to crawl away slightly… "A-anyway, what about you, Zoro-san?"

"Me? Well…" He shrugged for a second, then held one of his swords, one with a white sheath. "I want to be the world's strongest swordsman. I will fulfill the promise I made with a friend of mine."

"A promise?" I asked.

"Yeah. She was my inspiration to get stronger… Even though she's not here anymore, her spirit is in this sword." He glared at the sword.

His friend's gone too? Looks like our life stories share some details…

A promise for a dead friend… how touching…

"Wow… how noble…" I said. "What about Usopp?"

"Him?" Luffy asked. "He wants to be a brave warrior of the seas. But his hobby is to tell lies!"

"Is he a compulsive liar?" I asked.

"He's a liar, but I wouldn't call it compulsive, though." Nami said.

"Liar or not, he's quite the sniper, huh? He defeated many of the thugs yesterday, I owe him one." I said.

"That's for sure!" Luffy said.

"The wind let me hear you talking about the great Usopp…" Usopp joined the talk.

"Yeah. We're telling Daiki-san you're a liar!" Nami said, chuckling.

The rest of us laughed at him.

"I'm not! My stories are real, I tell you! Whether you believe it or not, ok?" Usopp said, annoyed.

"They're so ridiculous! He's a liar alright!" Little Kenny said, prompting us to chuckle again.

"You say they're ridiculous?" Usopp kept going on. "Look who's talking… my tales surprised you and you know it. You believed them!"

"No I didn't!" Kenny denied.

"Did too!" Usopp…

"Did not!" Kenny…

Before they started their childish ping-pong, I asked him about his dream.

"You might be a liar, but you want to be a brave warrior of the seas as well, don't you?"

He perked up again. "Hohoo, that's spot on. I'll be the toughest warrior there is in the sea and share my stories with the world!"

"Where do you get all those tales, anyway?" I asked.

"Oh, yes… Back in my village, there's a girl named Kaya. Since she lost her parents, she's been depressed. Very depressed. Too much for my liking." Usopp explained.

"Well, can't help it, right? She lost her parents. Poor girl…" I said.

"That's where I come in." Usopp continued. "I told my whole array of stories and cheered her up! I'm away from her now, but she'll always be thankful to me because I 'saved her from death' with my tales. Her words. Not mine."

"How nice…" I said, dozing off.

"But man, I had a hell of a hard time…"

"How?"

"There was a pesky butler named Kura… Kuro… Kuro-something in my way. He wanted me away from her and was quite the douchebag about it." Usopp said. "I had to avoid him if I wanted to get to her. Later we found out he was planning to kill her and take her money!"

"Wah! He wanted to kill her?" I said.

"But that's where I come in again!" Usopp grinned. "Thanks to the help of these three here, I defeated the evil butler/former pirate and saved the princess! They are grateful to me until today for I was the one responsible for our victory!"

"Yeah, right, hero!" Zoro sneered at him. "You just ran away, you coward! Luffy's the one who kicked that Kuro guy's ass!"

"But… but… but I defeated his thug, that Jango guy, remember?" Usopp stumbled but said it. "I saved my fellow pirates from his clutches! And you helped too!"

"Ok, whatever…" Zoro shrugged.

"Usopp, were you a captain?" I asked.

"Of course I was! I can say without fear that I have led the Usopp Pirate Crew!" He pounded his own chest, filled with pride. "It was a small group, sure, only me and my loyal crewmates Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman, but the four of us were unbeatable back in our day!"

"Pffft…" Nami scoffed, barely containing her laughter. "A teenager and three kids… unbeatable… yeah, right…" Usopp glared at her.

Him and three kids? I wonder if he had any enemies then…

"Wow… you all do seem to have had a lot of adventures before you got here, huh? How about this: we first get the ship going then you tell me your stories onboard. Sounds good, right?" I proposed.

"It's fine for me…" Zoro's agreed nonchalantly.

"Nice! It's a good way to kill time." Nami said.

"Cool! I will get to know it too." Usopp said. "I was the latest addition to the group before you."

"Ok, then. Let's walk back home so I can get my stuff. It's time to say goodbye."

"Right!" Everyone said.

We left the hills after our little rest, walking all the way back to the city and to my home.

"Mom, I'm back!" I said as I walked inside.

"Hello!" Mom was in the kitchen, washing the dishes. She then quickly turned off the water tap and ran to the door. "So? What are you still doing here?"

"I came to get my baggage and call you. We're sailing off now."

For a few seconds, Mom processed those words silently. She took a deep breath. "Ok… let's go, then."

I jogged to my room to get my luggage. Before I closed the door, I stopped to give one last look at it, since it'd be unofficially inherited by my little brother for as long as the trip will last.

"Yeah… I wonder if Kenny's going to be lonely without me around…" I thought to myself. "Nah! Mom will take good care of him."

I then held the doorknob, giving one definitely final look at my bedroom.

"Take good care of it, little Kenny." I said before I closed the door for good. "I want to see you both alive and well when I'm back."

Backpack in my back and bags in both hands, I went downstairs.

"You sure you're ready? It's a one-way trip to the unknown, son." Mom warned me.

"There's no turning back, you know?" Zoro reminded.

"I know. Things have gotten to this point, I can't just give up. I've made my decision. I'm ready."

Mom glared at me, probably wishing inside I wasn't ready and called it off. But she knows how things have come to this point. She knows I'm a grown up now. I have a dream to chase and this is the only chance I probably will ever get. And once it comes around, it might never come back if you don't grab it with both hands.

"If I weren't ready now, I'd have to be later!" I said.

"Let's go, then?" Nami called.

I then turned to face my soon-to-be crewmates.

"Yes!"

Luffy…

Zoro…

Nami…

Usopp…

And I…

The five of us, plus little Kenny and Mom walked off to the beach.

Thus went by the final moments before the start my journey around the world.

From now on, I will live the dream! The dream of the Ultimate Adventure!

* * *

**Y'know... a famous poet once said this a long time ago: "If God wants, the man will dream it and it will be done." Or something like that. But dreaming doesn't cost a penny, right? From now on, we'll start following the adventure of those five fearless youngsters sailing towards their dreams! The Ultimate Adventure is about to begin! Chapter 5 will be very emotional! Don't miss it, I'll be waiting!**


	5. Set sail, Dan! Full speed ahead!

**5** - Goodbye, homeland! A writer sets off to the adventure of a lifetime!

* * *

Monkey D. Luffy.

Roronoa Zoro.

Nami.

And Usopp.

As soon as I walk away from home, get to the beach and board their ship, the Going Merry, these will be my crewmates for the entire trip. It will be long, it will be grueling, but above it all…

It. Will. Be… FANTASTIC!

It's incredible. It's kind of scary too. Walking away from home, the first steps to the cruise around the world. The anxiety to arrive at the beach somehow would build up and dwindle at the same time, with every step.

"Ah… I wish you were still here now…" I thought to myself, recalling my father once again. I probably should stop doing that. "I wish you could see it, dad! You surely would be proud of me!"

Aw, come on. I know, even though he isn't here, he _is_ proud of me. I looked at my pencil… my memento…

"What kind of challenges are waiting for me?" I thought. "Father… your struggles will not be in vain. Thank you for leaving this with me. Even though you're not here, your gift will be my strength!"

"Hey? Daiki-san, who are you talking to?" Nami touched my shoulder.

Eek… The others heard me.

"Eh? Ah, no, no, I was just talking to myself." I explained.

"That's strange…" Nami said.

"Oh, no it's not!" I retorted. "It's kind of a bad habit of mine. Yes, I talk to myself sometimes. You know how the silence can just drive you crazy? Just saying, so I don't weird you out again. I made sure to take lots of books to read at the sea. That way, I shouldn't be bored!" I said, looking at her and smiling.

She merely smiled back. Really, there was no need for her to reply. Thus, we arrived at the beach, with the Going Merry waiting for us. This is it.

"Well… Mom, Kenny-chan… this is where we part ways." I said, looking at them and holding the trembling hands of my mother.

"Ok…" She said, visibly emotional. "Go, my son, just go… or else… I won't hold my tears anymore!"

"Aw… come on… I keep telling you I hate… I hate to see you crying!" I said, trying to keep my tears from coming out as well.

"Take care, big bro Dan!"

Little Kenny's smile was what kept me from shedding a tear in front of my soon-to-be crewmates.

"Hm. Ok." I wiped the small tear in the corner of my eye and smiled back, patting his head.

"And you take care of Mom, right?" I said.

"Un!" He cheerily replied.

"Well, I don't want to ruin the moment but can we go already?" Zoro stepped in.

"Eh? Ah, sorry! Let's go!" I turned away from my mother and my little brother, running to my new home… the Going Merry.

We quickly boarded the ship and then Zoro had the honor of lifting the anchor. As the sails unfurled to catch the breeze, the ship slowly sailed away from Brush's shore. I walked to the back of the ship as it sailed further and further away, letting whatever tears I was holding roll down my face while waving to land.

"Goodby~~e! See you late~~r! Take care of the island for me!"

I heard her answer, but it was weak I didn't quite understand it, but just the fact that she and my little brother waved back at me was enough. Cleaning the tears, I sped off to the main deck to reunite with my new comrades.

"Daiki, are you ready for this?" Zoro asked.

"Heh, why are you still asking that?" I said. "You said there's no turning back, didn't you? I boarded your ship, I'm more than ready to see the world, so let's march forward!" I said with a big smile in my face. "Well, I have only one request, ok?"

Everyone looked at me expectantly.

"See, from now on, I'd prefer you all to call me Dan, right?"

Everyone smiled back, apparently agreeing with my small request. I blinked as I saw Luffy looking like to be holding something inside and wanting desperately to let it go…

"ADVAAAAANNNCEE!" He raised his arms up high, screaming loud and clear to the skies.

"OOUUU!"

It's fantastic. Simply exhilarating. It finally started. The adventure of my life! In my eighteen years, I always wished to be a pirate, but I never thought it would happen. After I saw the pirate flag atop the mast and nothing surrounding us but the endless blue of the sea, it finally dawned on me. It happened. I finally became a pirate!

Ok, enough of that, Dan. Now breathe, let it sink in and settle down on your new home.

"Ok, how do I get around? What do I do? What are the rules? Where do I sleep-"

"Wow, easy, easy! One thing at a time." Nami calmed me down. "First things first. Put your bags in the floor and relax. They look heavy."

"Alright." Only then I stopped to look at my luggage. "Uh… I've probably brought too much stuff…"

"No problem. Usopp too practically brought his world to the Merry. Eventually we found enough space for his gadgets. The rest we chucked in the storage deck."

I still felt the need to see if I brought something potentially useless. I'll do that later.

"I can walk you around the ship. You'll soon know how to move around it. Plus, you'll get to see where you'll sleep." Nami came to me. "Usopp! Come here!" She called.

"What?" Usopp walked from where he was, at the front deck.

"Usopp, follow me for a bit?" Nami asked. "I want to introduce our ship to Dan-san."

"Ok, then." Usopp said.

"Shall we go then?" I said.

They started by introducing the upper front deck, the space where they usually lounge around and the lower floor where stands the mast in all its tall glory. Just below their flag is the lookout post (aka crow's nest).

She warned me that Zoro, Usopp and I had to relay on the duty of being at the lookout post to always keep an eye on our surroundings. Luffy doesn't do it because he's the captain and she doesn't do it either because she's busy in the room planning our route. They then walked me to the main room. It has a small kitchen with a shelf for the dishes. Our helm stood upright in front of the door. It had the same sheep head as the figurehead on the outside.

"The room serves as our meeting point. We can discuss here what to do next." Nami explained.

We went down to the men's room, just below the mast. Here's where I'll sleep. The room's quite cramped as there are five hammocks and we're four men. Luffy said he wanted to add a few more elements to the group at some point, so the remaining one should be occupied later. I wonder if there'll be space for them all…

From there, she guided us to the storage room where they keep items such as beer barrels, water barrels, food and treasure boxes, plus random junk to be thrown away later. There are also two cannons, one at each side. From this room we get access to the bathroom and the elusive women's room downstairs. I noticed a cover in the corner where the stairs would be, which is currently locked.

"Now, I can't show you my room. It's my private space and I want to keep it as is. For now." She stated.

It might be tough sleeping by herself… or not. Maybe that's where she gets her alone time.

Also, it's rather unusual for a shipwright to think of putting men's and women's rooms in a ship… Some would call it a waste of space, but I guess it's important for men and women to have their privacy. Or something.

Later, a quick walk to the bathroom. It has a shower, a bathtub, a sink and a toilet. Usopp warned me to always clean the bathroom with the rubber wiper in there so the ship doesn't get weakened by wet planks. The ship hates moisture, he said.

From the bathroom, to the storage deck, out the door we went. Going around the mast, we visited the room where the main cannon is stored, under the front deck. There are also some lifebelts, ropes, and there's where the anchor stays tucked as well.

Walking out the door, we went upstairs to the meeting room.

"Well, tour over! You can walk wherever you want now. There aren't that many places to go, though." She then walked away.

"Ok, then. Thanks!" I said, smiling. I then paused to stare for a few seconds at captain Luffy sitting on the ship's figurehead.

"Also, there's that spot." Before I could say anything, Usopp completed. "He usually sits there although I'm not sure why."

"Maybe he just likes to sit there?" I wondered.

"Yeah, that's probably it. Anyway, feel free to do as you please. This is your home now. Any questions?" He asked.

"Umm… no, at least for now."

"Just a word of advice. Stay away from Nami's room. I once had to save Luffy's ass when Nami caught him in her room… man, she was angry…"

"No wonder… women can be sensitive about their privacy. I know that all too well…"

"Are you talking about me?" Apparently she heard our talk all the way from the meeting room.

"No, it's just your ears!" Usopp replied.

"Look, I'll go down to the quarters and unpack my stuff there." I said. "When I get back you can share with me the things you did before you got to Brush, alright?"

"Hmm… ok." Usopp nodded.

I went downstairs through the opening just next to the mast. Surely a strange way to get to a room, but hey, whatever works best. I had quite a hard time pulling my oversized bag through the hatch, but I did it.

"Wow, this room sure is cramped… I definitely have to throw some stuff out."

I brought books, notepads, drawing material, a bit of everything. My hobbies are drawing and painting. I mostly do scribbles but doing it is a good way to relieve stress. The only art I'm really good at is drawing faces. I don't know exactly how I started it, but I just found it fun to draw a face and suddenly I got better at it.

What I like most is reading. Dramatic stories, epic journeys, short tales and anything interesting enough. I bothered Mom at times because I tended to read my books out loud. It helped me to better understand the flow of the story, which led me sometimes to act out the most poignant character lines like I was in a play…

_"Why don't you join an acting club somewhere?"_ She'd frequently ask.

And there's the situation of her walking in on me mid-act. Not comfortable, to say the least.

Everything organized, I went upstairs again to see Nami, Usopp and Luffy sitting around and waiting for me on the main deck. Zoro isolated himself in a corner, to take a nap undisturbed.

"So… how did it all start, then? Captain Luffy, since you're… well, the captain, I'll start with you." I said.

"Good!" He said. "I was traveling in the ocean and I came across a hu~~ge whirlpool! I had to escape no matter what, so I hid in a barrel on a random ship passing by." He said. "I ended up sleeping and woke up in a pirate ship. I got out of the barrel and I met a little boy. He wanted to join the Marines, but somehow he boarded the wrong boat."

"How's that even possible?" I asked.

"Yeah, isn't that idiotic?" Nami asked.

"How should I know? You should ask _him_ instead!" Luffy said.

"What happened then?" I asked.

"Then, he ended in the ship of a fatass lady who forced him to do all the chores!"

Wow, talk about bad luck…

"She was really fat and ugly… and she had a spiky metal mace! She hit anybody who said she was ugly… I was almost hit by that thing too!"

"Sounds scary…" I said.

"Nah, not really. She wasn't that strong. I escaped, defeated her and her minions and rescued that boy." Luffy continued. "We then sailed to an island with a Marine HQ. He wanted to enlist himself to enter the Marines. His dream was to be a righteous Marine who'd catch all the evil pirates!"

"Hmmm, that's very noble. Marines… they do house some bad people, though… but, go on, go on!" I said, very interested.

He continued: "We arrived in a town. There I heard about a pirate hunter who was imprisoned at the Marine base."

Pirate hunter… Well, our swordsman didn't want to join the story but I guess that even asleep, he's hearing the story too.

"I then met Zoro. He was being tortured by a blond-haired spoiled guy who did whatever he wanted because he was the son of the Marine commander at the island. He used that to blackmail people." Luffy said. "That guy made a deal: if Zoro could last a month being tortured by him, he'd be set free."

"How cruel… And no one did anything about that guy?" I asked.

"I did! He made the deal without any intention to keep it from the get go. I was so pissed at that guy I punched him right in the stupid face."

Actions do speak louder than words…

"Then I raided the base to catch Zoro's swords back and we fought the captain. He was flippin' hu~~ge! He had an axe instead of a hand. It was a real pain, but we beat him down. He was no match for the two of us!" Luffy said, flexing his arm.

"Interesting…" I said. "What happened then?"

"The marines at the base let us go, so we left the boy there and he enlisted." Luffy said. "I wonder how he's doing now?"

"Well, do you have any hope of finding him again?" I asked.

"Who knows, it can happen someday." Luffy said. "Anyway, I left that island with my first crewmate!"

"Where did you go to then?" I asked.

"We borrowed a boat and ended up in another island." Luffy explained.

"How? Can you navigate?" I asked again.

"No." He replied flatly.

"What? It was by sheer coincidence? How long were you two at sea?"

"Hmmm…" He paused to think. "I don't know exactly, but it was maybe three or four weeks."

"What?! How did you survive that long?!"

"Shishishi…" He grinned, quite confidently. "Y'know, once in a while, some bi~~g fish would jump out of the water and try to eat us, but we kicked their asses and…"

"Made a meal out of them? That sorta makes sense." I completed. "But you still must have a lot of luck to get food like that for so long."

"Actually, we got to that island because I tried to catch a big bird to eat, but he carried me all the way to that island before it was shot. I landed right on the city." Luffy continued.

"What about Zoro?"

"He rowed all the way, trying to keep track of me."

"Wha?" He literally left Zoro behind… Yeah, he was a victim of circumstances, but still.

"Luffy then bumped into me." Nami joined. "He immediately asked me to become his comrade, specifically, his navigator. I refused, but as you already know, he kept bugging me until I finally gave up."

Ah, so Nami's went through the same trouble as me to get rid of him…

"You tricked me, I was captured and left to die inside that cage, remember?" Luffy pointed at her.

"The situation called for it! I have to think about myself too!" Nami tried to justify herself. "Besides, Zoro arrived in time and rescued us, didn't he? I apologized for it already!"

"Yeah, there's that too." Luffy replied.

"There we fought a pirate clown named Buggy. He has the power of the Chop-Chop Fruit." Nami said.

"Chop-Chop?" I parroted.

"It's a fruit that lets him divide his body in as many parts as he wants." Nami explained.

Body splitting? I'd be weirded out if I ever met him…

"I faced him. Can you believe he ripped my hat and insulted me for calling it my treasure?" Luffy said.

"No, he didn't." I said.

"Yeah, he did! He even said he was Shanks's crewmate!" Luffy stated.

"Really?!" I asked.

"Yeah!" Luffy confirmed. "He said something about a grudge because Shanks did stuff to him I can't quite remember… but Nami took the chance to steal his divided parts and we defeated him! She's a nice thief, huh?"

"Wow… wait, thief?!" I asked. "That means Nami-san a navigator… and a-"

"Yeah, I'm a thief, thank you very much." She admitted straight up.

"I have yet another bad feeling about this…" I muttered to myself, looking away.

"Something the matter?" Nami separated the words with such force I stuttered.

"N-n-no, n-nothing! Go on, go on."

"Luffy defeated that weird Buggy, so we left that island to another in the search food and, maybe, another new companion. What we found instead was an island full with strange animals." Nami said.

"Strange? How so?" I asked.

"Yeah… how can I say it… all those animals were a fusion of two or more. Like, a rabbitsnake, or a foxrooster or a poodleduck!" Nami said, waving her arms to try to make me understand.

"I'm not sure how's that possible…" I tried to imagine the combinations she mentioned. Really hard.

"Neither were we! Can you imagine meeting a giraffedog?" Nami asked.

"Umm… I don't know… it's a, uh, dog with a long neck?" I paused to try to imagine it.

Impossible.

"Amazingly, you're not that far off, believe me. Anyway, there we met a little man called Gaimon." Nami continued. "He was a pirate in a box."

"A pirate in a… huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly that. A man inside a box. I can't be more literal than that." She stated.

"…" I said.

"The story goes like this: he went to catch a treasure on the top of a rock, lost his footing and fell exactly inside a box. He's stuck in it since then. Really!" She told it while laughing.

"What? Wha-wha-wh… " My brain just broke trying to process the absurdity of that story.

"He's just a head and a green afro inside a treasure box."

"Uhuh…" I decided to just go along with it.

"Hard to believe, right? Yeah, I know. I too rubbed my eyes the first time I met him." She concluded.

"We helped him see if there was anything in the boxes he protected so much. There wasn't, but he thanked us anyway because he found out the truth before dying. Luffy decided to ask him to join our group but he declined. Even without a fortune, he had something else to protect: the rare animals at that island."

"What a noble cause…" I said.

"Then, these three came to my island! Me and my eight thousand subordinates welcomed and surprised the three visitors!" Usopp joined the talk.

"E… eight thousand?!" I reacted with mock-surprise.

"Which consisted of sticks with flags and stones vaguely shaped like faces." Nami stated.

"Aw, you've just ruined it, Nami!"

"Oh, is that so? Almost got me there, Usopp!" I chuckled.

"You're all mocking me…" He grumbled. "Anyway, I met Luffy and his bunch and they said they needed a ship to get on with their journey. I told them the owner of a mansion in the island had one and could give it for free!"

"That Kaya you mentioned a while ago, right?" I recalled.

"Exactly." He confirmed. "Also, I got a chance to talk with Luffy about Shanks and my father. His name's Yasopp and he's a member of Shanks's crew!"

"Really?!" He's the son of one of Shanks's crewmates?

"Yes! He's the best shooter in the world!" Usopp cheered.

"Incredible!" Now I see where he got his aiming skills…

"We were talking on the top of a cliff, but we overheard the plans of the mansion's butler to have Kaya dead and keep her fortune!" Usopp continued.

"That Kuro-something, right?" I asked.

"Yeah! He was a pirate passing off as a butler! When we faced him, he told us he spent the last three years planning to kill Kaya. I tried to warn her, but she didn't believe me at first. If the guys didn't believe me either, it'd be all over." Usopp said.

"Wow…" I marveled.

"We then set a trap for that Captain Kuro's ship when it was arriving, but we set it in the wrong side of the island. He and his minions arrived in the opposite side of the island… we had to rush all the way there to meet'em!" Usopp continued.

"And Luffy got hypnotized twice!" Nami added. "The first time, he got stronger and beat Kuro's minions but the second time? He fell asleep… I had to wake him up, but there was that all-around weirdo, Jango I think, who almost beheaded me!"

"Ugh…" I clutched my neck, cringing at the thought of a blade connecting with it.

"I woke up, saved Nami and went to fight that Kuro guy." Luffy stepped in. "That man didn't deserve to be called a pirate. He ridiculed people's dreams and willpower. He said his comrades were nothing but pawns bound to serve the captain… and he's the one who'd decide whether they live or die!"

"That's ruthless…" I said, surprised.

"I couldn't let it slide. He still wounded me pretty badly, though. That guy had quick feet and swords on his fingers!" Luffy explained. "There's more! When he attacked, he just didn't care. He struck everything at random. Even his own crewmates!"

"What? And there still were people willing to join such a maniac?!" I asked, shocked.

"Not now! I pounded the crap out of him!" Luffy bellowed.

"When the commotion was over, Kaya gave us this ship as a gift." Usopp explained. "I tried to bid farewell to them, but Luffy invited me to become his crewmate. At first, I wanted to go out and find my own crew so we'd be equals, but we're comrades instead. Luffy named me as the crew's sniper and we set sail!"

Before Usopp went to the sea on his own, Luffy invited him… how nice!

"We then got to your island, but the story you know already!" Nami chuckled.

"It's over? Ah, I wanted more…" I pouted for a few moments. "Yeah… Those stories were pretty interesting, I liked them! They made me wonder how our next adventures are going to be. Also, that's a good starting point for my book. I think I'm going to work on that now."

I sped to the quarters to fetch a blank book. Back at Brush there's plenty of bookshops selling blank books for aspiring writers out there. As I coursed my pencil through the blank paper, I stopped to look at the horizon and at the people I've just met.

"Navigator Nami…" I muttered as I looked at her in the deck, ruffling her hair and staring at the sea.

"Shooter Usopp…" I muttered as I looked at him way up at the crow's nest, with a telescope in hand.

"Swordsman Zoro…" I muttered as I looked at him, soundly and peacefully asleep in a corner.

"Captain Luffy…" I muttered as I looked at him, sitting on the sheep figurehead and smiling.

"And… me… Writer Dan!" I said as I looked to my notebook and smiled.

Yeah… that was it. The five of us went to an adventure that I'm sure is bigger than anyone of us ever dreamed of!

Be the King of Pirates…

Draw a world map…

Be the strongest swordsman of the world…

Become a brave warrior of the Seven Seas…

And write my… no! _OUR_ ULTIMATE ADVENTURE!

These are the dreams we'll fight for from now on!

* * *

**At last, Daiki leaves Brush Island, his relatives and friends. But he also forms new friendships, besides finding his chance to set out and face the world head-on. Thus begins his Ultimate Adventure! **

**But before that, let's find out a little about the past of our group in a special arc of 4 chapters, starting with the next. Don't miss it! The Great Adventure is just beginning!**


	6. Just a little sad flashback

**6** - Dan's past! The result of the union between bravery and talent

* * *

Wow… funny, isn't it? We can lose track of time whenever we do something we like.

I have no idea how much time I spent writing, but the day sure went by fast! I even got to do some drawings and slow scribbles to rest my hands. Sometimes I just stared up high at the clouds passing by, imagining what they looked like and drawing their shape.

Looking at the sky, I found a turtle cloud, a phoenix cloud and a falcon cloud… I tried to draw their approximate shape, but I found out I still sucked at it… Plus, by the time I get it done the cloud usually morphs into something else entirely.

No problem, though. If I wanted, I'd practice it properly, but it's just a little pastime.

"Waah…" I yawned. I started to get sleepy, so I decided to call it a day and go nap for a little while.

I headed down to the men's room and laid myself in the couch. So comfy… As soon as I closed my eyes, I started to dive in a deep sleep.

After a long walk through the darkness, a few murky images started to appear in front of me. My dreams. Maybe it's because of what happened in these days, but I saw scenes very reminiscent of my past.

_"Wow, a ghost body. Wicked! Hold on, why am I naked?!"_ I said, startled as I saw what looked like a ghostly form of my current self appearing in my dream. Also, it was in the universally-recognized birthday suit.

Embarrassing form aside, I watched as the landscape formed around me. A little shy boy, around 8 or 9, walked out of the forests to sit on the sand and stare at the ocean.

_"That's… that's me? Hey, that's me when I was a kid!"_ My ghost form stated in shock.

I was that little boy, sitting at the beach and looking lonely as he stared to the sunset.

"Daddy… when are you coming back…" he muttered to himself, burying his head between his legs.

The scene then switched to a large house. The little kid lived with his mother, always helping her with the house chores.

"Hey, Dan!" A voice came from the door.

"Come here play with us!" Said another one.

He had a group of friends who'd always call for him to play with them in their free time.

"Ok!" The boy cheerfully replied. "Mom, can I go out?" The boy asked.

"Hm. Be careful and have fun!" His mother said, patting him in the head.

He ran out the door and joined his friends. A tightly-knit group of seven.

_"Wow… my old friends! I wonder how they're doing now…" _I muttered.

The oldest of them was Kamo. He looked about 12, 13 years old. Due to him being the oldest, he would always look out for the safety of the others. He was the straight man of the group, trying to keep a cool head around the others' at times absurd antics.

Kamo was the one who pushed the others, each to a side whenever they bickered. The entire group looked up to him as their leader.

The tallest-looking kid was Jun. He was 10. Whenever they argued, he would always try to win the discussion by saying: "Because I'm taller than you!" He didn't look like it, but he was one heck of a prankster too.

Shou was the most collected, but he was also kind of a sore loser. 8 years old. When the seven were younger, scaring him or teasing him would always make him cry. As soon as he knew he lost any kind of game, he'd start whining. But as for what I'm seeing, he seems to be growing out of it. Or maybe Kamo is knocking it out of him anyway.

Cyril was the most curious of them. He was 8 or 9. Every new place they'd come, he would always touch everything and ask about everything… It was quite hard to make him behave.

One of the two girls of the group was Lacey. She's an all-around tomboy for someone with such a girlish name. She's 11 years old. She liked pirate tales so much, whenever she caught little Dan listening to his parents' stories, she'd butt in and listen to them too.

The other girl was Mika. In a stark contrast with Lacey, she's way more calm and well-mannered. She's so reserved she only speaks whenever it interests her. 9 years old. Always would be busy with something and only once in a while went to play with the other six. She got along very well with Lacey, despite their contrasting personalities.

And… there was Dan. He looked to be about 8 or 9. A shy boy at first, but since he joined this group, he started to come out of his shell. He still cringed at the fact he was pretty much the butt of the group's jokes… but with time, he began to deal with it and just laugh along.

They were the children of the friends of Dan's parents. They slowly started to band together because of it and became the close-knit group of friends they are now. They'd play pirates and many things more, do everything together and have lots of fun.

They also worked to protect and help each other whenever they were on their own.

In my dream I saw a particular afternoon when the group walked to the closest village to visit the farm of an old man. He was Kamo's grandpa and worked on the green fields.

"Hello, Kamo!" The old man waved as the group arrived at his farm.

"Hi, grandpa Sam. I brought my friends to come see the fields!"

"Oh! Hello you all!" He greeted them warmly, counting the visitors. "Wait… one, two, three, four, five, six… seven! Oh my! I think I have to pause for a little while. Want some cookies?"

Shou eagerly nodded. He liked cookies the most.

"Can you show us your barn, grandpa?" Kamo suggested. He then turned to the group. "Guys, you have to take a look at the horses living here. They're huge, beautiful and their fur's so smooth! How about we go for a ride later on?"

"Really?!" Cyril asked, in admiration.

"Indeed." Sam gladly confirmed. "First, let's get something to eat, shall we?"

"Alright!" The children cheerily nodded.

Looking forward to ride the horses, the seven walked to the barn to take a closer look at the small herd of Grandpa Sam. One was brown, another was black, another two were white and there was a little pony as well.

"Tadah!" Sam presented playfully. "These are my horses. Now just hold on there, I'll put you all to ride this one. He's docile. You just have to pet him every once in a while." He brought the brown horse out and put the children to ride it.

Jun was the most excited, waiting for his turn and walking around. When it was his turn, he was the most thrilled.

"I… um… I don't know if I can do it…" Dan was a bit scared, but he managed to put it aside and ride.

Everyone took their turn with a smile in their faces.

Kamo then told the group his house was near the farm so, whenever he went there, his grandpa taught him how to tame and take care of the barn. Kamo also helped him to treat, bathe and feed them. When comes the time of the periodical vaccine, though, they tend to get rowdy and have to be calmed down. The first time Kamo helped on the vaccination, he nearly got kicked by one of them.

Waving to the old man Sam, they left the farm and walked back to the city after a day of playing around in the green fields.

All of a sudden, the scenery changed to a room. The boy grew up a little. He was around 10 years old and in the middle of another writing lesson with his mother. She was a well-known writer who decided to pass her skills to the next generation.

"Mom, are we done yet?" said the boy as he glanced over his still-incomplete text.

"No. You can only go out when your text is complete and if I approve it." said his mother.

"Oh, man…" He cursed under his breath.

At first, the lessons bored him out of his skull. His mother would often get angry at him for not listening, but that was because she wished to keep the tradition going on. She made sure to pound it in his head that once he has children of his own, it's his mission to teach them what he learned from her in the arts of writing and literature.

About an hour later…

"Ok, done. Can I go out now?"

"Hmmm. Ok, it's good." The mother announced the verdict. "I'm even prouder of you. If you keep practicing, you'll be a great writer in the future!"

"Really?" He asked.

"You have to work hard and rely on the power of your imagination. That'll open many doors for you!" She said. Who'd know she would be right in the end…

As time passed, the boy got accustomed to the lessons and the practice. Then, as he got better and people recognized his efforts, he grew to like what he was doing and started to do research on his own at the local library. He was taken by a sudden wish to develop his skills even further.

"Umm… for now, can you just open the door so I can get out and play?" But above all, he was still a kid and wanted to play as often as he could.

"Well played, sir…" She joked. "Go on then."

He smiled, kissed her and left. "I'm going now!"

"Take care!" She said, watching his boy run out the door.

"Oh, thank goodness it's over… I thought it'be forever until she liked it!" He muttered.

The scene then jumped to a few days later. The lighthouse bell rang continuously, sending the people of the island into alert mode.

"It's the bell! Please be him, please!"

The bell put most of the people in the watch, but the boy was very expectant. He wished with all his might for his father to return for the past four years. He dashed off to the beach hoping to find his father's ship.

"Please… come back!" He pulled out of his pocket the drawing of his father's pirate flag his mother gave to him. When his father's ship landed, he'd recognize it right away.

The boy arrived in the beach to see a ship, still far away but approaching the shores. Imagine his surprise as he discovered it had a skull exactly like the one in the drawing.

"Dad…! He's… here! He's here! He's back!"

It was Captain Jahn Richards's ship. Finally the long four years of waiting would be over. He'd finally see the face of his father, something he vaguely remembered. Being little when your father leaves you can be hard, you know?

"Lower the anchor!" An overly familiar voice shouted as the ship landed on shore.

The little boy had no doubts. He shouted with all the air on his lungs:

"DA~~~~~~D!"

"Hey, who's screamin' over there?" A man walked to the front of the ship, only to go back in a hurry.

"Ooi! Captain! Look who's here to welcome you!" The man called.

Another man hopped off the ship.

"Wah… how nice to be home…"

"DA~~~D!" The boy didn't wait any further, running to his father.

Then, it dawned on the captain.

"Wow! Da~~n! Kid! You're here!"

His son was at the beach, just waiting to welcome him. The father ran towards him as well and the two shared a heart-warming father-son hug at the beach.

"Daddy!" said little Dan.

"Son!" said Jahn.

"You came back! You're back!" said the son as his father tugged on his arms to spin him playfully around.

"Yeah! I did! I was sooo missing my boy!" Jann said, letting loose his bottled up tears.

"I was so lonely without the best father in the world!" The boy cried, overjoyed.

"Like hell you're lonely! Hey, come on, what about your mom?" The father retorted. "You don't have any idea how many adventures I had! I made sure to go to lots of places and bring even more lots of stories for you!"

"Really?!"

"Yeah!"

"Hahaha… Who'd guess that the demon in the battlefield could have a soft spot, eh, cap'n?" One of his crewmates hopped off afterwards.

The captain was known in his crew to be friendly in party, but strict in battlefield and a demon in a duel. However, their crew never saw his soft spot. In the hardest of times, he was the one who pulled his crewmates together and threw them to whatever danger they were facing.

Well, except for the times when he turned into a total cream puff whenever someone mentioned his son.

"Aah, shut up you idiot!" Jahn, trying really hard not to… "I'm not crying! I'm happy but I'm not crying!" Needless to say, this was a blatant lie.

The captain's tears only made his crewmates laugh and point at him. A small group of people left the ship to catch the comical scene.

"Hey, guys! Come to my house! I want to introduce you to my wife. We can then go to the bar and party like there's no tomorrow!"

"Ou!" The men shouted, raising their arms.

"Can I go too? Can I? Can I?" The boy insistently asked.

"Hahaha! Yeah! I'll ask to bring juice specially for you!" Jahn said.

"But I'm not a kid anymore!" The boy pouted.

"Hahaha! Yeah, right…!" He then patted his son's shoulder.

The group went to meet the captain's wife. Needless to say, she was way overjoyed upon seeing her beloved husband. For the first time in four years, the family was united.

Along with them, Jahn's crewmates got to meet his captain's wife and son. The group went to the bar to drink, sing travel songs, talk about past adventures and lounge about. The crewmen sat in two tables while the captain and his son sat at the counter.

"So? Are you going to take me on your next adventure?" This is the first question that popped into the boy's mind.

"No way in hell, son!" Jahn replied with a smile. "A boy like you is much too young to be a pirate, hahaha!"

"But, dad! I keep telling you I'm not a kid anymore!" The boy angrily replied.

"Oh don't be so angry. Here, drink this orange juice." His father said, offering him said juice.

"Ah! Thanks!"

The boy gladly accepted and started to drink it, what only prompted the man to start laughing and repeatedly hit the table.

"Ahahahaha! See, you're still a kid!" Jahn said.

"Wait, what? Damn, you tricked me!" It then dawned on the boy.

Soon, everyone joined the laughter.

"DON'T LAUGH, YOU…!"

After the laughing stopped, Jahn continued. "Listen, the truth is my next adventure will just be a few years from now… Do you know why?"

"Um… no?"

"Thanks to you!" Jahn replied. "I want to keep journeying the world, though, but first I need to settle down and pause for some time now."

"Why?"

"I have to live with you and your Mom, see the friends I left behind, I want to have a normal life again. Also, I have to train you, son."

"Train… me?" The boy curiously asked.

"I've been thinking and… I need someone to take up my skills when I get old. And is there anyone better than my own son? I know you want to be a pirate, so I'll teach you how to develop neat powers so you can become stronger than me someday."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I already talked about it with my comrades. They agreed to it. They'll pause as well to help me and train amongst themselves too. I guess the hardest thing they'll have to adapt will be finding a job…"

Jahn's crew was small. Only five men and one woman aboard. Each and every one of them had seen their share of the world out there. Each one had their battle scars and experiences. However, they never settled down, thus never had to deal with everyday problems like getting a job.

"Why don't you just take me with you?" Little Dan insisted.

"No, you're too young."

The boy looked aside. "Aw…"

"Oh come on, don't be so down! It doesn't mean you can't go later! That's why I'm training you. So when you grow up, you have enough ways to fight for yourself if you want to start your own adventures." The man replied to the insistence. "The world out there is dangerous, kid."

The boy felt a pang in his heart with the warning. He knew what his father was talking about.

Again, all of a sudden, the scenery changed.

_"What's with these scene changes? Where am I? Oh…"_ My ghost form groused as it was transported to the new scenery.

It was now a flashback of two people training, a few years later. The boy was eleven or twelve already. He and his father usually would spar with each other with wooden poles.

After a quick lesson, they'd skip right to practice.

_"The sparring sessions…"_ I whispered.

Jann dealt a strong blow to little Dan and then they both fell down in the ground, tired.

"Ah… ah… ah… I won again!" The man lay in the grass, taking a few deep breaths.

"Ah… ah… It's not… fair! I… never… beat you once!" The boy also ran out of energy for today.

"Well, duh! That's because… you're not… strong enough… yet. You're improving, though." Once he was done exhaling, he sat down. "You're beginning to hold your own in a straight fight. Now, I think it's time to show you something neat…"

He then pulled a pencil out of his pocket.

"What? A pencil? What's so special about a pencil?" Little Dan asked.

"Prepare to be surprised."

Jahn stood up, making a stance. He held the pencil in the hand within an outstretched arm, closed his eyes to concentrate for a few seconds and wrote a symbol in the air.

矢 (arrow)

"Arrows! Fly out!"

After he called the word, a rain of arrows went down right out from the symbol right in front of those two. The boy gawked at the trick.

"Wha… wow! How did you do that?!" The boy asked, marveled.

"Piece of cake." The man said. "You only need to write a symbol in the air and it's done. Try it out."

"But what should I write?" The boy said.

"Think about one-word spells. Write the word in the air and call out its name. Concentrate on what you want to materialize and how you want it to come out. It's all up to you."

The boy closed his eyes and concentrated. He then wrote the word in the air.

矢 "Arrows!"

Nothing happened.

"What? It didn't come out…" The boy, saddened.

"It's your first try, kid. It'd be a miracle if it did." The man explained.

"What?" The boy groused.

"For starters, writing in the air is quite advanced already. Here, take this piece of paper."

Jahn then handed little Dan a small sheet of paper.

"Write it down."

矢 "Uh… arrows."

As soon as the boy said the word, the paper glowed for a moment before a small batch of arrows whooshed out of it.

"Wa~~h!" Dan let go of the sheet, jumping away and falling flat on his butt. The arrows went limp on the ground.

"See? Neat, right?" Jahn said.

"That's awesome! Let's do it again!"

"You can practice it later. Now… let me show you another thing this pencil can do. Stand back."

He took the pencil from his son, went a few steps ahead and outstretched his arm. He concentrated for a few moments and…

"Enpitsu Yari!"

His pencil glowed before he turned into a spear. He then waved it around and struck a pose.

"There! Did you like it?"

The boy just let his jaw drop, stars shining in his eyes.

"It can turn in a spear or any other weapon you can think of." The man said as he turned it back to a pencil.

"You can make it do all that?" The boy asked.

"Yes, I can and you can as well. This is a gift I inherited from my father. When the time is right, I'll leave it to you. You can get stronger with time and lots of effort. Let your imagination run loose and you will unlock even more of this pencil's powers."

"Alright!"

Yet again, all of a sudden, the scenery changed.

_"Changed again… Wow, it's night already."_ My ghost said as it looked around. _"Huh? The bell's ringing… hold on…"_

Father and son were home when the lighthouse bell rang again, this time being immediately followed by cannonfire, explosion sounds and people running around, screaming.

The father watched it all from the house door.

"They're here…"

"Dad? What's wrong?" His son walked behind him.

"Dan. Stay here and hide." Jahn warned.

"What's happening?"

"No time to tell you! Go hide! That's an order!" He turned to sternly reinforce the warning.

"Let me go with you!"

"NO! Do not even think about that!" The man said firmly. "I can't let you die! You and your mother are my pride, my reason to live! And I want _you_ to become a great pirate!"

Saying nothing more, his father rushed outside and went to fight the oncoming group.

"Dad!" The boy screamed as his mother forcefully dragged him inside.

Time passed without an answer and Dan's anguish grew to be unbearable.

"No! Dan! Stop!"

He eventually forced his way out of his mother's firm grasp, directly running to the streets. He desperately searched his father whilst scrambling to evade gunshots, knives and explosions. Smack dab in the middle of a battlefield, Dan's eyes grew wide with the bodies littering the streets. Bandits killing people left and right, fires growing at every corner and the city being brought to the ground by an unknown, overwhelming force.

While he was only one. He had no way to fight back. He didn't want to fight back. He just wanted to find his dad.

_"The day of the raid… such destruction…" _Ghost-me said as it floated in Dan's pursuit.

"Dad! Dad, where are you?!" Dan sprinted down the streets until…

…

"Dad…"

…

"No…"

…

He found his father down in the ground, bathed in blood and surrounded by a ring of fire. Immediately, Dan went pale and tears rolled down his eyes.

…

"DAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

Personal safety be damned, the boy entered the blazing ring to tend to his badly-wounded father.

"Dan… my… son…!" A weak Jahn Richards tried to reach to his son.

"Dad! Dad! What did they do to you?!" Dan shrieked.

"I… was… careless…"

"Don't worry! I'll take you back home!"

"No! No… Save yourself… and your mother… leave me… here! You… have to… sur… vive!" Jahn grabbed his son's hand, deterring him.

"Say it! Who did this to you?! I swear I will chase him down!" The boy cried again, much more desperate.

Moments they shared together flashed through that boy's mind amidst the panic.

"Fool…" The man said. "Forget that… save yourself… survive! Write… your own… stories… from now on!" The boy didn't answer.

The man then grabbed his pencil soaked in blood and gave it to him.

"Here… you can have this… my son… you… have to protect it… with your life…! This is… the only… and greatest… recollection you'll have… of… this… old man… here…"

Jahn then closed his eyes for the final time.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

Crying a river of tears, the boy painfully laid down his father's body. A dark shadow appeared in the ring of fire and scared little Dan enough to make him run back home. As soon as he burst through the door, his mother came to his aid, screaming when she saw blood in his face.

"Son! What happened! Your hands are bleeding!" Worried to death, the mother quickly embraced her horrified son.

"No… they're not… It's Dad's blood! Someone killed him!"

Dan trembled all over, and his words trembled as well.

"No… you're kidding…" It took a few moments for her to let it sink in.

"It's true! I saw him bleeding in the ground! He's dead!" The boy shouted.

Not enduring anymore, the mother kneeled, hugged his son and let the tears roll down her face.

"No… no… the island! Dad!"

"DAD!"

…

Somehow, I heard myself talking and screamed awake, falling off the couch. I sat back up and massaged my bump.

"Dan?" I saw Luffy's head up in the hatch.

"Dan-san, are you talking to someone?" Nami went to check on me as well.

"What…? Ah? No! No… I just… W-why do you ask?"

"I heard you screaming 'Dad! Dad!' Something wrong?" Nami asked, somewhat concerned.

"Ah! That…" The words just wouldn't come out. "That's… that's just a dream turned into a nightmare…"

"You dreamed about your father, didn't you?" She asked.

"Yeah… got me there…" I said, holding my tears inside.

She sighed. "Hold on a sec. I'll make you some tea."

"Hey, Dan?" Luffy said, with his smile. "Why're you so down? C'mon, get some meat and cheer up!"

"No… yeah. That'd be nice. Thanks, captain." I said, watching him leave.

That dream was intense… I can't go down like this… I need some time to recover.

* * *

**Dan: "Damn... it was one hell of a dream, wasn't it? But from now onwards, only positive thoughts! The blue sea's not forgiving!"**

**Coming up next, you'll see the stories of Luffy and Usopp, two young dreamers whose pasts intertwine with each other, as if because of a trick of destiny. Do not miss Chapter 7! I'm waiting for you!**


	7. Usopp, Luffy and their childhoods

**7** - The lie and the straw hat, symbols of hope

* * *

"Here, a cup of tea for you. Free of charge, don't worry."

Nami gave me some tea to calm me down. I took a few deep breaths, slowly walking upstairs to the room. Although I don't like tea, it's good to drink a cup every once in a while to relieve the stress. Once I finished the tea, I went outside to get some air.

"Ah…" I breathed out as I was finished. "I'm better now. Thank you."

"Good to hear." Nami said, a bit relieved.

"But, man, that was a hell of a nightmare…" I said, looking forward.

"Ok, enough already. Come on! Get up, forget about all that and cheer up. Quick!" Nami repeatedly patted my shoulder as if to jolt me back awake.

"Hey, hey, where's the fire?" Usopp asked as he approached us.

"Fire?! The ship's on fire?!" Luffy, looking back and forth.

"Figure of speech, Luffy." Usopp explained, bopping him in the head. "Pay attention! What I want to know is what's going on here?"

"Dan-san here is a little sad. He had a nightmare about his father." She said as she leaned on the handrail.

"Hey!"

I tried to cut her word, but before I realized it was too late.

"Ah… is that so…" Usopp thought for a few moments. "Hold on, I got it! Don't worry now. I have the perfect thing to cheer you up again. Besides, it's something we forgot to do right after leaving Brush!"

"What is it?" Nami, Luffy and I asked.

"Stay put and wait." Usopp said. "I'll go grab a few things back there and you'll see."

We waited for a few moments as Usopp ran to somewhere else to get his stuff. He then returned carrying a quite heavy barrel. After he placed it on the ground and took a few breaths to rest, he hurried to the room and got some glasses.

Wait a sec. He's going to put drinks to us?! I hope it's not beer or anything alcoholic… Ok, I'm 18 already, I can drink alcohol, but I never _did_ drink! Until now, at least…

It's as the saying goes: there's a first time for everything…

"Ok! Let's do a toast to our new whiny comrade to make him get over it!" Usopp said as he held his glass.

"Ah, that's what you're talking about." It finally dawned on the other two.

"Yeah, I'm in too!" Luffy cheerfully jumped to the lower floor.

"I'm… I'm not whiny! I just had a nightmare and…" I tried to explain but ended up having to look away.

"Aw, come on, you're still on about that? Forget that already and come toast with us!" Nami then dragged me downstairs to join the other two.

I have this annoying tendency to easily get down, almost to a fault. As soon as a bad enough thought comes up in my mind, I don't seem to want to get over it and move on with my life. It's something this trip is bound to make me overcome… whether I want or not.

As I thought that, I heard a loud yawn coming from behind. I turned around to see Zoro immediately waking up, probably instigated by the talks about drinking.

"Ah… g'morning… hmmm… Usopp… is that a beer barrel?" Zoro greeted the others, quickly going to the drinking department.

"Exactly!" Usopp confirmed.

"Finally you woke up, Sleeping Beauty!" Nami sneered.

"Hmph… I sleep as long as I want." Zoro scoffed.

Usopp filled our glasses with beer, gave one to each of us and then raised his up high, proclaiming: "Now, we're five in this ship. Let's give a warm welcome toast to our new crybaby writer friend Dan!"

"TOAST!"

We then all touched our glasses to celebrat-oh.

"Hey, I'm not a crybaby!"

My first beer marked a milestone. The first steps of my adventure as a pirate. How appropriate. Interestingly enough, I drank only one cup, but once it got into my system, I felt slightly tipsy for the rest of the day… Yeah, it might be strange but I managed not to drink any sort of beverage in my life up until now. Well, those gulps of beer made me feel a whole lot better.

"This is going to be awesome!" I thought to myself.

No more nightmares. From now on, only good things! Well… although that's asking too much…

Shortly after that…

"Are we going to get to an island any time soon…? I'm hungry… I wanna go to the Grand Line…" Luffy would whine every once in a while.

"You already asked that ten minutes ago, Luffy!" Nami apparently kept track of the times he said that sentence. "No. No, we're not going to see any islands for the next two days!" She then walked around. "And if it stays like this, we can't afford to go to the Grand Line yet. To say that that sea is dangerous is _still_ an understatement!"

Wow! Um… can I still go back now?

"We can't go there like it's a simple excursion… besides, we still need a good cook!" Nami said, worried.

"Also, a musician!" For what, sir Luffy?

I just heard the conversation and decided to join it. "Is the Grand Line as dangerous as they say?"

"Don't tell me I heard someone ask me that!" Nami said, in utter disbelief.

"You did." Luffy flatly added.

"I said not to tell me!" Nami yelled, then sighed and tried to go on. "Anyway… The Grand Line is not just dangerous, you know? It's way more than that. Many pirate crews are exterminated on the way in and _never_ heard of anymore. Ne-ver."

Wow, even before they actually get to the Line? Is there some kind of entity weeding out the weaker pirate crews at the entrance?

"We'll be lucky even if we get there!" Nami completed.

"Why?" I asked innocently.

"There's one and only one entrance to the Grand Line, that's why." Nami explained, raising her index finger. "If the ship doesn't head to that direction, it will crash against the mountains of the Red Line and will be reduced to bits!"

Oh, so _the mountains_ are the entity weeding out the weaker pirate crews at the entrance…

"Ouch… I probably was better off not knowing that…" I swallowed and plugged the talk out, mind filled with the thought of hitting a huge wall in the middle of the sea. Chunks of boat drifting aimlessly in the sea and several bodies eventually turning to dust…

"Not. Good." I decided to walk to where Usopp was. He was on deck, since it was Zoro's turn to be up on the lookout and they just switched.

"Usopp? What are you going to do now?" I asked.

"Me? Hmm, I don't know, just look at the sea… I'm sorta bored…" Usopp said flatly.

"If you're bored, go catch some fish!" Luffy replied.

"Are you even listening?!" Nami stepped in to smack him in the head and get his attention back.

"Thanks for the toast, Usopp…" I said. "It left me with a hell of a headache, you know?"

"If you didn't like it, you shouldn't have drunk it." Usopp argued with a grin.

"Just kidding." I said. "It was my first time drinking anything like that."

"Really? How old are you?" Usopp asked, strangely surprised.

"Eighteen… why do you ask?"

"No, no reason. Kids these days manage to get beer at 14 or 15… at least that's what I heard back in my home…" Usopp put a hand on his chin.

"They do? Well, I used to go to pubs with my father when I was younger, though." I explained. "He would always drink himself wasted, but I was little and just tagged along. He'd always ask for juice, whether the pub looked like it had or not. Besides, my mother would beat him senseless if she ever found out he let me drink any beer."

"So what, did he let you?" Usopp asked.

"I remember he tried to do it once, just to find out what would happen… I had a sip, but I spat it out right there because it tasted horrible!" I said, smiling. "He just laughed it all off, but somehow my mom got word of it and totally beat the snot out of him. Now that I look back, I guess he deserved it…"

"No kidding…" Usopp said and then laughed. "That's it, man! Recall the happy and wacky moments. If you just keep thinking about your father's death, you'll be stuck with a hell of a depression… and bumps all over your head."

"Why?" I asked.

"Fall from the couch or get hit by Nami, pick your choice." Usopp pointed to her.

"Umm, how about neither-"

"Are you talking about me?" Nami asked.

Eek, she heard it.

"No! No! Nothing!" We said at the same time.

Well, stopping to think about it, he's spot on. If I stay stuck on the day my father died, I'll just get down. Sometimes, just thinking about stuff doesn't do any good to me. Note: keep myself occupied.

"I'm super proud to have a pirate as my father. His name is Yasopp, if I didn't tell you already."

"Yes, you did."

"He's the best shooter of all time! He can blow the antennae off an ant without harming the body!"

"Wow, wow, really?! That's just ludicrous!" Ludicrous: still an understatement…

"But he can do that, I know it! Also, he passed his awesome skills to me! The brave warrior of the seas, Usopp!" Usopp boasted. I guess that's his unofficial nickname.

"What about the long nose? Who passed it to you?" I said, laughing.

"My mother!"

We both shared a hearty laugh. Then it dawned on me.

"You're not serious, are you? She has a long nose?"

"Yeah! She had!"

"When did he leave?" I asked. Wait… 'had'?

"Yeah…" Usopp sighed and sleazily turned around, putting his hands behind his head. "It all happened when I was little. When my mother was still alive…"

Oh, so she's… I see.

"I'm sorry." Respecting his late mother, I bowed.

"For what?"

Not meaning to be insensitive, but somehow losing your mother can be many times more saddening than losing a father, I imagine… not that it's any less awful to lose a father. I lost mine the way it was, I couldn't imagine what I would do with my life if Mom passed away too…

"A while after he left, I picked up the habit to wake up early and run around the village shouting 'Pirates are coming! Pirates are coming!' just to see if it could lift up her mood. She was bedridden and it just got worse with each day." He said. "I still remember her on bed, thanking me for everything I did… which would be in vain, ultimately."

"Again, I'm sorry." Bow.

"It's fine, stop that!"

Usopp turned around to face the mast. "Still, I kept my habit and ran around, shouting everyday. I still hope to see my father again in this life!"

"I'm sure you'll meet him again." I said, cheerfully. "We can bump into Red-Haired Shanks as well, huh?"

He then walked around as he talked. "I did that, but it just made the villagers get angry and chase me whenever I said it was a lie." Oh. I can't think anything other than 'he's doing it on purpose'. "They don't say it, but they got used to that and now that I'm gone, they're all missing me!"

"So you were kind of an alarm clock to them." I deduced.

We both laughed again.

"I knew about Kaya. She lived in her home, always in her bed. Both her parents died and the shock was such that her body began to weaken as well."

Wow… talk about sadness…

"There I go sneak inside her mansion and cheer her up with my tales!" Usopp said, opening his arms.

He then reenacted the day he first met her.

"Yo! Hi, girl! Down in the dumps as usual, eh?" Usopp would say.

"'Who are you?' She would say." Usopp mimicked her speech pattern.

"I'm Captain Usopp!" He continued. "And I came here to tell you a tale and cheer you up!"

"My health is not of your business!" He said, mimicking a female voice. "Get out of here or I'll call security!"

"Hold on! At least wait until I tell you the story of the time I fought a giant goldfish back when I was five!"

Looks like I'm not the only one talking to myself…

"She didn't trust me at first, but once she heard my stories, she'd always burst out laughing!" Usopp recalled. "A day, I told her the story of the time I accidentally landed in an island made of a giant fish's poo and she laughed the whole time!"

"Good thing your stories are absurd enough…"

"For a while, life stayed like this… I would always wake up early in the morning, shout about pirates and run away from the people before I went to cheer Kaya up. I then met three little kids: Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman. We quickly became friends and decided to form the Usopp Pirate Crew! From then on, we became the strongest pirate group of Syrup!"

"The strongest and the only one, I guess…" I said, chuckling.

"When it was time for me to go with Luffy, the break up was inevitable. Still, I left them the message for them to chase after their dreams! To this day, they're proud to have had me as their captain. Kaya also promised me she would keep herself healthy until the day I got back. She would also study medicine, become a great doctor and treat my wounds when I return!" Usopp said, keeping his enthusiasm.

I have to admit, his energy is contagious.

"Ah… I can imagine how proud and overjoyed they'll be when you return from our adventures!" I said,

"Totally! By that time, I'll become a strong warrior of the seas!" Usopp raised his fists to the air.

"Interesting, I'll look forward to that day! Because your name will be in my Ultimate Adventure!" I cheered.

"Precisely. And my name will be eternized by your…" He stopped and caught himself. "Ultimate Adventure? Never heard of that…"

"You and everyone else. It will be the tale of the greatest adventure of all time. The most exciting quest in the world!"

"The quest for One Piece! Nice idea!" Usopp said. "How haven't anyone thought about that?"

"I had this idea ever since I began writing. I always had a knack for books of adventure and drama. My parents played a huge part in that… Dad and his tales, the writing skills I inherited from my mother resulted in my current quest." I said, pointing to my chest.

We both then turned to stare at the endless blue, thinking about our goals, while the ship sailed on the waves. We still have a lot of time before we land on an island, so… I have to get moving and do something!

…

…

…

Usopp walked away to the room, leaving me on the outside. Luffy walked out of the room, so I decided to get his attention.

"Oi! Luffy-san!"

"What?" He replied.

"Wanna play tag?" I suggested.

"Wohoo! I'm on it!" He happily replied.

"Come on… how old are you two?" Nami joined the talk. "Aren't you too old for those games?"

"I'm eighteen… and I'm still spunky, thank you! Nami-san… it's good to recall our childhood antics once in a while, right?"

"I don't do that. That's so childish… Well, I don't mind that much, though…" She said.

"Tag! You're it!" As I was distracted talking to her, Luffy snuck behind and tagged me.

"You did it now… I'm gonna tag you back!" I said, quickly dashing behind him.

There goes a round of us trying to tag one another, running around the ship. Wow, it's been so long since I last did that. And I never thought I would find someone childish enough to actually want to do that…

Many years ago… my friends and me would play tag every once in a while, in the streets of town. We would grow up, but there was an unmutable truth: I would always be tagged at least once. Always. No matter how many times I tried to brag I wouldn't be tagged next time, those words would come back to bite me. Actually, I guess Jun even kept track of how many times I was tagged.

Approximately nine hundred, sixty-seven times with an average of ten per game.

He was all too much into math. Any questions?

"Hahah! Tag! You're it again!" Luffy shouted, barely thirty seconds after I tagged him.

Time passed and as we grew up, we met each other increasingly less often. Then, it stopped altogether shortly before the group separated for sure. Everyone headed in a different journey, all of them with separate goals.

"Dammit!" I said as I let myself fall on the ground. It wasn't long before I tired out, way before Luffy. Why, he would always tag me back whenever I'd tag him! We actually engaged in a tagging ping-pong at some point.

"Hahahaha!" Luffy laughed, panting slightly.

"I always sucked at tag…" I said, panting much harder.

"Sucks to be… uh…"

Suddenly, a stronger gust of wind whooshed around us and took the straw hat off Luffy's head.

"My hat! Get back here!" Luffy chased it.

I followed him and tried to chase it as well. Fortunately, Luffy had it in control, stretched his hand and brought it back.

"Gotcha! Wow, that was close…" Luffy said as he put his straw hat back on his head. "It's priceless to me! I can't lose it…"

"This was Shanks's hat, right?" I asked. "I swear I saw it before…" I put a hand on my chin.

"Yeah, it was his hat." Luffy confirmed.

I snapped my fingers. "Ah, I remember! Once my father and his comrades went to a pub with his group and that's where I saw him with the hat on."

"When I was little, he gave it to me." Luffy said, removing his hat once again. "Hey, that reminds me of a scene… Shanks and his crew were on a pub hanging out with me. Then a street bandit walked in and demanded beer."

"Street bandits are never to be messed with…" I mused.

"Huh, unless you grow a pair and put them on their place, though!" Luffy replied.

"What about that man?" I asked.

"He walked in the bar and boasted about himself and all that crap." Luffy said. "He said that just because he had 8 million beri for his head, he had the right to have anything free. I only know Shanks watched and laughed about it all. That pissed me off so much I went to fight that bastard."

"And then?" I asked again.

"The man grabbed me and said that because I pissed him off, he'd kill me…"

Talk about short temper…

"He surely had to be pissed!" Luffy stated. "If I could, I'd kick that guy's ass really hard!"

"But you were just a kid back then, weren't you?"

"Yeah, so what?" Luffy reacted. "I had already eaten the Gum-Gum back then and my punch was faster than a bullet!"

Not sure what to make of his claims but… let's just follow his lead for now.

"So, did he do anything to you?" I asked.

"No, he didn't have the time. Shanks and his group saved me and defeated those assholes, but the guy still grabbed me and escaped to the sea."

"Hold on, you said you ate the Gum-Gum before so…"

"Yup. Not pretty. The bandit tossed me away in the sea and all of a sudden my body sunk like a rock. I tried to stay afloat, but I found out I'd either die by drowning or by a Sea King eating me… but Shanks saved me again."

"Nice! I knew Shanks would-"

"But the Sea King chopped his arm off."

"Ugh… ouch…" I said. "Still, he's lucky to have lost only an arm…"

"Later in the week, after all that fuss and his recovery, he left." Luffy continued. "I asked him if I could tag along, but he refused. I was too much of a brat to be a pirate, he said. But I told him I'd be a powerful pirate, I'd gather a group stronger than his, find One Piece and be the King of Pirates!"

Wow… I'm included in such a promise? That's huge stuff!

"Ah… If he could see me now…" Luffy daydreamed, looking at the blue sky. "He'd see my four awesome comrades!"

"Conquering One Piece and becoming the new King of Pirates…" I looked down, drifting and smiling as well. "Luffy-san… that's. Huge. I wonder how you're not afraid to say that…"

"Of course I'm not! That's my goal, after all!" He stood up, putting his hat back on. "He then gave me this hat as a gift. I'll return it to him the day we surpass his crew!"

Just another reason to strive and get stronger. We never know when he's going to show up and whether he and his crew are going to challenge us…

"I wonder when we'll meet him again…" I said, still drifting. "I hope it isn't soon because we're still away from the Grand Line!"

"Waah… I'm kinda hungry now…" Luffy touched his apparently emptied belly. I guess telling that story exhausted him. "Nami! Please, let's get something to eat or I'll get bored and hungry and starve and…!"

"Ok, ok! God…" Nami groused. "I share the ship with a boy of a rubber belly and that's my reward? Ok, fine, I'll make dinner, but I'll charge you twice for bugging me!"

"Hey, I got no money! Put it on my bill…" Luffy said.

"B-bill?"

They then went inside the room to wait for dinner. Oh, wait… Crap, I forgot! She charges us for dinner! I'm screwed… Where the hell are we anyway?! A pirate ship or a flippin' restaurant?

"King of Pirates, eh…" I started to doze off again…

"Hey, are you going to stand there or come eat?"

I turned and looked upwards to see Zoro leaving the crow's nest. He woke up from another of his 24-hour slumber sessions…

"He's yawning? Even when he's supposed to be on the lookout? This guy sleeps wherever it hits him, huh?" I thought to myself, blinking as a 'slightly mean' thought came to my head… Next time he sleeps, I'll set him up good.

"Dan, dinner's ready! Last call!" Nami called.

"Uhh, coming!" I ran to the cabin to get my dinner. Only then hunger began to hit hard as well.

"Ok, Nami, from now on I'll help to make dinner. Free of charge, alright? I can't really cook much but it's better than paying for a meal _outside a restaurant._" I said, determinedly. "Also, it saves Nami the trouble of having to wash the dishes!"

"Aw… come on, let me cook…" Nami said, pouting.

"Promise not to charge anymore and I'll let you." I proposed.

"I'll think about that." She replied.

I managed to cook what we had of chicken breast (and other parts), a pan of rice and canned beans. Contrary to popular belief – at least from people who tasted my cooking (_at least_ when I started) – it actually tasted normal.

After dinner, Zoro returned to the crow's nest (to sleep) and the others dispersed. One thing that doesn't change is Luffy sitting on the sheep figurehead, even at night.

The sun went out, bringing the night and the starry sky. Just another day in my new home… a boat as small as a drop of water in an endless sea.

* * *

**A promise between two old friends. A fire-forged friendship. Standing between the cross and the sword. This is a bit of the past of the eternal swordsman, Roronoa Zoro. In the next chapter, don't miss the tale of the past of this green-haired swordmaster and how he got here so far. Let's go!**


	8. How come Zoro gets a chap for himself?

**8** - The story of three swords! The promise between Zoro and Kuina!

* * *

Now… Let me ask this again.

WHY THE HELL DID HE HURL ME TO THE GODDAMNED CROW'S NEST?!

I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!

I'm. Going. To kill. Zoro.

Or at least childishly whack him in the head until I'm done being angry!

He put me, no, he _tossed_ me up here just because of a little prank gone wrong.

Which begs the question… WHY THE HELL AM I TIED UP?!

"HEY! Get me outta here! I'm irrationally afraid of heights! Seriously! I wanna get down!" I wiggled around, trying to free myself from the ropes.

"Haha, fat chance! You'll be there on the lookout whether you want to or not! Next time you try something stupid on me like that, I'll cut you into tiny pieces!" Zoro yelled, down at the deck.

I just heard Luffy bursting into laughter…

"DON'T LAUGH, YOU…!" Zoro snapped, really pissed off at him…

"That's what you get for messing with him, Dan!" Nami said in a playful tone. "Besides, it's your turn on the crow's nest anyway. Here, I'll throw you the telescope! Watch for any islands or enemies nearby~…"

I then saw a telescope come to me and hit me right in the head.

"Ow!" I groaned as I saw the damned thing fall right next to me. Letting out a sigh, I resigned myself to the consequences of my mischief.

"Aw man…" I then crawled to stick my face out and look at everyone down there. "Ok! I give up. But hey, if you didn't notice, I'm still tied up! At least can someone come here get me off these ropes? I can't watch what's around if I'm all bound up like this!"

Zoro was too busy trying to catch the still-laughing Luffy so, Nami called Usopp to do the job.

"Ah… finally… thanks, Usopp." And the job he did.

He only smiled, heading back down again.

"Man… Zoro really needs to loosen up a bit…" I said, ditching the ropes and grabbing the telescope.

"Ok, you two, that's enough!" A little while later, Nami, probably fed up with Zoro chasing Luffy for that long, smacked both their heads and forced them to settle down.

"Hey, Dan-san, about you being afraid of heights, is that true?" She shouted.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" I replied.

"Is it a long story?" She said.

"Actually it's kinda long and convoluted…" I said. "I'll try to sum it up. It happened when I was little and…"

Certain day, we were on a trek through the forest. We got to a part of the road with a bridge several meters above a river. As we crossed it, the bridge collapsed all of a sudden and sent us plummeting to the river below. We still tried to grab the bridge's remnants back, in vain.

The bridge crashed in the rocks and fell on the river, behind us. The strong currents dragged us around. I thought I was going to die there and then, either by the impact with the water, or by the waterfall that would soon follow. Luckily, there happened to be some people fishing nearby. They were quick to save us before the fall. I remember being told the story as I was knocked out by the time they rescued us.

"And that's how I became afraid of heights." I finished.

"Ouch… and you can share such a story like it was nothing?" Nami asked, still somewhat stunned.

"Umm, yeah. It's a thing of the past. I mean, ok, it still stings when I recall it, but not to the point of me curling up in a ball and sucking my thumb. That only happens when I'm actually on a bridge or some other high place-oh wait."

Nami burst out laughing at my explanation. "I'll get someone to replace you if you want." Nami said.

"No, no… it's fine, thanks." I turned down. "Zoro and Usopp are already doing it, I wanna do it too. You know, help and share the duties."

"Alright, if you say so…" She said and that was the last I heard of her.

I stayed here in the crow's nest, doing the lookout, all alone. Well, I really didn't want to be here because, well, high up. But I don't want to leave the work to the rest of the guys and hang around doing nothing. I want to be useful to the ship and to the group somehow.

Still, it gets boring pretty quick… Every once in a while I take the telescope and turn around to check, only to find nothing. Nothing ahead… Nothing behind… Only us and the blue sea.

On second thought, I take that back. This task really isn't for me. I wonder if I can do something else…

"Guys, lunch!"

I have to get something to… Huh? Lunch? Alright! Finally, I can get out! Remember to get a notebook and do some scribbles when I get back up here…

"Ah… lunch! Let's go-oh, wait."

When I stood up, it hit me.

Great. How in the world am I going to go down?

I stared down… and gulped hard. Ok, the fall isn't that big. The sails are unfurled, so I'm going to slide by them.

"Dan-san, won't you come down? Lunch's going to get cold!" I heard Nami's call.

"Hold on… I just need to find a way… down!" I said as I slowly stuck out my legs, trembling and trying not to look down. I then sit on the crow's nest… only to tremble and feel my thought processes come to a halt as I completely forgot what I was supposed to do. Before I realized it, I slipped out of the nest.

I still caught the sails, but only for a moment. The rest was pure fall!

"To~!" I breathed out as I landed.

Thankfully (or not), I landed on my feet, striking a pose with my arms stretched to the sides. Next thing I knew, I didn't feel my legs for a few seconds…

"Dan-san, are you alright?" Nami asked.

"Yeah… I am, but… talk to me after my feet stop feeling numb…"

There was a short and awkward silence. The wind breezed past us and the sound of waves rippled.

"Umm…" Nami tried to say.

"Yosh! I'm back. My legs still hurt a bit, but I'm fine now…" I said, still feeling my feet sting from the hard landing. Not enough to keep me from walking normally, though.

"You could just have grabbed the mast and slid down it! Saves the trouble of jumping and hurting yourself. Only a spring-man would do that." Usopp said.

"Umm, thanks for the advice but… couldn't you have said that earlier?" I sweatdropped. "Oh well. Next time I'll do that."

Joining the others to our lunch, I walked past the door to the room. I thought it would be peaceful, but I'm with them for quite a while now, I really should know better. Luffy stretched himself to steal our food. Again. Or as always, I should say. Except I had a little trick up my sleeve this time around…

"Luffy! Island ahead!" I said, pointing to the door.

"Really? Where? Where?" He said, looking after it.

"Haha! You fell for it! Your plate is mine!" I said as I snatched his plate.

"Hey! You tricked me! Give my plate back!" Annoyed, he tried to steal it back.

"Nana-nanana-na… You stole my plate too, this is the payback! You snooze, you lose!" I said as I avoided his arms.

"Hey, hey, you two! Don't play with the food!" Nami warned.

Lunch over, I dropped in to the men's quarters and grabbed a book to read for a while, waiting for the food to be digested. Here I go feed my strange (to everybody else, anyway) habit to read books out loud. You might think this is annoying, but I find it very hard to read in silence. I end up sleeping when I do that most of the time.

Sometimes, even with me reading a book out loud, if I feel the story's stalled in a subplot or the pacing is slow, I fall asleep. I do like reading but the story has to really be compelling to keep me awake the entire time, especially if the book is thick. When I'm not sleepy from the beginning. Reading always leaves me sleepy to a certain degree. Sooner or later, I end up sleeping with a book on my face, or yawning… with a book on my face.

_«"That's a stupid question, my dear. And you know why?" Hughes said. _

_"Why?" Johnson asked, intrigued. _

_"Because the answer is more than obvious… and if you were as insightful as me, you'd already uncover it without a flinch." Hughes said smiling._

_'Yes… the thing is… I'm not you. Care to explain how you figured it out then?"_

_Johnson couldn't help but keep getting annoyed by Detective Hughes' bouts of arrogance. Perceived arrogance, at least. For other people it might sound as cocky confidence, but to Johnson (and they've known each other for some time now), it's arrogance still.» _

I would continue if I didn't catch Zoro sleeping… again.

"Oh brother… wait… I have a little idea! Which doesn't involve trying to paint a moustache on his face!" I hissed to myself.

I decided to stop reading, get my crayons and pencils, silently sit near him and draw a portrait of his face. I tend to try doing portraits of people without catching their attention… most of the time they catch on, maybe nine times out of ten. Hey, if I practiced, I could join the Marines and be their photographer! I always wondered how in the world they manage to get their hands on the photos of pirates to place on the wanted posters. The thing is: the photos are cool. Really cool. It's like they're intentionally trying to make the pirates they're supposed to be catching look badass.

Hold on… that sounds nice! When they issue my bounty I might look cool in the photo!

Oops, sorry, trailed off there… back to the story.

"What are you doing?" I heard him asking, still half-asleep…

Crap, he saw me! Act natural, act natural!

"Ah, nothing… I was drawing a portrait of you _until_ you moved…" I said.

"Ok, whatever." He said, going right back to sleep.

A few moments of silence later, I tried to break the ice.

"Sorry about the prank."

"Forget that… it's cool now." He didn't even care, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"I know you for a while now and I noticed you're always so sharp and stuff… I thought you should loosen up sometimes." I tried to explain myself, feeling the awkwardness hit me all the while.

"Swordsmen like me aren't good in that." He said.

Another moment of silence, then I tried to change subject.

"So? Luffy said he found you imprisoned in a Marine base in a city. How did you end up there?"

"Ah? That? What do you want to know?" He then opened one eye to stare at me.

"Um… what do you have to tell me?" I countered.

"Well then, where do I start?" He said drowsily.

Enough waste of time, just throw a starting point and get going!

"I dunno, from the day you started your journey, maybe…" I said.

He paused for several seconds, scratching his head. "Everything started with a man. He's considered the best swordsman in the world. Once I heard about him, I decided to roam the world and search for him. Before I noticed it, I got lost, too far away to get back home…"

"You got lost?" I parroted.

What the… he just decided to go after that man on a whim? And then it's all up to his luck?

"I can only suppose your dream involves fighting and defeating him, right?" I said.

"Yeah." He confirmed.

"And why would you do that again?" I asked.

"A promise I did to a friend." He replied, short as all get out.

"Oh, that… can you elaborate on that?" I pressed.

He scratched his head again, as if to make his brain work out the details. "Her name was Kuina. She was a fellow disciple of the dojo where I trained back at Shimotsuki village." He said. "I still remember the day I started… I challenged the best student in the dojo for a battle, which happened to be her. If I won, I'd take the dojo sign. But I lost and as a "punishment", I had to be one of the dojo's students. Still, I worked hard to get stronger and defeat her. Yet, in the two thousand times we fought, she won them all."

"Wha-what? T-two thousand?!" I said, shocked. "How could you even fight that much?! And you still didn't beat her?!"

"Not a single time." He said.

"Not even once?!" I continued.

"Nope."

"Wow… she must be a hell of a master then!" I asked.

"Yeah. But we just fought with bamboo swords. On the two-thousand-first fight, I challenged her to a duel with real swords." He said.

"Real swords? The ones who cut and maim and stuff?" I asked, somewhat playing dumb.

"Uh, well, duh? OF COURSE! God, you're annoying…" He groused.

"Aw, come on, it's just an innocent question! Anyway, how did it turn out? What happened?" I asked.

"I used two swords against her single, but she won." He said.

"No way… just wow…" I marveled.

Kuina… she must be one of the most powerful sword masters there is!

"Maybe you should try beating Kuina-san first before you go to the-"

"Hold on, I'm not finished." Zoro interrupted.

"She beat me again, but she confided to me that she didn't believe that someday she was going to be the best sword master in the world." He continued. "Her breasts were growing and she feared it would force her to steer away from her goal."

Yeah, there are certain things that are difficult for a… Wait, what?

"Um… ok, not the way I expected you to put it, though… but go on, go on…" I said, a bit put off with his wording.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"No, nothing, go on, please." I insisted.

"Ok. As I said, we shared the same dream but she thought it was impossible for her to attain it… because she was a woman." He continued. "Her father told her women could never be true sword masters, and she herself stated that as she would grow up, her fighting potential would decrease."

"I don't think that's true… If it is, it's a bit unfair…" I said.

Yeah… this world's still unfair to women… there are few women in positions usually occupied by men. Personally, I don't encourage them to do it, but I respect the ones who do.

"Unfair or not, I only knew her rants just managed to annoy me." Zoro said. "How could she say those things even after she defeated me so many times before? Ok, I was younger, but still, I'm a man!"

"I see…" I said.

"We then made a pact. I told her that someday, I would defeat her not because I was a man, but because I was more skilled than her. With that, we made a promise. Someday, either one of us would be the best swordsman or woman in the world."

"Awesome!" I said. "You made that promise when you were kids right?"

"Yeah, but…" He tried to explain.

"Wow… this sea is endless… I wonder if we're ever going to meet her…" I daydreamed. "A pretty lady with awesome sword skills, I can't wait–"

"I'm still not finished!" He cut me off again.

"Wha-what? I'm sorry. What's up?" I asked, confused.

"I'm not finished. Hate to break it to you, but we're not going to meet her." He said.

"No? Why?" I asked again.

"Because… the day after we made our promise… she fell off the dojo's stairs and died." He said.

"What?! No… what… Just…" I was totally caught off-guard. "You mean… she's… she's…"

"Tough to believe, I know. I didn't either when I first found out. It was so sudden and due to something so minor I didn't want to believe. But that was what happened. She fell off some stairs and died. Just like that."

My heart was immediately filled with grief. How come someone as young as her can just straight up die from falling off of stairs? Yeah, it's still dangerous, people wind up with broken bones because of it… but dying?!

"Still, I will keep my promise." He said. "I'll fulfill it for the sake of us both. I received this sword, Wadou Ichimonji, something that originally was hers. Her spirit still resides in this sword. With it, I developed my fighting style: The Three-Sword Style."

"So… you knew about this so-called best swordsman in the world and went out to find him, that's ok. Which brings up the question: how did you survive for this long?" I asked.

"How do you think I earned the nickname of 'Pirate Hunter'?" He asked back.

"Because… uh, you hunted pirates?" Oh well, duh?

"Duh." He confirmed. "I walked around and fought wanted thugs who crossed my path. I then spent their bounties buying food and fixing my swords. Besides… fighting is the only thing I can do. So, my life was like that until I got imprisoned at that island and bumped into Luffy."

"And the rest… I know already." I said.

Hmmm… to be frank, I can't quite see him fitting in any white-collar job… And in some cases, the money of a bounty lasts longer than the money of a monthly wage…

Our talk ended with the sound of a cannon. Are there pirate ships nearby?

"Huh? I missed? No way!" I heard Luffy grousing.

"Aw, come on, Luffy! I never thought your aim could be this terrible!" Another voice, Usopp.

Zoro and I walked to the main deck, to catch Usopp and Luffy testing out the ship's new support cannon.

"What are you guys doing?" Zoro said.

"Hey, guys! Don't scare me like that. I thought we were being attacked…" I said… although I'd like if we actually were being attacked. Long gone is the last time I got to fight some enemies…

"Huh? We're just testing out this new cannon here… but it's tougher than I thought…" Luffy said.

"Told ya! Let me show how you do it." Usopp said, taking the cannon from Luffy's hands.

He then aimed it at a rock on a distance. After preparing another cannonball, Usopp paused for a second to check his surroundings.

"Cover your ears, guys! This bang will be loud!" Usopp announced. He ignited the fuse and covered his ears. "Fire in the hole!"

Even with my ears shut, the cannon made a loud noise on firing. The cannonball whooshed out, hitting the target and blowing the rock to pieces!

"Awesome! Bullseye!" I said.

"Cool! You hit it in the first try!" Luffy said, impressed.

Usopp was paralyzed, probably still grasping what he just did. He then caught himself back and celebrated, very proudly. "Hahaha! Well said, Luffy! When it comes to accuracy, let Usopp here do the job! Do you all believe me now?"

"That's why you're the crew's sniper!" Luffy said.

"Still, I'm better suited to be the captain, am I right?" Usopp asked, a bit cockily.

"No! I'm the captain!" Luffy defended his position.

Zoro and I laughed at their little squabble.

"If you keep arguing about that, we'll end up losing track of who's the captain!"

We shared a few chuckles, walking to the upper room. Luffy, Usopp and Nami sat on their chairs, I held on the helm and Zoro sat on the ground with his arms behind his head.

"Ok, I'll let you be the captain for now, but, if you screw up, I will replace you, got it?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah…" Luffy said, thinking about what to say after that. "Before we go to the Grand Line, we need to get another comrade!"

"Ah… Yup… We have a pretty good kitchen… If you pay, I can take care of it." Nami, please, don't…

"Hey, remember? I can't cook much, but at least I don't _charge_, huh?" I said, sparing a glance to Nami. "But it sure would be nice to have another comrade, especially someone who can cook better…"

"We'll need him for long trips, after all." Zoro said.

"Yeah! It's someone we definitely need in a pirate ship! A musician!"

Silence…

"Are you stupid, Luffy?!" Zoro, annoyed.

"What the hell do you think sailing on the seas means?!" Nami, exasperated.

"And I hoped you would say something constructive…" Usopp, let down.

"But pirates sing and jolly around, don't they?" Luffy pouted.

"Yeah, but we can't sing or jump around if we either are hungry or have food but no one to prepare it properly!" I said.

"Ah… that's right." He paused.

"SHOW UP, YOU GODDAMN PIRATES!" Wha? Or rather, who?

Suddenly, our talk was interrupted by an insistent noise coming from the outside.

"What the…?" Luffy opened the door and went outside. "Who are you again?"

"Shut up! Who I am is not of your business!" The voice, growing irritated by the second.

Another noise followed.

"How many are there?" Zoro asked.

"Only… one…" Nami peeked out the window.

"Ah… Then, leave it to Luffy, he'll clean him up." I shrugged it off.

"I killed countless pirates in my life." The voice said. "But this is unforgivable! How dare you kill my partner?!"

"Partner? Hold on, I know that voice… Is it him?" Zoro said, standing up.

"Him who? You know that guy?" I asked.

He walked outside to check on what was happening. I stayed behind, at the door. I saw, apart from a broken window-sill, a brown man wearing sunglasses and with his back against the mast.

"Hey? Could it be… are you Johnny?" Zoro gasped upon meeting the unexpected visitor.

"Who dares to call my name in such a disrespectful way?" He would come to threaten, but his expression instantly changed once he spotted Zoro on the upper flor. "What? Big bro Zoro!"

"So you're Johnny after all!" Zoro said, in a friendlier tone.

"Big bro Zoro! What the hell are you doing here?" The Johnny guy said, equally surprised.

"What about Yosaku? Weren't you together?" Zoro asked, with a hint of surprise.

Well, it's more than clear that they know each other, but again… who's that guy?

* * *

**With this chapter, we officially end the "Past Stories" mini-arc. From now on, only the future will be our aim, so let's wait for any news!**

**Next chapter: We'll see our group as they visit a floating restaurant in the middle of the sea. It's run by people that sure as hell are not your run-of-the-mill chefs. Let's meet again in Chapter 9! Don't miss it!**


	9. Sanji from the floating restaurant

**9** - The famous cook! Sanji of the floating restaurant

* * *

"Hey… Could it be? Are you Johnny?!" A surprised Zoro welcomed our sudden guest, walking downstairs to greet him.

"Big Bro Zoro! What the hell are you doing in a pirate ship?" Johnny said, astounded.

"Wasn't Yosaku with you?" Zoro asked.

Johnny went to the side of the ship, apparently, to look at something on the outside. While they talked to each other, Usopp and Nami muttered comments about the whole deal.

"What? These two know each other?" Usopp said.

"It seems they do…" I deduced.

"What on earth is going on?" Nami asked.

I slowly opened the door. "I'll check with Zoro-san…"

"Be careful out there!" Nami hissed. I just nodded before calling Zoro.

"Uh, Zoro-san!"

He turned to stare back at me. "What?"

"I-is it safe to leave now?" I asked meekly.

"Yeah, you can relax." He answered, staring back at whatever was outside the Merry.

"Alright, guys, the situation is under control. We can stay at ease… for now, I guess."

Much relieved, we walked out of the room, with Usopp and Nami still standing close to the door. I walked to the side of the ship where Zoro and Johnny were, to stare closely at what was going on. I froze for a second when I saw an unconscious man wearing a green longcoat, with blood-stained bandages around his belly. He was laid down on a small boat that I assumed was those two's transportation.

"Yo… Yosaku is…" Johnny said while he held his tears. Most importantly, his partner's skin was in a terrifying shade of blue. Which probably means…

"Sick." I muttered to myself. "Quick!" I called. "Guys, we have a sick person! Let's bring him onboard!"

Both of them nodded. Johnny rushed to the boat and brought his partner, Yosaku, onboard our ship. He was laid in the ground.

"Yosaku is very sick!" Johnny screamed in desperation.

"Sick?" Zoro asked.

"Indeed…" I thought to myself. I couldn't remember what the disease was, but I was certain that it was a disease.

"Yosaku was…" Johnny weeped. "He was fine and energetic up until a while ago… All of a sudden, he started to go pale, got weak and passed out! I have no idea why! Later, his teeth started to fall… his old wounds reopened and are bleeding again… I don't know what I can do anymore! I took him to that rock so he could rest, but…"

Oh shit!

"Your ship attacked us…!"

Oh great! Usopp, Luffy and I couldn't help but gawk when it all connected… Especially me because I was on the crow's nest doing the lookout and I had a damned telescope at my service! I had the chance to warn the captain and the shooter not to test their cannon in that rock because there were people, but no… I skipped my duty to waste time listening to Zoro's stories! Well… it's my fault anyways because I took the initiative… Nevertheless, thank goodness nobody's dead and we're here.

Luffy and Usopp gave me a quick and mean stare.

"Eek…"

Guys! This is not the time to blame me!

"We're sorry." Luffy and Usopp said together and bowed.

"My most sincere apologies!" I said while kneeling and bowing with my hands on the ground.

"If apologies were enough to solve problems, we wouldn't need police!"

The three of us gulped hard…

"Right? Don't you agree? Partner! Big Bro, he… is he gonna die?!" Johnny, crying a lot.

Zoro didn't answer… he seemed not to know what to say. It was better left unsaid because if someone blurts out that his life is at risk, then, pop goes the weasel… the last thing we need is everyone panicking!

I heard some steps approaching, then seeing the figure of Nami. She went downstairs from the upper room, directly heading to the dying man.

"Are you stupid?" She said all of a sudden.

"What?!" Zoro said.

"Umm, please Nami, this is not the best time for insults…" I said, trying to calm them down.

She approached us, crouching to examine Yosaku's eyes and tongue.

Immediately Johnny reacted. "What?! You…! What the hell you think you're doing with my partner?! I'm not gonna let this go on!" He ranted, unwittingly spitting all over Nami's face.

"How gross…" She pushed him away, with a hint of annoyance, wiping the spit off her cheeks. "Luffy! Usopp! Dan-san! There are limes on the storage room, right?" She immediately turned to us.

"Well… uh…" I didn't follow her thought quick enough.

"Are you listening?! Go get them quickly!" She shouted.

We rushed to the storage room. Luffy soon recalled there indeed was a barrel full with limes in the storage room. He and Usopp hurried haphazardly to the storage, bumped in each other and ended up blocking the entrance.

"Oi! Get outta my way!" Luffy pushed and tugged Usopp.

"Hey! _You're_ on my way! Stand back!" Usopp did the same, none of them with good results.

I was in their pursuit. Arriving to the scene, I sighed and pushed them inside. "Come on! We can't waste any time!"

They fell on the ground, but soon stood back up. After a thorough search of the room, Luffy uncovered the precious citrines.

"Found it!"

"Great! Bring it here, then!" Usopp called.

Luffy pushed the heavy barrel to the deck outside. We walked out of the room in his pursuit, quickly dispatching the limes to the "patient". Luffy and Usopp squeezed them continually on Yosaku's face.

"As I suspected… He's got scurvy!" Nami called.

"Scurvy, you say…" Johnny wondered.

"Hold on…" That word made me put a hand on my chin and pause to think. "Where did I hear this name before… hummm… ah! I know it! Johnny-san."

"What?"

"Scurvy is a disease caused by lack of vitamin C and it causes tooth hemorrhage. I'm not a doctor, but I know that because a pirate of my dad's group fell victim to that and he told me many other stories of people dying from that. I guess that's pretty common…"

Now I know why Mom would shout at me every time I forgot to prepare some orange juice…

"That's right." Nami said. "In the past, it was an incurable disease that affected big crews. Even today it still causes deaths, because it is common in long navigations. If a ship lacks fresh citrus fruits or they aren't enough for all crewmates onboard, then it's pretty much guaranteed for casualties to start appearing left and right."

She then spared an annoyed glance to me. "Plus, Dan-san, you don't need to be a doctor to know about it…"

I know, girl…

However, none of that exposition mattered to Johnny. "What about Yosaku? Is he going to be alright?"

"We were lucky to rescue him in time… He'll recover in a few days." Nami tranquilized him.

Johnny, screaming with hope… "Are you really sure, Big Sis-san?! I thank you a lot, thank you very much!"

…and spitting in her face again.

Nami pushed him away from her yet again. "Please, could you talk with your voice, not _your saliva_?"

"Johnny, have you had lunch before you got here?" I asked.

Everyone stared awkwardly at me.

"What? It's just a question! I do salivate a lot when I'm done eating!"

Nothing changed… everyone still looked at me, weirded out.

"S-sorry, shutting up now. Inappropriate question switch off…"

I said as I grabbed an invisible lever attached to my head and shut it down.

All the while, Luffy and Usopp still squeezed limes on the face of the sick Yosaku so he could drink its liquid. Such was their desperation that they squeezed a dozen limes on his mouth at once…

"That's smart, Nami! It's just like you're a doctor!" Luffy cheered.

"I always knew you were an intelligent woman…" Usopp praised her, putting a hand on his chin.

"That's right…" Luffy agreed.

"You should at least know something like that! It can cost your lives someday!" She finally snapped, seemingly more irritated than ever with their ignorance about the matter. Thing is, she yelled out right next to my ear…

"Just imagine what would happen if neither of us weren't here?" I said. "This guy would straight up kick the bucket! And, Nami… I think I'm a little deaf right now…"

Moments later, Yosaku spat out the limes he had in his mouth, sat down and immediately stood up, apparently "ressuscitated". He then promptly started dancing around with his partner Johnny.

"It's really working!" Yosaku hopped about. "I'm coming back to life!"

"Welcome back, partner!" Johnny celebrated, happier than ever.

"IT DOES _NOT_ WORK THAT FAST!" Nami angrily yelled.

"I knew limes and oranges worked against scurvy, but they don't act that fast, do they?" I wondered.

"OF COURSE NOT!"

"Ouch! Stop screaming, Nami-san! I'm hearing even less now…" I whispered as I rubbed my right ear… again.

I was about to tell her she should have anger control lessons, but it's probably better for me to keep quiet. Quickly, I stopped thinking about that as the duo stopped dancing and took a strangely serious tone. They made a pose, putting their left hands on their chins.

"Forgive us for the lateness."

"I'm Johnny."

"And my name's Yosaku."

They formally introduced themselves long after we knew their names…

"And we're known as the Pirate Hunters!" They finished their presentation, trying to look like sharp badasses. Well, I won't question if they actually are but… it _just_ seems they're trying too hard.

"In the past, Big Bro Zoro was our partner too." Johnny revealed.

"Nice to meet y'all." Yosaku said.

"Still… it's really a surprise to meet you here." Zoro grinned as he walked close to them.

"We're even more surprised!" Johnny said, with an equally warm smile.

"Who'd imagine that a Pirate Hunter would turn into a pirate…" Yosaku said, surprised.

The three shook hands-oh wait, no. They would if Yosaku hadn't fainted again and blood started to spurt in his face… That's what you get for dancing around when you're not healthy yet…

I could only let out an exasperated sigh…

"Zoro-san, let's take him to a bed so he can rest." I called.

He agreed, so Zoro and I carefully carried the again-sickly Yosaku to our room.

"We should definitely take this as a lesson." Nami added.

"Yeah…" Zoro agreed. "This sort of thing may happen during our travel…"

"Especially because our ship is small and incapable of storing much food…" Usopp lamented.

"We need someone knowledgeable about diets and stuff like that…" Nami said.

"I got it!" What's your big idea, Luffy? "Let's go after a sea cook!"

Oh, yeah, stating the obvious. But that's appropriate. Well, we're already looking after a cook, but a sea chef is a better idea.

What's the difference between a cook and a sea cook, you might be asking? Well, none. Except for the fact a sea cook works primarily in a vessel of some sort, be it pirate or Marine or any other.

"We can finally have some delicious meals, right?" Usopp imagined.

"If you're looking for a first-class cook, I know where you can go." Johnny stepped in. "However… this place stands close to the Grand Line. Also, and pay close attention to this… the man known as 'Hawk Eyes' sails nearby."

That name seemed to have awakened Zoro's interest. I noticed him tightening the clutch on his sword right as he heard the name 'Hawk Eye'. Is that the world's best swordsman's nickname?

"Hmmm… this is bound to be interesting." I said.

"Direction: Northeast! Our next stop is… the Floating Restaurant Baratie!" Johnny called.

We approached a restaurant-ship (or vice-versa) shaped like a fish. The excitement ran through all of us with the idea of eating in a restaurant in the middle of the sea. I have to admit I was salivating hard at that point… or maybe that's because I'm hungry.

However, our joy was cut short when we heard the sound of another ship coming nearby. Oh great, look at our luck… it was a Marine ship! Slowly, but surely, the ship sailed closer and closer to us.

"Don't tell me they sailed all the way down here just to take a shot at us!" Usopp said.

"It smells trouble…" Zoro hissed.

"Coming out of nowhere…" Nami's taken aback too.

"My 'Bad Feeling' sensor is tingling…" I said.

It didn't take long for us to spot a pink-haired man, dressed in a beige striped tuxedo, walking to the side of his ship directly in front of us.

"I'm Marine Lieutenant, Iron Fist Fullbody! I order you to declare: who's the captain of your ship?" The man in the suit talked to us, despite nobody having asked for his introduction.

"My name is Luffy!" Luffy introduced himself.

"And I'm Usopp!" Usopp did it too for some reason.

"Our pirate flag was made yesterday!" Ok… I don't know what that does have to do with the matter at hand…

"And I was the designer!" Who cares about that anyway?!

"Oh, for God's sake! Decide it! Who's the captain around here?!" I yelled.

"I am!" Luffy stepped forwardmost.

"There you have it! Geez…" Enough for me.

Before we realized it, that pink-haired Fullbody guy turned his attention to our two guests hiding behind the lower room's door.

"I have some info about those two. You say you're pirate hunters, right? Looks more like the pirates hunted _you_, right?"

That sly taunt was enough to anger them. Johnny then pulled out a handful of wanted pirates' posters and showed them to that Fullbody guy, but he completely ignored them. From the start I suspected that guy was a snob… It's a total shame the Marines are populated by snobs as dirty (or dirtier) as him…

Strangely (or not), Nami approached the scattered posters. Through the pile, I saw one that caught my eye, although I'm not sure why…

When I crouched to grab it, however, I saw Nami shaking with one of the posters in her hands. I thought about asking her about it, but it might've been uncomfortable and inappropriate for her so, I immediately gave up on that idea.

"Oh no! Not good! They're aiming at us!" Usopp's screaming took me off from my thoughts.

When he said that, the Marine ship fired at us.

"Leave it to me!" Luffy shouted, stepping forward. "Gomu Gomu no… Pachinko!" (Gum-Gum Pinball)

He jumped, holding his arms in place. He caught the full brunt of the cannonball impact with his rubbery body. The sheer speed of the projectile made Luffy's body stretch like a slingshot far away. However, when he was ready to toss the cannonball back, he lost the grip of one of his hands, lost his hat and redirected the ball straight to the roof of the restaurant-ship!

"Hoo~ boy…" I muttered. "What a bad move…"

Oh great, sooner or later he'll get discovered… we're so going to wash dishes for God knows how long! Maybe for the rest of our lives! Either that or until we come up with a way to repair that roof…

Not long after that, two of the restaurant's workers, not caring about the current situation, straight up walked to our ship and forcibly dragged Luffy away. They didn't have any problems to do so, due to Luffy hitting his head on the sheep figurehead and passing out… and us being too confused with the whole deal to do anything about it.

Absolutely craptastic…

After the mess settled down, we decided to stay on the ship and wait until further notice. Nami and Usopp stood at the front of the ship in standby in case something happened while Johnny and Yosaku fixed the window-sill of the upper room.

"Damn, damn, damn…" I, for my part, kept walking back and forth and expecting the punishment.

"Why's Luffy taking this long…" Usopp wondered, but he had no reason for that.

"What do you expect!" I said, worried. "He burst a hole in the restaurant's roof! Probably he'll get back here saying we'll have to work for I don't know how long to pay the damage!"

"Relax…" Nami, strangely nonchalant. "In times like these, it's the captain who pays the damage… Besides, it was _his_ fault to begin with. If he simply disguised as a Marine he wouldn't have to go through that… but he's too damn honest for his own sake."

Yeah, it's hard to imagine someone of his character resorting to sneaky tactics…

"Pay for your own mistakes, you say?" I said. "Don't you think we should, like, do something?"

"It's better not to…" Nami deterred me. "At least for now. Give him some time."

Giving in to her suggestion, I decided to just watch the situation unfold. All we had to do was to wait. And wait. And wait… And wa~~ait…

"Aaaaaahhhh!" I exhaled.

That feeling you have that time goes slower when you have nothing to do? Yes. It hit me full force there. I walked away from the front of the ship and stayed in a side further back, on the upper floor, leaning on the handrail.

_«"Aaahhhh… you bonehead! Remind me again: why did we get discovered when you ASSURED ME we'd go through unnoticed?!"_

_ "That's… that's ummm… bu-b-because I didn't think the security would be so tough! Besides, this base is known for being the place of great and awesome invasions!"_

_ "No…! That happened because you're a specialist in blowing our cover! Seriously!"_

_ "Uh… captain… are you sure that this is the best time to lash out at me? We should try to think about freeing ourselves!"_

_ "Don't make me hit you, ok? Say, private… how in the hell are we going to save our asses then! We're tied up, surrounded and with a dozen soldiers with weapons pointed to our heads! Come on, think about it, then!»_

"Dan-san…"

_«"Uh… Aargh-I don't know, okay?! We've got to get outta here somehow!"»_

"Dan-san."

_«"Get out how?! I'm out of ideas. You say how we're going to-"»_

"Dan-san!"

"Yaes!" I was caught off-guard. "Ah… sorry…"

"What the hell you're doing…" Nami asked. "Are you talking to someone?" And then I immediately felt my face going bright red.

Oh no…

"Ah... I was only… I was just… uh, talking to myself…" I said, overtaken by pure awkwardness… I tried stitching together a quick response but I finally sighed, completely out of words.

"Ok… story time again-"

"Sum it up, please?" She asked, blinking her eyes.

"I like reading. And there are books I like to the point of reading it over and over again and memorizing the characters' lines. And when I'm bored, when it's too silent or, preferably both, I let them out before it hits me. Got it?"

"That's weird…" Nami commented.

"Yeah, I know."

"What're you doing up there?" Usopp walked to us.

"Dan-san here talks to himself…" Nami said, teasing.

Oi…

"He talks to… what?" Usopp parroted.

"Nami-san! You didn't have to mention that! I'm not the only one, you know… I just…" Before going on a tirade trying to justify myself, Usopp interrupted.

"So you like to talk to yourself, huh?"

"Umm… let me guess, you want to know how that started? Good lord, I'm going to repeat myself, ain't I?" I said, sighing heavily.

I absolutely hate repeating myself. It might not be the case now, but don't you remember those situations you have to talk about something a thousand times for the person to get it? What about repeating the same thing over and over again? But to different people?

When I was about to explain my habit to Usopp, Nami went before me and resumed it all.

"He memorizes the lines of his books' characters. When he's bored, he acts them out."

"That sounds cool… and weird." Usopp commented, somewhat excitedly. "That's an actor's stuff!"

"Wanna hear some catchphrases I know?" I asked.

I was about to start a short show, but it had to be scratched because of a noise coming out of where the big hole was. Ok, Nami. Time's up.

"I guess we can do it later." I said. "Can we go now? I'm starting to get _really_ hungry…"

"But you still didn't…" Usopp still wanted to hear some snappy one-liners, but his wish was stopped mid-sentence by his belly. "Uh… stomach's calling."

"What? Didn't you two eat, what, three hours ago-" Her stomach rumbled as well, leaving her with a pink blush on her face. "Yeah, I give up, I'm hungry too. Let's get in there and check on Luffy…" Nami ultimately agreed.

We asked for Johnny and Yosaku's boat. Zoro and I got to row and there we go to the restaurant-ship Baratie. As we docked the boat in the restaurant, loud noises of tables breaking came from the inside. Sounds exactly like a bar brawl…

We nodded silently to each other, deciding to walk in and see what's happening. Upon opening the door… every customer was paralyzed, staring in shock at a scene.

"Is that a fight…?" Zoro asked.

"Uh, does that question need an answer?" I added.

One of the waiters, dressed in a black suit, held the pink-haired Marine we saw earlier by the neck. And it's highly likely something went on between those two, because that pink-haired guy's hand and face are bleeding… and the waiter looked _extremely_ pissed off.

"Wasting food like that… that's an insult to a sea cook. Well, congratulations, you've just signed your death sentence!"

Wow… a waiter beating up a customer? Where did we wind up? A restaurant or an Old West bar?

* * *

******Well... let's just say whoever's running the floating restaurant deals a smackdown to haters of their food. Tell that to Marine Fullbody! Now that Captain Luffy broke the restaurant's ceiling, he's got to work in order to repair the damage! But look at this... strong men also have their soft side. A simple act of altruism, a cook's burning dedication to his work and the options he'll be given for his future will surely be on the next chapter! Don't miss it!**


	10. Is this a restaurant or an Old West bar?

**10** - An undesired customer! Sanji's food and Gin's gratefulness

* * *

We walked inside to watch the turmoil.

"Hey… isn't he that pink-haired Marine Lieutenant or something?" Usopp wondered.

"Yeah! What on earth happened to him?" Nami asked.

"I dunno…" I said. "But shouldn't we hide? You know, before any of us gets hurt…"

Moments later, a blue haired, burly guy, dressed in an apron, strutted out of the bathroom.

"A customer! Sanji, you bastard, you're in this again! What the hell are you doing to our customer?! He's a Marine Lieutenant to boot!" He angrily said.

"What about it, you shitty cook? Don't call my name like that!"

A young man, of smooth blonde hair answered. He was impeccably dressed in a black two-piece suit, adorned with three big yellow buttons on each side, covering a blue shirt with black stripes and and equally black tie. Apparently he's the one called Sanji.

"You're the shitty cook around here, Sanji! Scum like you doesn't have the right to insult anyone working here!" The burly guy continued on his tirade. "Clients are everything to a restaurant, if you don't know that already! Beating them up like that… What the hell's going on your head?!"

"Customer or not, I don't give a damn." Sanji replied in a gruff manner, truly not giving a damn to the burly man's complaints. "This bastard ruined our valuable plates and insulted the Chef! I just thought he needed a little lesson."

He then dropped the pink-haired guy in the ground. The once-full of himself Marine Lieutenant had full body shivers at that point…

Hahah! Get it? Fullbody, _full body_!

Uh, sorry. Shutting up now.

"What kind of restaurant is this?! Do you treat all your customers like trash?! I guess you do, don't you? How on earth are you still running? It's absolutely unacceptable! I swear I will thrash your precious restaurant! I will bring it down to the ground!"

Destroy it? Why? Just because the chef beat you up? No, that's not the issue. Before that, no matter how you look at it, _this is not normal behavior in a restaurant_ and I highly doubt I'd have no reaction if I was in his place, but judging by the vibes he gives off, he must've done something to really piss the cook off…

"I will contact my superiors right now…!"

Oh, boy. The old and tired "I'll call mommy Marine" tactic… Another reason I can't trust them at all. I still catch myself asking why the idea of joining them went through my head at some point. Good thing I thought twice about it…

"That means I can't let you walk away alive, then…"

That sentence took me away from my thoughts. Sanji seemed way past the point of being just pissed off… He approached Fullbody, maybe to beat the hell out of him (again) but four other chefs rushed to restrain him, struggling to do so.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! Huh?!" Sanji then broke his seemingly calm front and angrily tried to get away from their hold.

Fullbody paled in fear, slowly backing away…

Then, out of the blue, a part of the roof broke and crashed down to the floor, raising a smoke cloud afterwards. Once it dissipated, we saw Luffy and an old guy fallen in the ground.

"Ouch… hoo~ boy, that was scary!" Luffy said.

"Head Chef! What on earth is happening?"

"Dammit! Look what you've done!" A furious head chef spoke to our captain. "You. Broke. My. Ceiling! It's all your fault, you punk!"

"Hell no! _You_ broke it, gramps!" Luffy replied.

"What are you doing, Head Chef! Leave this boy and come help us stop Sanji, please!" Screamed one of the cooks, still busy trying to stop an angry Sanji from wrecking the place even more.

"Hey, Sanji! Are you fighting in my restaurant again, bastard?" The head chef said. As he stood back up, I could get a good look at him.

His get-up was of that a common chef in every way, except maybe for the oversized chef's hat. He sported blonde hair, but the two sticks of hair protruding from his cheeks, or what he probably calls his moustache, subtracted a bit from his badass visage.

"Shut up, old fart!" Still disgruntled, Sanji didn't want to talk any further.

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?! Are you trying to crash my restaurant for good?! You damn eggplant!" He then swung his wooden leg, kicking Sanji in the face.

He then turned to Fullbody and kicked him in the face as well. "And you too! Piss off right now!"

"Got it?! Customers are our gods!" The big guy told Sanji.

"Only those who can gulp down all their rotten food anyway." Sanji replied rudely.

"Patty! Sanji!" The head chef called. "If you're going to start a fight, do it where the customers don't see!"

Not long after the fight subsided, a Marine soldier burst through the door, screaming. "Lieutenant! Lieutenant Fullbody! We have a problem! A pirate from Krieg's group has escaped!"

"What?!" Fullbody reacted.

"We thought he could tell us Krieg's whereabouts… but we ended up losing seven of our men!" The soldier said, still overtaken by sheer panic.

"That's rubbish!" An incredulous Fullbody said. "He was about to starve to death when we captured him three days ago! And we didn't feed him ever since!"

In the confusion, customers began to mutter stuff about the crew of a guy named Krieg. I wonder how powerful this bloke actually is… He's certainly fearsome, since saying his name is all it takes to shake people's hearts… in a bad way…

"Isn't he the strongest pirate from this sea, supposedly?" A person said.

Again, completely out of the blue, we heard a gunshot and a grunt. We turned our eyes to the soldier, suddenly sporting a wound and falling in the ground. Behind him, a man held a gun and walked to the door. Then, panic ensued as the people quickly ran away to stand against the walls or crouch behind tables blown away by the prior fight. The chefs, Luffy and Fullbody were left at the center of the 'stage'.

"Here comes another customer…" The big guy, I think Patty, said.

"He'd better not cause any more troubles and destroy my restaurant…" The head chef prayed.

"A pirate?" Luffy asked.

A brown man dressed in a gray jacket slowly walked past the three and tiredly sat down, putting a leg on the table. He looked to be weak in the knees for some reason.

"I don't care what it is…" He said. "I want food… This is a restaurant, right?"

"Welcome, you scum." That unorthodox reception only managed to unnerve even more the already frightened customers.

"I will say this only one more time, and really slowly, so listen very closely: Bring. Me. Food." The brown man said.

"Look, Mr. Customer, here we're hoping you to _pay_ if you want food… Do you have enough money?" The burly Patty still tried to charge him right off the bat, still trying to look polite.

"May it be a lead bullet?"

"Ok, you don't."

The brown man pointed a gun at the big guy, who immediately proceeded to crush with his bare hands the chair the brown guy was sitting on, hitting him as well.

"Patty, you idiot, there goes another chair!" Said an angry head chef.

"Wow, strong!" Luffy cheered.

Various reactions from the people nearby… Some watched it all with their jaws open, but the great majority of the customers rooted for the chefs! Maybe that's because a cook is standing up to one of Krieg's pirates…

"If you do not have the money, you cannot eat, _sir_." The big guy said. Yeah, Patty's his name.

The customers crawled out of their hiding, cheering him on, screaming and whistling.

"Good! Get him, cook!"

"Throw this pirate outta here! He's worth nothing!"

"Your belly is rumbling, dirty pirate." Patty taunted. He soon had the upper hand, easily handing a beatdown to the weak man.

"You fool, stop joking around. Hurry and bring me anything I can eat!" The brown man, panting heavily.

"You're not a customer so piss off!" Patty screamed.

Meanwhile, we heard a few steps walking away from the middle of the brawl. There was that blond-haired man, Sanji, leaving the scene to go upstairs. The head chef followed him moments later.

Attention turned back to the fight, we watched as Patty kept beating the poor brown man to a pulp. He writhed in agony in the ground.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. Just because he's got no money, he can't get food? Even if he's about to starve? Ok, it's a service, but there have to be exceptions.

Through all the commotion, Fullbody and the Marine soldier left the restaurant crawling and fearing for their lives.

"Ok, ladies and gentlemen, you can continue your meals!" Patty said while he was being applauded by the people. Oh, man… Come on, I can't agree with any of this! Ok, the brown one may be a pirate from Krieg's crew or whatever, he might be dangerous and all, but he's starving, for God's sake! At least let him have lunch!

"Come on! Isn't that pirate starving?! Why did the people applaud that beatdown?!" I whispered.

"Maybe his group is strong! What were they supposed to do? Boo him?" Usopp hissed back.

"That's not the issue! He's hungry! I'm going to…!" I whispered, moving to take action.

I stopped as Zoro touched my arm. I turned and saw him nodding his head negatively as to tell me to stay quiet.

"Do you want to get pounded too?!" Nami hissed.

"I can defend myself just fine." I said, defiantly.

"I'm not talking about them, but about me! If you go there and get back in pieces, I'll make it worse!" She threatened. I was basically alone, so I had to give in.

When the ruckus was over, we went to sit at a table. Or rather, at one of the tables who survived the brawl. After a few silent moments to recover from the great scuffle, we asked for the menu.

"Where the hell is Luffy? He's so late!" Nami wondered in annoyance.

"Ah… Maybe he's asking that blond-haired man to join us…" Usopp theorized.

"The one in the black tux, you mean?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's the one. You saw what I saw right?"

"Wow, he beat that Fullbody down and grabbed him by the neck…" I recalled, clutching my own neck. "Hold on, I just noticed something. Guys, did you see when he left the commotion and walked upstairs?"

"What for?" Zoro asked.

"Maybe he went to cook something for that brown guy."

"Makes sense… and that would be enough to make Luffy want him in our crew." Usopp reasoned.

"He'll be rejected probably…" Nami said.

"Rejected?" I retorted. "You think so? Then how did he convince the three of you to join him? Wasn't it through tiring you out?"

"Wasn't the case with me." Nami countered. "We made a temporary alliance."

"Usopp accepted right away." Zoro completed.

Our conversation was interrupted due to the noise coming from the upper floor. Apparently, the chefs were doing everything but cooking.

"Wow, I never thought a kitchen could be this noisy." I asked.

"It's them fighting, maybe? They're men after all." Nami sighed.

"Yeah." I sighed as well. "I'm a man too, but I have to agree… we men are really dumbasses sometimes…"

"Say what?!" Zoro and Usopp, together.

"You heard me. We're dumbasses!" I ranted. "Picking fights for stupid reasons or for no reason at all. And that's all I'll say about it for now. Let's just settle down and order our food, shall we?"

"Agreed." Nami said.

We browsed the menus, still neatly laid down in the table, ordered our meal and the hungry wait started.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Usopp asked as he looked to all directions with the sound of plates breaking.

We looked around, finding nothing too out of the ordinary beyond the craziness that ensued before. All of a sudden, one clear thought crossed my mind and, I'm certain, everyone else's: Luffy.

"Our captain will wreck this restaurant, mark my words…" I said, praying I would still be wrong.

More than it's wrecked already? Actually, that's not too far off…

About half an hour later, the moment we've all been waiting for: our meal coming to the table! It sure looked yummy, but there was a slight problem. There was too much empty plate.

"Ah, there we go. That's my problem with smart n' chique restaurants…" I said, slightly disappointed. "The dishes don't fill the eyes… or the plate, for that matter…"

"That's fine as long as they fill our bellies." Zoro countered.

Which I doubt they will…

"Hey! Chore boy!" Nami called.

We then turned our eyes to a slumped Luffy walking down the stairs, dressed with an apron up to his waist.

"Hey! Guys!" Luffy leaned on the handrail, surprised.

"We heard you have to work here for a year, right?" Usopp grinned.

"Can I redraw the pirate flag?" Zoro joked too.

"With you staying, we'll have to find a new captain!" I smiled and joined the mocking session.

He ran down the stairs, immediately stopping to look at our food. "Oooo… guys! You come and stuff yourself with this tasty-looking food while I'm not around? THAT HURTS, YOU KNOW?!"

"It hurts _you_ anyway!" Zoro chuckled. "It's our free will, after all!"

"Besides, if you were around, we'd have nothing to eat!" I said.

While Zoro laughed to himself, I saw Luffy picking his nose and putting the booger in Zoro's water. I unwittingly let out a few snickers. The others visibly held their laughs, but boy, was it hard…

"But… I have to admit. The food here is delicious." Zoro said as he was done laughing. He then grabbed the glass of tarnished water, slowly bringing it near his mouth like he actually was going to drink it.

"I… feel sorry for you… 'cause…"

We barely held our laughter as…

"YOU DRINK IT!"

"Waagu~~h!"

…he forced the "booged" water down Luffy's throat. That's it. Not bothering to hold anymore, we burst out on a fit of laughter. As our bellies began to hurt from the laughter, Luffy twisted around in the ground trying spit out the tarnished water.

"What have you done! I'm getting sick!" Luffy whined.

"I ask you right back! What the hell were you trying to do to me?!" Zoro retorted.

I soon noticed our laughs were so loud, everyone in the restaurant stopped their meals just to shoot a glare at us.

"Oh, Mother Sea! Thank you for arranging this date today!" Coming out of friggin' nowhere, Sanji surprised us. He knelt down and offered a rose to Nami. Hmmm… "Oh, love! Go ahead. Laugh at me! The one who can't stand torture! While I'm with you, whether I'm a pirate or a demon, my determination will always be strong!"

An annoyed Zoro, a confused Luffy and a still-getting-out-of-his-laughing-fit Usopp and me witnessed a waiter trying to woo the only lady in our crew.

"Oh, the horror!" Sanji said, poetically.

"Horror?" Nami parroted.

"There's a big obstacle between us!"

"I take it that this obstacle is me, right, Sanji?"

Suddenly, the chef came back, stomping his wooden leg on the floor.

"Ah… the old fart." Sanji grunted, back to his laidback tone.

"Well, that's good news." The head chef concluded. "Why don't you become a pirate together with them and get the hell away from here?"

Sanji turned around in a snap, visibly disturbed by those words.

"We don't need a punk like you in this restaurant anymore!" The head chef shouted.

"Hey, Head Chef. Am I the head assistant chef around here or not?! What do you mean, you don't need me anymore?!" Way more pissed off, Sanji replied.

The head chef would be glad to explain. "You always pick fights with the customers. You flirt with every pretty girl you find. Your food is fucking horrible! Face it, eggplant, you're no more than a burden to this restaurant! That's what I mean."

"What the…?!" Sanji clenched his fists, boiling in anger.

Meanwhile, some of his co-workers laughed at the browbeating taking place, probably imagining the possibility of never seeing Sanji's face again.

The head chef then continued. "Anyway, the other cooks don't like you anymore. Why don't you go become a pirate or whatever and get the hell out of this restaurant for good?"

A tense pause. Sanji processed what his superior just said, gritting his teeth.

"What?! Just what?! I've done nothing wrong and suddenly you start bitching at me, you geezer?!" Sanji said. He then approached the head chef. "I don't care about your excuses. I will not let anyone insult my food and get away with it! I don't give a shit to what you say, I'm going to stay here and do my work as a cook, whether you want me or not!" He then grabbed the head chef by his coat. "If you've got a problem, go whine to someone who gives a crap about that!"

"How dare you hit your own boss!" The head chef said. "You can't learn a thing, can you, eggplant?!"

He then reversed Sanji's hold and threw him far away… straight to our table. We saved the food, though.

"Damn it…" Sanji slowly recovered from the shock. "Damn you! Don't joke with me… No matter how hard you try to kick me out… I'll stay here and be a chef until the day you're dead!"

"I ain't gonna die." The head chef bragged. "I'm still gonna live for another hundred years!"

"You stubborn old fart…" Sanji reacted.

"Isn't that great he gave you the permission, now you can come with us-" Luffy, oblivious to the situation.

"Fat chance!" Sanji immediately cut him off.

He then stood back up, prepared another table, immediately ignoring the atmosphere and going right back to flirting with Nami. I don't know why but his flirting is beginning to annoy me…

"I deeeply apologize for the mess. As a token of my appreciation, I prepared a special Fruit Macedonia, my princess…" He knelt again, serving Nami a tray with a drink and a fruit salad in a cup.

"Ah! Thank you! You're so gentle…" Nami's happy.

"You're welcome…" Sanji's happy in return.

"Hey! How about you apologize to us too?! If you don't I'm gonna sue you, love-cook!" Usopp angrily stepped in.

"I brought you a cup of tea." Sanji said in deadpan. "Happy now? You're the one who should thank me, long-nose!"

"Ah… Wanna fight, huh? I'm not gonna go easy! Get'em, Zoro!" Usopp ordered.

"Buh?! _You_ take care of it!" Zoro nearly spat out his coffee.

"Usopp-kun, calm down…" I said.

"Aw, please, gentlemen… don't fight because of me…" Nami 'tried' to keep them apart.

Oi…

"I'll stop right now!" Sanji humbly obeyed, with hearts on his eyes.

"Why the hell would we fight for you?!" Usopp shouted.

"By the way… The food here is really good and all, but it's still a _tad_ too expensive to me…" Nami, trying to look cute with a begging tone in her voice. She then caressed Sanji's jaw, practically winning the argument. Ok, that's not new.

"Of course, for you it'll be free!" Sanji said happily.

Women's natural resource: Sensuality. With it they win it all! Honestly, who in their right mind doesn't fall for it? I know I do…

His acceptance immediately prompted her to hug him. Sanji swooned and melted down in love…

"It's on your bill." …but mid-embrace, he went back to deadpan at us.

"I totally saw that coming." Zoro said, annoyed.

"Well… can't be helped then." I said, trying to look smart. "I think it's our duty. I made up a rule to myself: Thou shalt never let women pay restaurant bills! When it comes to women, courtesy is always a must."

"Hmmm… It looks like someone speaks my language around here…" Sanji wondered.

"Who cares about that?! You'll both be backstabbed at some point…" I heard Zoro muttering.

Luffy only laughed about the whole deal, but he was snapped back to reality by a neck-stretching kick from Sanji.

"Why the hell are you fooling around here?! Go get the towels to the incoming clients!"

"Yes…" Luffy replied. Poor guy…

I sweatdropped as I saw Sanji promptly dragging him back to the kitchen. With the last of money I had, I helped to pay the total bill so as to keep Nami from spending a single beri on it.

"Oh, I never thought you were a gentleman too! Thank you, Dan-san!" Nami thanked, smiling and patting my shoulder. I admit, I felt a little better about myself because of it.

"Nami. Just one thing. Since I got to know you for a good while now… I have a privilege to award you." I held a finger ahead, talking quite seriously.

"What is it?" she asked, curiously.

"Please call me Dan-kun!" I said, smiling.

Zoro and Usopp wondered. "Dan-kun?"

"It's a women-only privilege." I told them.

"Ok! Dan-kun!" Nami gladly accepted.

* * *

**Floating restaurant Baratie's head assistant chef, Sanji, has been presented with two options. Either he stays working on the restaurant... or he joins Luffy's group, becomes a pirate and leaves. There's more surprises coming in the way of our heroes! After his surprising act of good will, more visitors are flowing to the floating restaurant... but not with good intentions! What will happen from now on? Read on the next chapter!**


	11. Don Krieg, The Backstabber

**11** - The most powerful pirate fleet! Captain Don Krieg

* * *

It's been four days already since we arrived at the Floating Restaurant Baratie. Four days that took literally _forever_ to go by. Four days where nothing particularly noteworthy happened since the initial commotion back when we got here. And now it's foggy. Incredibly foggy. So foggy, I couldn't see a yard away from my nose.

"Awww… man, I can't believe we've been here for this long, I'm getting sick of this!" Usopp whined, slumping his shoulders.

"Me too… And this damn fog only makes things worse." I joined the complaints, breathing out a good sigh. I sat down in a side of our boat and watched the landscape, although there wasn't much to see in the first place.

"When do you think we can leave?" Usopp asked.

"Beats me…" Eyes closed, Zoro didn't give much thought about it.

"Is Luffy really serious about staying here for a year as a chore boy?" Usopp asked. "Working for free?"

"I doubt it. I'm not quite sure, actually." I said, somewhat tired myself. "Maybe he's going to make some sort of deal with the Chef and get a way to shorten his time here."

"Besides, guys, this is a nice place to stay, don't you think? We have free food, and the weather's good…" Nami, with a speck of optimism.

"The free food is only for you, though!" Zoro snorted.

"And I fail to see how such a thick fog is nice." I said.

Maybe she enjoys bad weather. I just know I don't. Mid-talk, we spotted Luffy walking on the restaurant's upper floor, carrying a rather large bag of trash.

"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp screamed.

Luffy paused his walk and stared back at us.

"What on earth is going on? Come on! Get out of this so we can set sail right away!" Usopp pleaded.

"Can't you wait a little more? I'll try and talk with the Chef again." Luffy replied, trying to walk around with the bag.

"Puh-leeese?" Usopp whined.

I then caught Luffy turning his head to look at the fog ahead.

"Luffy? Do you see anything?" I asked.

He kept staring at the distance before answering.

"Ah… no, it's nothing."

Hmmm… something's quite off. Well, better not to give much thought about it, though. I decided to take his answer and turn my eyes to the never-ending fog again. I looked at it… for a while I stared to the shrouded horizon, not catching anything special. Then, I thought I was imagining things at first, but suddenly I saw a gray point in the middle of the white vastness. This dark point began to grow, slowly and slowly. When it started to take a more detailed shape, I'd soon find out it was the silhouette of a ship.

Uh-oh, maybe?

"Guys… come here!" I shouted.

Nami, Usopp and Zoro approached me.

"What is it?" Nami asked.

"You see a gray blur not so far away? Or is it my mind tricking me?" I asked, pointing ahead.

"Yeah… not your mind, dude. I see it too." Zoro said. "Hmmm, looks like it's coming towards us."

"Crap." Usopp hissed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"You're not the only one." I looked at him. "What if it's that Don Krieg guy's ship?"

Our eyes turned to the silhouette of the incoming warship again. It only grew in size the closer it approached us, instilling a sense of awe.

Luffy walked back out to face the ship.

"Oi! Don't you think we should leave?!" Usopp screamed.

"That galleon is huge!" Nami hollered.

The ship finally came to a stop.

A few moments went by before the fog began to disperse and the blue sky once again surrounded us. The bright sunlight revealed a badly damaged giant warship, with a broken figurehead, torn sails and countless battle scars. Simply put: a ship which went to hell and barely came back.

All of a sudden, a bustle started inside the restaurant.

"The restaurant's getting wrecked again!" I called. "Should we get in there?"

"Are you going nuts?!" Usopp countered.

"Really, Dan, do you think this is the best time to go in?! We can hardly guess what's going on in there!" Nami was against it too.

"That's exactly my point. If we get in there, we can get a closer look at the situation." I told them. "And maybe Luffy needs our help!"

"He'll be fine." Zoro said, calmer than any of us. "Don't sweat it. He can take care of himself."

I paused to think for a few seconds, sighing in resignation. "Fine, then. But if there are any explosions, gunshots or stuff like that, we're going in, right?"

Nobody answered.

"Guys?"

Nope. None of them wanted any part on it.

"I'm not saying we should jump in the fight. I'm just saying we should sneak around, take a peek and see what's behind all the commotion. Do we have a deal now?"

Zoro thought for a few seconds, glaring at the others, who were also indecisive before coming to a conclusion.

"Deal."

Deal settled, we decided to wait for any further developments to come from inside the Baratie. A not very long while later, the customers at the restaurant began to flee, evacuating hurriedly to the upper floor.

"What the hell is going on at the restaurant?!" Usopp asked.

"Ok. There weren't any explosions, gunshots or stuff like that, but the people are fleeing. Which probably means a pretty crazy mess is going on in there." I thought aloud. "Can we get in now?"

"Yeah, I'm on it." Zoro agreed.

"Are you crazy? Do you mean it?!" Usopp still didn't want anything with it.

"What's the matter? You scared?" Zoro smirked.

"Do-Don't say that! I-I-I'm going in too!" Usopp then changed his mind, although hesitantly.

Zoro turned his sights to the galleon. "That's weird. Is anyone there? Nobody's out yet… if there's anyone in the first place."

Moments later we heard a loud explosion coming from inside, so we decided to go in. Everyone except Nami sneaked our way inside the Baratie. She stayed behind, saying she had to keep an eye on the ship. When we walked in, we heard lots of shots and screams. As we stationed ourselves in the stairs, we took careful steps. Zoro and I overheard all the commotion while Usopp was busy trembling in his feet.

"Here's the food for a hundred people. Take this to your ship." Said a gruff voice that seemed to be of the head chef.

Looks like this Don Krieg guy went to war and had his ass practically handed to him in a platter. Just straight up coming to a restaurant and begging for food? Sounds legit…

"Owner Zeff!" We heard from below.

Zeff? So this is his name?

"What are you doing?" One of the chefs screamed.

"What do you mean by this?!" Another one, in a disbelieving tone.

"If his crewmates wake up, they'll attack and seize the restaurant!" A third one said.

"Only if they have the guts to do so. Right, failure of the Grand Line?" The Zeff man retorted, snorting.

Failure? What, he failed at the Grand Line? Even with a huge damn galleon like that? If he's got a ship that big, he certainly has a lot of followers to fill it up. Ok, sure, numbers don't make up for quality, but still. Yeah, this Grand Line really isn't for everyone…

"You… You're Red Leg Zeff?! So, you're still alive?" Krieg said, more surprised than anything else.

"I'm alive. So what? It's none of your business. As you see, I spend my life as a cook now." Zeff sneered.

Krieg laughed in a mocking tone. "Sounds like music to my ears. It seems you didn't actually choose to be a cook, though. Because that's the only thing you're able to do. Red Leg Zeff… I know that name."

Krieg then went on to explain a little about that epithet. The man who once had it was a no-hands fighting specialist. His kicks were so powerful they'd break rocks and leave a mark on steel. He earned this name because, when the battle was over, his legs always ended up bathed in the enemies' blood.

"But… it seems you've lost one of your precious legs." Krieg stated. "I heard rumours about an accident on your navigations. To you, losing one of your legs must mean not being able to fight anymore!"

"So? What's your point?" Zeff defiantly sneered at him. "I still have both my hands and I can cook just fine with them. Be straightforward and say what you have to say already."

"Red Leg Zeff." Krieg grinned. "I know you're the only one of your crew who returned from the Grand Line alive. You should've kept a logbook of your travel. I demand you hand it over to me!"

"Say what?! You went to the Grand Line?!" Luffy, in an overly cheerful tone.

"Yeah… I do have a logbook." Zeff confirmed, staring back at Krieg… "That's not a thing to hand it to you, though. That logbook isn't only mine. It's a precious memento of my travelling comrades. It's our pride… and it's not something to fall in the hands of the likes of you."

"Is that so? Then I have to steal it." Krieg concluded. "It's true I failed in the Grand Line. But I'm still the great Don Krieg! I had enough power to make it… Enough men, enough ambition! Our only problem was lack of information. That's why I need this logbook. With it, I can gather another fleet, seize One Piece and… be the Pirate King!"

"Wha? Hey! _I'm_ the one who's gonna be Pirate King!"

Guess who immediately reacted to those words? Yes.

"Ok. We're going down." Zoro called.

Trying to control my nervousness, I nodded at him, dragged Usopp and then we went downstairs. As we walked down the stairs, I took a glimpse at everyone's surprised faces after Luffy's decided statement. A mere chore boy stating he's _going to be_ the next Pirate King? That's quite the challenge, isn't it? That's because they don't know him just yet.

"Oh that's rich. I'll just pretend I didn't hear that…" Krieg snorted.

"You don't have to. I'm just stating the truth." Luffy, painfully confident.

"This isn't a game, punk." Krieg, more serious and menacing.

"I know that. I'm the one who will conquer the Grand Line!" Luffy did not change his tone. And I think every last pound of willpower must be taken from him before he does that.

"That's not funny, boy!" Krieg shouted. "We lacked information, that's true, but my fleet of five thousand men only lasted seven days! What makes _you_ think you can do it?! Hmph, brats like you are the kind I hate the most!"

Krieg paused, clenching his armored fist.

"If you're cheeky enough to say so… I guess it's best for me to wipe you out right here, right now?"

"If you think you can…" Luffy dared.

"Very well." Krieg accepted the challenge. "As you wish, I shall send you to the other world!"

Before they possibly lunged at each other, we stepped in.

"Fighting already, Luffy? Want our help?" Zoro was the first to come out of the shadows, unsheathing a bit of one of his blades.

"Bu-bu-but i-i-if you don't ne-need it, that's ok!" Usopp went next, legs shaky as ever.

"I was wishing for a fight since quite a while ago…" I appeared last, rolling my shoulders.

"Zoro! Usopp! Dan! You here?" Only then, Luffy turned around and noticed our presence. He then glared back ahead. "You don't have to do a thing. Just sit there and watch!"

Zoro then resheathed his sword.

"Ah… ok. That-that's a pity…" Usopp, hesitating. "I-if you say so, it can't be h-helped… but if you still need it, I can back you up! Good luck!"

Then Zoro shoved him away, probably for his safety.

I turned my eyes to see a burly, silver-haired man, clad in a golden armor protecting his whole torso and arms. It had guns beneath its shoulder pads and diamonds in his fists. He was rather large and wore a cape. Appearance fitting enough… he must be that Don Krieg guy. The funniest part was his light purple pants. How is it possible that a rather large man like him can wear pants of that color? And his legs are rather skinny as well…

Oh well, I'm trailing off. Nevermind.

He must be of the type who hides behind his weapons… It'd be great if I could beat him in a fair fight. It's not why I'm here, though. But if I had the chance, I'd lay his ass in the ground, that's for sure!

"Hahahahaha! Are those your comrades?! It's all you have?!" Krieg smirked.

"You can laugh all you want! I still have two more!" Luffy retorted.

"Two? Wait, hey! You're including me?" Sanji asked in disbelief.

"Hey! San… Sanji-san, is that your name?"

He turned to me. "Yeah?"

"Give up already. He's interested in you, and that means he won't go away until you join our crew." I said.

"Hmph…" He didn't answer, turning his eyes back to the scene.

Krieg lowered his shoulder pads and unclenched his fists.

"I'll take care of you later. I have to feed my men first." He then picked up a large bag of food and slung it over his shoulder. "Those who still wish to live, piss off while you have the chance. What I want is just the logbook and this ship." He then turned his back to us and started to walk away. Not before sharing a few last words of wisdom, though. "Now, for those of you who really want to throw your lives away… It's a pain to me, but I'll be glad to send you to the bottom of the ocean! Remember that."

Without saying another word, he left. After such a build-up, the tension finally calmed down. Moments later, the brown guy walked back in with a hand over his shoulder.

"Sorry, Sanji-san… I didn't predict it would happen this way."

"We don't need apologies from the likes of you, small fry." Zeff stepped in before Sanji could say anything. Everyone present stared at the Baratie's head chef. "We're no more than just cooks of this restaurant. We will feed anyone who's hungry."

"Chef! You? Defending Sanji?" Patty, disbelieving. "What the hell's going on here?!"

Shouts like "Yeah! That's all his fault!" and "He's gonna wreck our restaurant!" were bandied about amongst the other cooks, sharing the disbelief with the idea of feeding the enemy.

"SHUT UP, STUPID EGGPLANTS!" Zeff immediately put order in the house. "Did any of you experience what it is to be on the verge of starving to death?! Do you have any idea how terrible it is to sail in the ocean without water or food?!"

"What do you mean by that, Chef?" Patty, trying to wrap his mind around what his superior said.

"The difference between you and Sanji is this: _he went through that_." Zeff explained. "If you're here just to waste space and talk shit, you better fucking leave this restaurant right now!"

A stunned silence coursed through the cooks as they processed the head chef's harsh words.

"Not me." Patty spoke up first, taking a firm stand. "I'll stay and fight. I can't let them escape and step in me!"

"Me too!" Another one followed him. "I work here after all! This is my fucking home!"

"I have nowhere to go!" A third one screamed his determination.

The cooks then stood straight, picked up their cooking tools-turned-weapons and agreed silently about one thing: to fight and protect Baratie with their lives.

"What on earth are you doing?! Didn't you see how strong that man is?!" The brown guy called.

"Hey, Gin!" Ah, that's his name… Oh, sorry. Sanji turned to the brown guy. "Feeding the hungry is the duty of a cook… However, now that your captain's tummy is full, he's no more than a mere looter. No matter what we're going to do to your comrades, don't come take it out on me. I will kill anyone who's trying to take over this restaurant, even you! Got it?"

Gin swallowed. Hard.

"Hmph… You saved his life and then you threaten to kill him? How generous, Sanji…" Patty snarked.

"Shut up, half-ass cook…" Sanji retorted.

On our side…

"Yeah! Didn't I tell you he was amazing?" Luffy cheered, not caring about the mood.

"Do I look like I give a damn about that?! We have to run away fast!" Usopp screamed.

"Hey, hey, calm down you all!" Zoro said. "Ok, he's that Don Krieg, he's mean, but now he's hurt, right?"

"Hey, you! Gin!" Luffy called. "Once… you told me you knew nothing about the Grand Line, right? Even after you went there?"

He swallowed and lowered his head, visibly disturbed. "That's the truth. I don't know anything. What happened in the Grand Line back then… in that seventh day… Was it a dream? Was it real? It still can't leave my mind! It was unbelievable!"

He put his hands on his head, before ominously stating:

"That day… only one man… decimated a fleet of 50 ships!"

WHAT?

Only one man… destroyed an entire fleet? Of fifty ships! What is he anyway? A monster?! Everyone might have shared this opinion because the shock was more than apparent on our faces after such information. Although no one asked him directly about it, the situation practically demanded he elaborated on what he just told us. And so he did.

"Everything happened so suddenly. He appeared out of nowhere… and sank our ships one after another. If a storm didn't come at the time, even our _flagship _would be shredded to bits. I simply have no idea how there still were survivors after that disaster… It was too scary to be true. I don't even want to remember anymore! That man… his eyes were so deadly… just like a falcon's!"

"What?! Go over that again!"

Wait. For Zoro to react this way… could it be…

"This guy… there's no doubt about it." Zeff said. "It's all about the man known as Hawk-Eyes. You recognized his eyes, so it's more than likely it was him. And it wouldn't be the first time he did it. Or the last, for that matter."

"The man with hawk eyes!" Zoro said, gasping slightly.

Could it be? Could he be…the man Zoro's looking for?

"Do you know him?" Luffy asked.

Zoro closed his eyes, recomposed himself and replied. "This is the man I talked about. He's the one I'm searching for. I travel the seas to go after him. That may've been him settling some sort of old score."

"That's not it!" Gin screamed.

"Maybe you disturbed his nap…" Zeff said with a totally straight face.

"Fucking bullshit!" Gin screamed again. "Are you seriously saying he destroyed our entire fleet just because of that?! Just because we disturbed his goddamn nap?"

"Cool down, brat…" Zeff said. "That's just theory. Things like this are common in Grand Line after all."

"What kind of place is that?!" Usopp, terrified.

"A place where everything happens. Literally." Zoro said with a tense calmness, if that's even possible.

Oh… come on! Ok, nobody wants anyone waking them up from their sleep, but this is just too much! And I still wonder how just one man can do such a thing.

"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp, even more unnerved. "Stop doing this! We can't go there!"

Luffy trembled instead of replying.

"WOO~~~~OW!" He shouted after a long pause. "That's so exciting! I hoped the Grand Line would have that sort of stuff!"

"Think more about your friggin' safety!" Usopp screamed.

"Now that I heard about this, my next stop must definitely be the Grand Line." Zoro said. "That man… If I get there, I can meet him!"

"The world's pretty big, but I think this whole adventure would make no sense if we _didn't_ go to the Grand Line. And… I also have a man I need to meet." I said, staring ahead.

"Are you crazy?" Sanji asked. "You must be eager to die, then…"

"Bullseye." Zoro replied, unflinching. "But that's none of your business. When I decided to become the best swordsman in the world, I threw all the rest out the window. Call me crazy if you want, but I'm the only one with the right to call myself crazy."

"I may be saying something stupid, but I think we possess more than enough willpower to face the Grand Line." I stated.

"Yeah! Like true men of the sea!" Usopp valiantly bragged.

"You're such a liar…" Zoro lightly bonked him in the head with his sword.

Sanji only stared at us incredulously.

"Oi! Oi!" Patty called. "Didn't you look at the thing that's stopped right in front of us? That's a goddamn huge galleon from the pirate fleet captain Don Krieg! Only talk about that when this whole mess is over and if we survive it!"

Moments later, we heard screams coming from the outside. Instead of screams of pain, they were shouts of an army ready to strike.

"They're coming! I hear it!" One of the cooks called.

"Prepare to battle! This ship is our restaurant, it's our home!" Patty psyched up the rest of his coworkers.

Seconds later, the screaming turned from anger to desperation. All of a sudden, I lost the capability to react to what I was witnessing when I saw through the restaurant's window…

The big galleon, about ten times bigger than the Baratie…

…BEING CHOPPED IN BITS!

Then, we had to hang onto something as the sea wildly rocked the floating restaurant. Luffy dashed outside with me following suit… On the outside, the scene was stunning. If my jaw could go all the way to the ground, it would, as I watched the giant galleon slowly sinking and breaking apart.

"Big Bro!" A voice shouted.

"Big Bro Zoro!" Another one.

After the agitation calmed down and the galleon's wreckage spread around the Baratie, we turned to see Johnny and Yosaku in the water for some reason.

"Johnny-san! Yosaku-san! Why are you in the water… hold on…"

I immediately noticed there was one less ship anchored near the boat. To be precise…

"Where's the ship? Where's Nami-san?!" I asked nervously.

"Big Sis Nami… she… she ran away with the ship and all your treasure!"

What?

WHAT?!

"No! It can't be! Luffy-san! Zoro-san! We have to do something! Zoro-san! Zo…"

"It's him…"

I yelled at him to no avail. He stared slack-jawed to the sea ahead. My eyes then turned to a small black boat, with a green flame burning on top of it, peacefully approaching the wreckage site.

"Zo… Zoro-san… is it…" I asked, with a small idea of the answer.

His increasingly nervous shivers practically told the tale.

"It can't be… that man… he's… the Hawk-Eyes?!"

* * *

**What an incredible development! The wandering swordsman Zoro found the man he was searching for so long. Zoro's decisive duel is imminent and his adventure with Luffy has barely started! Certainly, he will waste no time to challenge the Man of Hawk eyes to a Duel! But will his skills be enough to withstand the power of none other than the best swordsman in the whole world?**

**Don't miss the next chapter!**


	12. Wait, what? Already! Zoro vs Hawk Eyes!

**12** - Hawk-Eyes Mihawk! Swordsman Zoro falls in the sea!

* * *

After quite a long while, the sea calmed down. We were then able to pull the anguishing Johnny and Yosaku out of the water. Immediately we jumped to question the duo.

"What do you mean?!" Usopp asked.

"Nami ran away with the Going Merry?!" Luffy continued.

"With all our treasure?!" Me too.

"What exactly happened?" Zoro asked as well.

"I don't know, I don't know! Everything happened so fast I can't remember!" Johnny screamed, in desperation, on the verge of sobbing his sorrow down.

He then took a few deep breaths, calmed down and decided to tell us everything that happened.

"We saw Nami looking at a wanted poster list for quite a while… We were worried about her, so we decided to go see what she was doing. We then saw this poster of a pirate known as Arlong… and we advised her not to go after him all by herself."

"Arlong… is he powerful?" I asked.

"Damn straight he is!" Yosaku confirmed. "He has a bounty of 20 million beri! He's so strong we'd be decimated in no seconds flat!"

"Tell only what happened." Zoro went to the point.

"Ah… ok." Johnny said, clearing his throat. "She told us, uh… she wanted to change right there! And then she asked us to turn around…"

As he told that, he started to blush and cover his face.

Somehow, and I don't know why, that doesn't surprise me… Again, women's natural resource: Sensuality! With it they win it all! We men are really stupid…

Ok, come now, that's a thing I _do_ like in women. Find me a man who's _not_ moved by attractive women and we'll talk. But that's the problem: women can use it to their advantage! And I hate to admit… but I don't have the guts to resist! I'm a man, after all and oh great, I'm monologuing about pointless stuff again. Where were we?

"And…" Yosaku continued. "When we turned back again to take a small peek…"

And there we go. We just can't resist the temptation to take a glimpse…

"…she slapped us in the face and threw us outta the ship!" Johnny screamed.

"Then, she ditched us in the sea and said she was only doing business, she was a thief and she was going to take the ship for herself!" Yosaku said.

That story froze us in place…

"She also said she doesn't remember saying she was part of your group… she said it was only an alliance…" Johnny stated.

An alliance… I remember she repeated that time and time again…

"And she told us to tell you that although it wasn't for long, it was fun. And if destiny said so, she could meet you again!" Yosaku concluded.

Oh shit…

Nami took the ship…

…AND BETRAYED US!

I saw her acting somewhat strangely, but I didn't give much thought about it… how stupid of me!

Plugging out the talk, I decided to dive into my thoughts again.

Nami…

Why would she betray us like this? I do remember seeing her grab a poster and trembling with it in her hands… it was that Arlong guy's poster after all! What does she have in mind? Is she going to the place this Arlong guy is… is she… no, no, she's not going to do that… is she? Even though I know people can act like that… and I nearly got killed because of that… but Nami… no, not her!

"Dammit!" Zoro grunted and punched the wall. "That damned woman deceived us!"

"Kaya gave that ship to us!" Usopp growled.

"It cannot be…" I said, disbelievingly.

"Wait a second! Guys, I can still see the ship! It's the Going Merry!" He then turned to Johnny and Yosaku. "Hey, you, where is your ship?"

"We still have it…" Yosaku said weakly.

"Zoro, Usopp, Dan! Leave here with their ship!" Luffy ordered. "Catch Nami as quickly as possible!"

"Forget this woman and let the ship go!" Zoro retorted, angrily. "We have no reason to go after her!"

"Zoro-san!" Annoyed, I glared at him.

Luffy paused for some seconds, also staring at him. He then clenched his fist.

"I cannot go on with my journey without her as my navigator!"

He and Zoro continued staring at each other, as if trying to win this argument by not using words at all.

"Alright…" Zoro sighed and accepted defeat. "You're such a pain in the ass, Captain…"

"Captain's order, it seems." I said.

Nami… she must be doing this for a reason… she has to!

"Usopp! Dan! We're going after her!"

"Right!"

The three of us nodded to each other, deciding to hop in the boat and leave. The pirate hunter duo then brought their ship.

"We're leaving now." Zoro said. "Luffy, what about you?"

"Go without me." Luffy refused. "I still have a debt to pay to the restaurant."

Saying no more, we agreed with his decision.

"Be careful, ok? The atmosphere here's going to get tense soon." I warned.

"Ok, I'll be fine." Luffy stated.

"DON KRIEG! IT'S HIM! IT'S THE MAN THAT DESTROYED OUR ENTIRE FLEET!"

Someone shouted.

What?! Do I believe my ears? The man (or monster) that destroyed fifty ships all by himself is here?

Zoro heard that shout as well and, all of a sudden, he went pale. Is that… Is he the one Zoro's looking for? I don't know if that is a question or a statement anymore… all this commotion is twisting and twirling my mind too much.

"Zoro-san… Zoro-san! We have to do something about Nami! Zo…"

I stopped bothering him as I saw his gaze fixed in a small black boat with a green flame burning atop of it, peacefully approaching the wreckage site. His usually calm and laidback demeanor disappeared at every passing moment and gave way to nervous sweating and a dumbstruck expression in his face.

"Who's that man?" Luffy asked innocently.

"The man I've been looking for my entire life… Hawk-Eyes Mihawk! The world's best swordsman!"

Those words buried my doubt… Zoro's gaze never left his target. The man he's set out to reach and surpass. His goal… is approaching him. His long years wandering the world and gaining fame as a Pirate Hunter weren't for nothing. He left the safety of his home for one reason and one reason only.

Mihawk.

The best of the world.

To honor his friend Kuina… he'll become the best!

"Zoro-san… don't tell me you're…"

Before I realized it… Zoro was long gone. Gunshots abounded, ricocheting around. I decided to sneak my way closer to the action and get a look at what was about happen.

I saw Zoro standing in one of the big chunks of the wrecked ship, close to the small black boat Mihawk was in. The atmosphere started to become tense. I paid attention to nothing else from that moment on… A duel was about to begin… Zoro's decisive duel!

His soon-to-be opponent was dressed in a black, wide-brimmed hat, an open black shirt with purple sleeves, simple light purple pants tucked inside large black boots. He also sported a very menacing cape, black on the outside and purple on the inside. He calmly hopped out of his boat, walking to stand in a chunk of the sunken galleon that will soon turn into a battlefield for the incoming fight.

He's Hawk-Eyes Mihawk. He's the number one swordsman in the world.

And he'll face Zoro, the Pirate Hunter.

My anxiety only built up as I saw Mihawk coolly taking off his necklace. I squinted my eyes and saw it contained a cross… he then removed part of it to reveal a small knife… A knife, approximately five to six inches long. He then prepared a pose, holding his small knife.

What the hell?! He's kidding right? He came all the way from… er, wherever the hell he came from anyway, here simply to face three swords _with a five-inch knife_?

"Don't fuck with me! Don't regret if you're dead after this!" Zoro, angered by this presumed taunting, immediately unsheathed his three swords, took a quick stance and rushed towards Mihawk.

"Oni Giri!" (Demon Slash!)

He screamed. There was the click-clack of swords clashing and then… silence.

And I stood there, gobsmacked, staring as…

As…

That knife… that puny knife… STOPPED THREE SWORDS!

Impossible… I just can't believe my eyes. That single moment, the moment I saw a five-inch knife stop a full, three-sword attack, led me to rub my eyes in utter disbelief. Of course he's the best swordsman in the world, but _this_?! Is he at such a level of skill, he can defeat three swords with _that_?!

There was a short pause.

"THE WORLD CAN'T BE THAT FAR AWAY FROM ME!"

Zoro screamed to the heavens, trying his hardest to deny the cruel reality. As the fight wore on, he didn't land a single scratch on Hawk-Eyes Mihawk, only managing to progressively tire himself out.

He once again started launching slashes after slashes… to no avail.

My anxiety turned into sheer terror as I saw that guy, Mihawk, effortlessly evading all those slashes at an impressive speed… with a knife that looked like a toy. Practically mopping the floor with it and showing Zoro that indeed…

…the world effectively is _that_ far away from him.

His skills buried my doubts for good. That's really the best swordsman in the world!

Before I knew it, Zoro was down on the ground, panting hard… ten minutes into the fight and he's already tired.

Not wanting to let himself go down, he stood up and attacked again, launching another series of slashes. However, Mihawk either defended himself with that toy knife or evaded them with minimal effort. Then, Zoro's sword collided with Mihawk's knife with such a force, the impact sent out a shockwave resounding nearby. Add to that another barrage of quick slashes. It was all so fast… and so terrifying I couldn't follow it properly.

Bit by bit, I couldn't help but let go of all my hopes of Zoro turning the tables… However, at the same time, I prayed for, if he lost… at least for him to come back in one piece.

If it stays like this… his promise with his friend… will… _will it all have been for nothing_?

Moments later, Zoro kneeled again, being brought down by his own fatigue. He got back up, only to gait around, just going one way and another trying to cut Mihawk.

"You bastard! How dare you call our Big Bro a weakling?!" I turned once I saw Yosaku yell.

"We're gonna pound you!" Johnny and him started to run to the scene and drew their swords out, but Luffy stretched his arms and grabbed the two before they could throw their lives away doing anything stupid.

"Stop! Johnny, Yosaku! Don't interfere! Wait he~~re!" Luffy grunted as he tried to hold the angry duo in place.

"If even Zoro's struggling to even scratch Mihawk… look at you! You'd be killed in a second!" I said, in a mixture of anger and complete terror.

There was a short pause…

Zoro regained himself and prepared another attack.

This time, he had the swords in his hands making a cross with the one in his mouth.

"TORA… GARI!" (Tiger Hunt)

Time seemed to stop in that moment… Will it connect? Will it fail?

My doubts ended… when I heard the sound of Mihawk's knife piercing Zoro's chest!

His body immediately wished to go limp, but he didn't let go of his swords, nor back down a single step.

"Step back or I'll make the knife pierce your heart out." Mihawk threatened. Zoro stayed silent. "Step. Back."

Step. Back. Those two words probably mean disgrace to a swordsman. To any other person, it'd be a perfectly sane piece of advice, but not to him. Not to the swordsman I know and that I learned to respect.

Zoro's reply?

"No. I won't! You… do you think I can just run away? If I take even one step back now, I'll never be able to fulfill my oaths. If I ran now… it'd be impossible to truly be the greatest swordsman in the world!"

He has the spirit of a true swordsman…

"That's called failure." To Zoro's brave statement, Mihawk's only capable of a cold response.

"That's also why I can't step back." Zoro said.

"Then you'll die." Mihawk retorted.

"So be it. In the end, death might be better!"

Mihawk took out the small knife and retreated a few steps.

"Zoro-san…" I could only whisper. I didn't care about the shiver running down my spine. I just wanted it to be over and Zoro to be alive…

"Boy, tell me your name!" Mihawk stated.

"I'm… Roronoa Zoro!" He prepared another stance.

"Understood. I will remember. It's been quite a while since I faced someone with such a strong will. As a reward… As a prize for a fellow swordsman, I shall wield this black sword of mine, the strongest in the world… to end your life for good."

Hawk-Eyes then unsheathed the huge sword he carried on his back. It had an entirely pitch-black blade. It was very cool-looking, with a quite wide, cross-like, flamboyantly decorated hilt. Truly appropriate for the best swordsman of the world.

"A kind offer on your part."

The real fight was about to start.

"Big Bro, it's enough… Stop, please!" Johnny screamed.

"No! If he surrenders now… he will feel guilty and disgraced for the rest of his life!" I didn't even know if it was right to say anything at that moment…

To hell with it. The only thing I felt like doing was to shout with all the air I had in my lungs.

"GOOOOO, ZOOROOOO! GET HIIIIMM!"

"Santouryuu Ougi!" (Three-Sword Style Secret)

He started spinning the swords in his hands.

Mihawk then charged…

"SANZEN SEKAI!" (Three Thousand Worlds)

It l

asted a total of a few seconds. Mihawk slashed past, Zoro slashed as well, staying in place. They stopped a few feet apart, with their backs turned to each other. There was a slight and chilling pause, anxiety building up by the second. Then, right before us…

TWO OF ZORO'S SWORDS SHATTERED!

He kept static in his pose as blood splattered on the ground… Only the sword he had in his mouth remained untouched. But the fact is…

He lost.

He lost to the best swordsman in the world. He tasted the power of the greatest.

He lost and had to face the cruel reality. Sheathing back his now-only sword, he turned to face his opponent, opened his arms and exposed his blood-stained chest… What is he going to do?

"What now?"

"A scar in the back is the shame of a swordsman…"

"Well said."

MIHAWK SLASHED HIM FULL-ON IN THE CHEST!

…

…

I was frozen and utterly terrified as I saw the big sword coming down on Zoro's chest full-force… Blood splattering out of his newly-formed, life-threatening wound…

I wanted to scream my heart out but the fear devoured my voice.

I lost my footing… I ended up kneeling down in the ground… Zoro! Why would you do that…

The slash was so strong he fell backwards… unconscious, probably… dead, probably (!), letting his body fall on the sea!

"ZOROOOOOO!"

"BIG BROOOOOO!"

My ears were bombarded by the screams in terror of those by my side… Usopp… Luffy… Johnny… Yosaku… people I met not long ago…

"WHAT'S THE POINT?! WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO DIE?! IT'S EASIER TO JUST GIVE UP YOUR DREAMS!" Sanji screamed, shocked by Zoro's attitude.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" At that moment, I completely lost my shit.

Sanji turned to me, taken aback by my scream. I decided to stand up one more time.

"Give up his dreams?! What the hell is going through your head to say that shit?! He's a swordsman! Besides… he's a man of will! He won't turn his back to a challenge even for a second! And above it all… he has ambition! AND AMBITION DRIVES LIFE FORWARD!"

I felt my soul screaming at me for a reason I couldn't explain. Once again, I knelt in the ground and felt the surge of scrambled emotion course through my body. But why? Why was it so intense? He's simply a guy I knew not too far long! We didn't have enough time to truly become friends! Why am I feeling this anguished?

I was taken from my thoughts with another scream.

"BASTARD!"

Eyes wet, I raised my head up and saw Luffy stretching to reach Mihawk and try to punch him… fruitlessly. He crashed in one of the ship's chunks…

"Luffy! Control yourself! What good are you doing with that?!" Usopp screamed.

After quite a while, the smoke dispersed and we found him still trying to pull his head off the wreckage.

"So… you're a companion of the swordsman? Thanks for taking care of him." I heard Mihawk say, in his cold monotone.

"Brother! Brother! Are you alright?!" I saw Johnny and Yosaku already rescuing Zoro out of the sea…

And I was paralyzed.

I was simply too scared to try and do anything… everything that just happened left me simply horrified. The power of that man is simply monstruous! Not even Zoro… whose skills I saw and admired… Not even he could defeat him…

If that man was enough to show us how the Grand Line can be scary, what am I even doing here?! I definitely shouldn't have left my hometown…

_"Get a hold of yourself!"_

At that moment, as I tried to reject everything that happened, a voice at the back of my head screamed at me.

_"Stand up and act! Don't let the terror consume you!"_

I didn't know who tried to talk to me, but I just know I felt the need to calm down and breathe.

As I recomposed… a still hesitant thought grew inside. I'm afraid. I'm still afraid to go to the Grand Line. What have I thrown myself into?! What if someone as strong as Mihawk wants me dead and I'm not up to the challenge? And there are plenty of people with that thought process in this world!

Also… that's why we need to get to the Grand Line! We can face the world's greatest pirates… get stronger and chase our dreams! The East Blue is not enough. This is the weakest of the four great seas!

"Hey, Dan! Come help me pull Zoro in the boat!" Usopp's simple yell took me out of my thoughts. It's not time to worry, it's time to act!

"Ahn… ah… ok!" I quickly wiped off my tears and rushed to the boat, trying to help Zoro.

"I'm going to get some medicine! I'll be back shortly!"

"Wait! Let me follow you! I'll get bandages!"

I followed him. We hastily returned with medicine and gauze for his wounds. As soon as I took a look at Zoro's torso, I unwittingly recalled the sole reason I never wanted to be a doctor. So much blood… I can't bring myself to stanch a wound this deep…

…but I can't bring myself to just let a friend bleed to death either!

"It's still too soon for you to die."

My ears turned at attention when the familiar voice yelled this.

"My name is Dracule Mihawk! Find your inner self, your inner world! Get stronger! No matter how long it may take… I'll be waiting you with my full power to duel me again!"

He screamed. He screamed for Zoro.

"Surpass this world… Surpass this sword! SURPASS ME! RORONOA ZORO!"

I have to believe my ears again…

Hawk-Eyes Mihawk…

Stating he wants someone to surpass him? Stating he wants to be surpassed by Zoro? These words made me reflect… Zoro's willpower moved him… the willpower that makes a man stand and face death! This determination… I SHALL SHARE IT!

No matter how strong the enemy may be… No matter the danger that may arise… No matter how tough the trip is… No matter how much suffering we may go through… WE WILL MAKE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE!

Zoro… you _will_ become the best swordsman in the world! I'm sure of that! No matter how long it may take… You have the drive for it, because, when Luffy becomes Pirate King, he'll need the world's best swordsman there to protect him! I'll make sure our adventures and achievements will be immortalized! Our name will reach the skies!

"He's alive! He's just unconscious!"

My conviction turned into happiness as Usopp made the statement. My convinced smirk broadened as I could confirm… Zoro is alive! We will go forward with him!

"Zoro…" I whispered softly as I watched for him.

Zoro struggled to raise his sword to the air.

"Luffy… Luffy… can you hear me?"

"Yeah!" Luffy replied.

"Sorry for worrying you… If I don't become a swordsman in the level of the world's best… you'll be in a dilemma, right?" Zoro said weakly, coughing blood.

"Big Bro! Save it! Don't say anything else!" Johnny screamed.

"I… I will not… I will not lose anymore! Until the day… I become the best swordsman in the world… I swear! I will not lose to anyone!"

In the short time we've been together, this is the first time I've seen him cry. And not just a tear or two, but enough tears to drip down his face.

"ANY PROBLEM?! PIRATE KING?!"

Zoro screamed to the heavens, to which Luffy simply smiled.

"Nope!"

"You're a good team. I hope we meet again." Mihawk stated. However, as he was about to hop back in his boat and leave, there was a loud bang that stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey, wait a sec, Hawk-Eyes. Didn't you come to get my head? East Blue's most powerful head, that of pirate Don Krieg?"

Ah, there's still that. The jackass Krieg's butting his ugly head in.

"Indeed, it was my initial goal." Mihawk said, not bothering to face him. "But I had enough fun. I'm going back to my nap."

Krieg cracked his neck. "It might've been fun for you, but I'm still to have my bite of it."

Two words define Don Krieg: Blithering idiot. Why is he going to pick a fight with the best swordsman in the world, when he watched Mihawk show him that he's too far out of his league?! Man, Mihawk destroyed _fifty_ ships! But still, sir Numbskull Krieg thinks he can do anything to him?

"You'll die before you get in that boat!" Yup… he does.

He opened all the weapon-storing compartments in his armor and shot it all at him.

"A true fool…"

Mihawk said calmly before utterly obliterating the remains of Krieg's ship and sending the hundreds of tripulants flying through the air. After the water receded, we saw Luffy sticking in the window-sill of the veranda of the restaurant.

"Usopp! Dan! Leave now! Take care of Nami!"

"Ok, understood!" Usopp shouted. "Zoro, me and Dan will bring Nami back! Focus in making that cook one of us!"

"That's right! Do that and then the six of us can go to the Grand Line!" I yelled.

Usopp threw Luffy's straw hat back to him.

"Ok! Go now!"

As we left the battlefield, I could still hear Krieg going on about…

"Men! Now that the musical interlude's over, our battle's about to start!"

"Good luck, Luffy… Be sure to come back!" I whispered to myself.

Slowly letting what happened sink in, our boat left the Baratie for another, completely different, but just as important mission: Follow the stolen Going Merry and bring Nami back!

* * *

**Zoro... now he knows that he has a very long road to walk before he's on the level of Hawk-Eyes Mihawk.**

**Nami... what are her intentions? Why did she act like that?**

**Our heroes, followed by the Pirate Hunter duo, leave the Baratie on a hot pursuit of the runaway navigator! Where is she going to take them?**

**Don't miss the next chapter!**


	13. Our navigator's running away! WHAT?

**13** - Betrayal! A captainless ship chases the runaway navigator!

* * *

While our boat sailed on, I kept busy wondering about lots of things.

The conclusion of that duel was enough to leave me kneeling in the ground, horrified and too scared to do anything. Is this really how I'm going to face this adventure? Of course, I knew since forever that the Grand Line wasn't a place for everyone, but…

To experience the real thing like that… it's an entirely different feeling.

And I keep telling myself I have to find the man who slaughtered my father and ravaged my hometown…

…maybe I should forget all that and find something new to do… or stop thinking about that like this or else I'll sink in a spiral of depression faster than I can notice.

Which brings me to the next issue at hand…

Nami.

Why did she run away?

I still don't believe she abandoned us like that. Abandoned, being a euphemism, because I don't want to think about betrayal. Betrayal… this word… I have met people I thought I could trust who let me down… I heard about people close to me who betrayed each other and these things always make me sad…

But she could have used that chance to, maybe, get to some issue only she can work out… I don't know… there's so much going on at the same time my head's twisting again.

One more thing going through my head was the wanted poster I saw with Johnny and Yosaku back at the Baratie…

I'm not sure why but it caught my eye… maybe because the mugshot was unusual.

Better pause and go do something now.

"Johnny-san!" I called.

"Yeah?" He turned and stared at me.

"Do you still have that wanted poster list?" I asked.

"Ah… mine is with Nami right now…" He replied.

"I still have mine, though… why do you ask that?" Yosaku joined in.

"No… just because. Can I see it?" I said, still trying to find why I wanted to see it.

Yosaku handed me his wanted poster list. As I calmly browsed through the posters, there it was. The one that caught my eye…

I read quietly. "Wanted. Dead or Alive. Bounty: 52 million beri. Nickname: Stealthy Feet. Name: Giri Himura…"

He had long dark hair covering his eyes and his face was obscured by a hat. In general, he looked like a shady character, judging as he was dressed in mostly black attire according to the photo… As I looked at some more wanted posters, I still had no idea why that photo in particular caught my eye, so I decided to just put it aside and hand it back to Yosaku. It's probably pointless to think further about it.

"Where do you think Nami's going?" A few moments later, Usopp asked.

"Hmm… I have a bad feeling about this…" Johnny put a hand in his chin, thinking aloud.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because… if our predictions are correct…" Yosaku said.

"We're going straight to Arlong Park!" The hunter pair deduced in unison.

Usopp swallowed… Fear was written in their faces.

"Arlong Park?" I asked.

"It's the base of a pirate fishman called Sawtooth Arlong!" Johnny said in a spooky tone.

Arlong… I remember hearing them saying something about him back then. If they faced him, they'd be crushed… he must be scary.

"Haven't you ever heard about Sawtooth Arlong?" Yosaku asked.

"Never in my life…" I scratched my head. "Until you told me about him, though…" I then turned to Usopp. "Usopp-kun, did you hear about him?"

"Nope, me neither…" He denied.

"So, I think we owe you some explaining." Yosaku said.

He blew a whistle and the two of them started a quick update.

"There are three great forces ruling the Grand Line." Johnny started. "One of them is called the Shichibukai (Seven Sea Warlords). The Shichibukai is a group of seven pirates with special permission from the World Government."

Right off the bat, something seemed kinda off to me. "Why are there pirates with authorization from the government?"

"It's because those seven give a fixed percentage of their treasures to the authorities." Yosaku replied. "Other pirates consider them no more than government's dogs."

"That man who defeated Zoro… Mihawk… he is one of them." Johnny said.

Good lord… so there are six more men as strong as or even stronger than Mihawk?! And all they have to do to roam free around the world is pay the Government a tax?

Still, I don't understand what all this has to do with Arlong… Well, better let them talk a bit more.

"One of them is a fishman. He's called Jinbei, leader of the Fishmen Pirate Crew." Yosaku said.

"Ok, let me guess…" I said. "This Arlong guy belonged to that group?"

"Precisely!" Johnny and Yosaku said in unison.

"He fought alongside Jinbei in the time they were in the Grand Line. Since Arlong returned from there…" Johnny started.

Wait, what? He _did_ return from the Grand Line… That's already proof he's not to be taken lightly…

Yosaku went on: "…he already destroyed twenty villages!"

"Twenty?!" Usopp almost freaked out.

Oh great… Nami…

"Oi? Where are you going, Yosaku?" Usopp asked, as he noticed Yosaku starting to walk away.

"I'm going back to the Baratie… I have to warn Luffy and Sanji about what I told you!" Yosaku said.

Yeah… I wonder how Luffy's doing right now. Did he pummel that Krieg dumbass? Will he bring Sanji with him? Well, after all, this Arlong guy seems to be a bigger pain in the ass than that Don Krieg guy… It won't be easy, that's for sure!

As I thought about that… wait, where's Yosaku?

"Yosaku is gone… he's transporting himself in a panda-fish." Johnny said.

"Panda-fish?" I asked, puzzled.

"They're not agressive, so, they serve as a transport, sometimes. The trip itself is not very comfortable, though…" Johnny said.

I could only sweatdrop… He sure knows his stuff…

Moments later, I left the front of our boat to go check on Zoro. He was sleeping peacefully and his torso was all bandaged and red from the blood stains. That wound… that gaping wound… remembering how he got his chest literally slashed open still sends shivers down my spine…

"G'morning…"

Ah, he noticed me…

"G'morning…" I replied. "How are you doing?"

"Wah…" He tried to sit down, breathing out as he replied. "Much better… and ready to fight again."

"Pfft…" I scoffed. "Mihawk slashed your chest, but not your stubbornness…"

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked.

"Nothing special." I said. "Just sit there and rest. You'll have plenty of time until your wound is healed. Although I think this one will follow you for the rest of your life."

"It's much better than a scar in my back." Zoro stated. "It's the shame of a swordsman."

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your bravado like this and maybe I'll cut you too! Damn, you gave me one hell of a scare back then!" I said, probably more annoyed than I intended.

"Come on… Stop worrying over everything!" Zoro replied, equally annoyed. "Man up and leave me be. When you decided to join us, you knew full well that the trip would be far away from smooth, right?"

"Yeah, I knew about that, but…" I whispered, not wanting to elaborate. "Just knowing from the outside is one thing… And we're still far away from the Grand Line…"

"Guys! Arlong Park ahead!"

This shout interrupted our talk, making us leave the room, but not before I helped Zoro get up. When we left, we saw an enormous building in the shore of the island. It was the Arlong Park. Johnny and Usopp advised us to duck so we could pass by the fishmen unnoticed.

Moments later… as the boat approached the park's entrance:

"We're finally here… Arlong Park!" Johnny said.

"And so it's here…" Usopp trembled. "The hideout of the dangerous pirate fishman Arlong, who came back from the Grand Line?!" He gulped. "Are you sure Nami is here?!"

"First, if Nami is really around, we should find the Going Merry anchored around here." Johnny said. "Why don't we go around and check if the ship is really on the shore?"

"Ok." Usopp agreed.

"Get ready. We're going in."

Zoro stood up, already clutching one of his swords and, gasp, preparing to battle!

"WHY THE HELL WOULD WE DO THAT?!" Usopp and Johnny glared at him incredulously.

"You idiot! We know absolutely nothing of this place!" Usopp snapped.

"Our enemies are goddamn fishmen!" Johnny said desperately.

"We have to plan our entrance!" Usopp tried to talk Zoro out of his close quarters 'strategy'.

Sincerely, I wasn't a single bit in the mood to enter through the back door. Besides, one way or another, we'll get our covers blown and a fight will be inevitable.

"Sorry, but I'm not aligning with such cowardly plans." Zoro stated. "Luffy asked me to bring Nami back. And I'll fight until I bring her back!"

Although Zoro was far from being in the condition to say that, I couldn't help but agree with him. I grabbed my pencil, trying to muster all the courage inside. Usopp and Johnny turned to me.

"By the way… one way or another, we'll end up meeting the fishmen. I'm not really willing to hide around all the time. This betrayal thing is getting on my nerves! I want to beat the crap out of the fishmen or whoever the hell they are because I'm goddamn angry right now!" I said as I cracked my knuckles and joints.

Yeah, and I really mean it! All that just pissed me off. First, Zoro almost gets himself killed by that Mihawk guy… Second, Nami ditches us and steals our ship?! No friggin' way! If it's proven she betrayed us, I will treat her as an enemy, even if she's a woman! And we don't let our enemies escape!

"Let's go!" Zoro called.

"Yeah!" I followed him.

Later, I only remember feeling a strong blow to my head and seeing everything going dark for quite a while.

…

…

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I was sitting down and couldn't move my arms… or legs… and my head still hurt.

"Ah! We found the Going Merry! It's there!"

That sentence woke me up. I saw Usopp and Johnny in front of us.

"Huh?" I said as I looked around.

"So Big Sis Nami is really here…" Johnny said.

"What's the meaning of all this?! Untie me!" Zoro snapped, already back awake.

Only then my brain rebooted and I got a full grasp of the situation. The three cowards tied me and Zoro and shoved us to the door of the boat's room.

"Hey! What the hell are you thinking?! Untie us! Release me! I'm gonna punch your heads if you don't comply!" I waved my bound body around, trying to get their attention.

No go. They ignored us, and kept looking at a map.

"Get us off these ropes!" Zoro and I shouted.

"You cannot get outta here." Usopp smiled, turning to Zoro. "You've got a severe wound in your body that is still healing. Sit down, be quiet and leave the rest to me with a bang!"

He poked Zoro's chest, making him scream in pain…

Zoro must be thinking something in the line of 'I'm gonna chop you in bits!'

"And you, Mr. Pissed Off, sit down and cool your head. Being hot-headed and going wild like you want right now won't get us anywhere!" Usopp then turned to me and crouched just to poke my forehead.

"Stop… poking… me…!" Seriously! That's just annoying! Fortunately, Usopp stopped before I could bite his finger. I took a deep breath and let the anger die down. For now. "Huh… I should get used to being tied up…" I talked to Zoro after the poke onslaught was over.

"Why?" Zoro asked, seemingly innocently.

"Stop playing dumb, OK? You tied me up back when I tried to paint a moustache on your face-" As I started my rant…

Zoro stopped it with a deadly look. "If you ever try that again…"

"I know! I know! You'll slash me to hell and back! Geez… you're so grumpy!" I snorted.

Zoro merely humphed and turned his face away. "Deal with it."

We turned to Usopp who faced the front of the ship, all mighty and confident. "I will be the one to bring that woman back! Ha~~hahahaha!"

All that as Johnny did an aside take. "He's only confident because he knows that she isn't in the Arlong Park…"

Usopp bossed. "Helm to the right! We're heading towards the Going Merry! Alright! Now it's time to name my adventure in this unexplored island! It will be 'Captain Usopp's Great Journey!'"

"Do you want me to write it? You just need to untie me." I said.

"Ok, I'll let you do that… later. By the way… nice try, but I'm not falling to that. Huh, to beat a liar like me, you're a hundred years too early, boy!"

Damn.

"Look! Fishmen!" I pointed Usopp to a threat coming by. He now faced the shore, and gasped, having spotted three of the weirdest fishmen I've ever seen in my life.

His confidence quickly descended to the realm of fear. He went down the prow and lost his footing… wuss!

"Are you ok?" Johnny asked.

"How the hell he's gonna be ok! He saw the fishmen!" I said.

"Fishmen?!" Johnny and Usopp shouted in unison. They then taped their mouths shut immediately.

"Go at full speed!" Usopp hissed.

"Ou!" Johnny replied, whispering 'enthusiastically'.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HERE?!" Zoro shouted, ignoring their tactics.

"Shhhhh!" Johnny and Usopp quickly silenced him.

"Didn't you see?! The fishmen are there!" Usopp hissed, trembling. "They are from Arlong's group! I'm scared, so what? You cannot complain!"

"Come on, those fishmen are worth nothing!" I said in annoyance. "You could just set us free, then Zoro and I here would kick their asses in a snap!"

"No way in hell and that's final!" Usopp would have none of it.

"Like you have any right to despair!" Zoro kicked Usopp repeatedly.

"Have it occurred to you that this area might already be under Arlong's control? What are we supposed to do?" Johnny asked.

"I know. Let's just get back and tell Luffy we failed to bring Nami back…" Really, Usopp? We sailed all the way here just to get back empty-handed? Not if you release us from these damned ropes!

"Quit joking and untie us now, you bastards!" We shouted.

We then heard the sound of someone diving… Oh shit!

"Fishmen!" Usopp and Johnny screamed, then they exchanged glances, coming to a quick conclusion.

"Abandon ship."

"Understood."

HEY!

"Wait a damned minute! Hey, you!" Zoro snapped.

"At least free us! I'm gonna hit you both twice if you don't do so!" I tried to threaten them…

…to no avail. They simply jumped out and left us there, tied up… at the mercy of the fishmen. Wow, now that I got to take a close look at them, those were two of the ugliest fishmen I saw so far…

"What? Only two? Maybe they got here by mistake?" Said the brown one.

The other, a blue one: "Maybe their comrades thought they were deadweight… then they tortured them and ditched them…"

"Deadweight?! Deadweight would be you if I was untied! But literally dead! And, preferably, with a side helping of torture…" I mumbled, trying to make it incomprehensible.

The blue one: "Anyway, let's get them to Arlong-san before anything else…"

"I'm so gonna kill those two…" I hissed furiously to no one in particular.

Like that, the two of us were captured by the fishmen. Some time went by until we passed the main gates of Arlong Park. And it was chock full of fishmen… ohh boy… if my hands were free… Everything stinks like fish. I only like my fish roasted in a frying pan. Raw fish stinks!

Amongst the lots of burly fishmen, the one who stood out in the crowd was a blue one sitting in a chair. He wore a yellow jacket with flowery patterns, a furry brown hat, boardshorts and had a saw-like nose.

Wait, saw-like?

Saw-like… Saw tooth… Wait, it's Sawtooth Arlong!

Wow, that was fast… we get to meet the chief of the baddies already?

"So? What's your purpose on this island?" Arlong asked.

"We came here to search a woman." Zoro replied.

The fishman then looked to me. "He said it all. We're after a woman." I said.

He didn't fall for it. "I'll ask you again. What is your purpose in this island?" He said it slower this time. Just to rub it in our faces that he's not to be trifled with.

"Like I said, we came here to find a woman, you stinky half-fish!" And there goes Zoro to trifle with him.

"Asking the same question twice? Are you deaf?" I said that, while a small part of me posed a big question: Where in the hell did I get the guts to _trash-talk the boss_?!

"Ah… these inferior humans have guts…" Fortunately, Arlong didn't lose his temper at the spot. "Considering your predicament, I'll let it slide this time. _This. Time._ Because next time there _will_ be consequences. We, fishmen, are evolved beings that can breathe underwater."

Yeah, so what?

"…and those abilities make us, fishmen, superior to you humans."

Ok, right. _So what?_

"Just the powers we possess are solid proof that we're much better than you puny humans."

Better? In what? When it comes to ugliness, hell yeah, you win it all!

"It's better to pound this into your heads. The superior beings of this world are not the humans, but the fishmen!"

Ahaaahhh… all this bull is making me sleepy.

"If humans stand against us, that's the same as defying the laws of Nature!"

Oh, that does it. This talk is as long as the lectures my grandpa forced my father to hear. And if he slept, he'd be hit.

"Wow, you're really outdoing yourself. That speech was the most boring stuff I've ever heard from you… Can't you quit preaching your stupid theories, Arlong?" This voice…

This voice… it had to be hers!

Nami!

She walked out of the building, with a deep frown. Zoro didn't hide his surprise to see her.

"Oh, don't be so stiff, Nami. You're a special human. You're our great cartographer! Arlong Crew's pride! You always excelled at drawing precise maps for me."

All that praising only irked me more… Why in the world would she get herself together with stinky fishmen!

"Our cerebral structures are different. That's obvious."

I could do nothing but agree… although that makes her sound like a biologist by saying that. Do you know the difference between humans and fishmen? You can be sturdy and stuff, but we're more crafty and cunning! And this shall be your downfall! I wanted to say that out loud but I had to swallow it.

"Oi! Nami! What the hell does he mean by 'our great cartographer'?! Why did you ally yourself with this guy?!" Zoro barged in the conversation.

I followed his lead. "Pride of the Arlong Crew?! What's the meaning of all this?!"

"Oh, goodness… Do you know each other?" Arlong asked.

"Don't be silly!" Nami said. "Those are only two of my victims. I gained a lot of loot by using them." She walked close to us and put on her meanest face yet. "It never occurred to you that you've been _deceived_ all this time… and then you ignore all common sense and come after me anyway. Endless stupidity!"

The way she stressed out the word 'deceived' just rubbed salt in my metaphorical wounds…

"So this is your true face…" Zoro hissed.

Use… deceive… each word coming from Nami's mouth was like a needle piercing my skin… I had to return as well!

"What about you? You're just a traitor… joining other pirates to rob them! Well, but with us, count on this: your cup will runneth over! And I thought you hated pirates…" I said, still questioning internally what sort of good trash-talking would do to me.

"Surprised? Everything was an act. You'll understand when I show you this here." Nami stared me down. Her fierce glare was surprisingly invasive.

She leaned in to show us a tattoo in her arm. This…

"This is…"

When we saw the flag atop the park's building, it hit us.

Arlong's mark.

Nami stood back up. "I'm part of this invincible gang… An officer of Arlong's Pirates!"

So this is what she means… she's an officer of Arlong's crew… she will pay for it!

* * *

**Truth is becoming even clearer before the eyes of our heroes. Nami made them fall right into a trap! Two of the Straw Hat Pirates fell in the clutches of the fishmen! Hey... wait a second, what about Luffy? Is he going to get to Arlong Park any sooner?**

**Are Dan and Zoro going to make their way out of the fishmen's prison? Will they be able to solve the puzzles revolving around Nami's character?**

**All this and much more is waiting for you on the next chapter!**

**Don't miss it!**


	14. Nami, get back here! We gotta talk!

**14** - The witch of Cocoyashi village! Arlong's female officer

* * *

Nami… an officer of Arlong?!

It can't be… It cannot be!

She was… she was our comrade! She had fun being with us!

It wasn't for that long, but still! She's a bit hot-headed at times but I still got to get along just fine with her. I consider her to be a nice girl, a friend even!

Now… I can't believe it was all just an act… I can't believe she has such a heartless side…

"Do you see? Do you understand it now? I was just _using_ you. From the very beginning." Ah, here she comes again with her piercing words… "And you weren't too shabby at fighting either… You were a useful bunch."

"Shaa~~hahahaha!" Arlong laughed. "She totally deceived you idiots! She's even capable of overcoming her mother's death for money! She's a cold-hearted witch. If you bump into her as your enemy, you're done for!"

Nami! Stepping on her deceased mother?! Unforgiva… hold on…

She twitched. I distinctly saw her twitch. As soon as she heard him mentioning her mother, she visibly widened her eyes. Zoro sent me a glare, which I believe it meant he did notice it too. Zoro and I just nodded to each other and agreed to play under their rules for now.

"Now I see. From the beginning I never trusted you. I wouldn't be impressed if I found out you were a murderer…" Zoro said.

"You…" I tried to express my outrage. "You… you always had fun with us. We got along just fine, didn't we? Then all of a sudden you steal our ship and run away? Why all this bullshit now? Why the sudden change of heart?!"

Nami clenched a fist, glaring furiously at us. "I _never _meant to be your comrade or shit like that! If you get that, get outta here! You're an eyesore!" She screamed, then turned her back and walked away.

"Now."

"Huh?"

Out of the blue, Zoro forced both of us into the pool of the park. I'm not a Fruit user but still, I'm tied up! I can't swim like that!

Down underwater, Zoro just let his body sink deep in the sea as I tried to untangle myself from the ropes. I held my breath for as long as I could, but I began tiring out fast…

Ow… I can't get free! This is really bad! Help! Somebody help us!

Moments later, I felt my neck hurt… everything got darker by the second…

Will this be it? Am I to drown here and straight up die?

Nami…

Just when I lost track of my surroundings, I came back to my senses. I opened my eyes and found myself right out of the water! But how? Someone… someone saved us, I'm sure of it!

But who?

"What the hell are you trying to do?!" This voice… could it be… Nami?

"You too!" Zoro said as he tried to catch some air. "What are _you_ trying to do? Don't you have the guts to let a person die right before your eyes? Quit with the farce already."

She was visibly disturbed with those words. Somehow I got it now… Zoro is testing Nami's loyalty to Arlong! If she did leave us to our own fate, that'd be the proof she was a traitor… but she saved us in the end! If she is loyal to Arlong, why would she do that?

"Sheesh… you idiot! What took you so long?" Zoro snarked. "I thought we were gonna kick the bucket now…"

"Quit the nonsense!" Nami snapped and kicked Zoro's chest right where it hurt. She then lifted him up in irritation and stated: "Don't get involved with me any longer, or you _will_ die!"

"We'll see about that…" Zoro's tongue, sharp as always.

"Nice bandages you're wearing…" Nami quipped.

"They're my substitute clothes." Zoro, I guess you're pushing it way too far now! "You don't give me money to buy any…"

"Don't try to change the subject, Nami!" I sit in the ground, watching the scene unfolding. "I will not forgive you for what you've done!"

She snapped again, punching Zoro's bandaged belly and kicking mine…

"Oi, Nami! What do you plan to do with them?" Arlong said, somewhat irritated.

Nami walked away from us, throwing Zoro back to the ground.

"Lock them up somewhere! I'll kill them personally later." She stated, in pure frustration.

"Arlong-san, Arlong-san!" One of the fishmen who captured us sprinted to the scene.

"What's wrong, my fellow?"

"There's a longnosed boy with them, but we sort of let him escape…" The fishman said.

Drat, he's talking about Usopp… they found him already?

"I think he escaped to Cocoyashi village, but…" The fishman continued.

"Cocoyashi village?" Arlong paused to think. "Wow, how fortunate… there are some issues we need to settle. Shall we go for a little visit, then?"

It's obvious by now Nami has been affected by what happened… but I wonder why?

Arlong and his crew left while a group of fishmen stayed on the park and dragged us to our cell. Opening the jail, they threw us inside, stirring up some dust and making me cough. I tried to growl at our captors as they left our cell, but I just let it go and decided to rest. Zoro didn't even bother, just crawling to lean his back on the wall. We then spent a good long while silent, staring to the ground.

"Nami…" I decided to break the ice, talking just for the sake of it. "Her reactions did leave me wondering…"

"Hm?" Zoro heard.

"Is she really loyal to Arlong's crew?" I asked. "The time we spent with her, quite short in my case, the adventures we had… was it all a mere farce?"

"Fool."

"What?"

"She's just acting." Zoro maintained his calm tone of voice. "Didn't you see her freeze when Arlong talked about her mother's death?"

"Yeah, I did. But still…" I tried to come up with an adequate response. "I was more focused on channeling my anger…"

"You're becoming just like her. Losing your temper with everything…" Zoro scolded me.

"I'm trying to keep calm, ok?" I said, in a burst of annoyance. "But this… this is all making me angry. I don't know who I'm going to dish it out on… whether it's on her… on the fishmen… or on both. You know, I was backstabbed before and I'm sure you were as well and this betrayal deal is hurting me inside." After putting my thoughts out of the way, I sighed and decided to calm down. "For now, I'll try and keep myself in check until we can sort out this whole mess…"

The noise of the door opening stopped our conversation. We heard the sound of steps coming close. A few moments later, a familiar silhouette stood in the door… It was dark but we could see it…

Nami!

She opened the cell door, wielding a knife.

Oh crap…

There are only two outcomes. Either she's going to cut the ropes… or stab us to death. May Luck be with us! I closed my eyes, hearing the sound of knife slashes and expecting the worst…

But I felt no pain. I opened my eyes again, immediately feeling the freedom returning to my hands… and to my feet. We were set free!

Nami…

Zoro was right, she _was_ acting! She's only loyal to them on paper… I hope. But why? Why is she acting as some sort of triple agent?

"Run away now. Before Arlong comes back." Nami's only words before she left our cell.

Nami… I'm even more confused now… but at the same time, I understand more about this whole deal. I guess.

"Bullseye…" I said, glancing at Zoro.

We heard the sound of an object being thrown. It was Zoro's sword.

"Ok. Dan, let's go." Zoro said.

I nodded, we stood back up, quickly walking out of our cell.

"Look! They escaped!" Oh dagnabbit, right when I thought we weren't going to get into trouble…

As soon as we stepped outside, we bumped into a large group of fishmen. A~~lright, you idiots! Finally, the perfect chance for me to take my anger out on someone!

"Ready?" Zoro asked, already preparing a stance.

"More than ever…" I replied, doing the same. "Enpitsu Yari!" (Pencil Lance)

I extended my arm, confidently channeling my energy to convert my pencil into a spear.

"Look! They're the guys we imprisoned! How the hell did they escape?!" The fishmen asked amongst themselves.

"It seems you have a slight idea of what happened… So I cannot let you escape alive! And I'm too damn angry to put up with your shit!"

I wasted no time, attacking them right away.

"First, let me introduce my argument!"

In this one, I already left some four or five in the ground.

"Second, now let's work around the _body_ of my text!"

It got a bit tougher, but I still slashed left and right, taking another bunch down in my rush.

A few stood back up, already wavering… which meant it's time to kick their asses once and for all!

"You're big and tough… but size doesn't matter! Now for the finishing touches… the conclusion!"

I then turned my lance back into a pencil and wrote this in the ground:

爆(explosion)

Kneeling, I touched the writing with both hands, channeling my power to it.

"Three… two… one… blast!"

A series of explosions blasted the ground in front of me all the way to the fishmen. The blast flung the rest of them around the park, knocking them out for good.

"Written by Dan and Zoro. Your worst nightmares."

"Ah, ah… it's over already?" Zoro was done dealing with his share of the bunch and sheathed his sword with a frown on his face.

"That's a pity…" I turned to him. "They weren't worth a good story…"

"Come on, I barely moved at all! You pretty much hogged all the fun!" Zoro complained.

"Oh, sorry!" I smiled apologetically. "Next time we come up against a bunch of mooks, I'm going to fight only one and leave the rest to you, right?"

"You…" He didn't seem too optimistic with my oddball idea. He then stared at the ground. "Hmmm… gonna borrow this."

He grabbed a blue shirt with green floral patterns of one of the knocked-out fishmen and wore it.

"Finally… I was getting sick of having these bandages as clothing."

I sweatdropped… When he was done dressing himself, he sat down and rested for a little bit. I decided to sit on the ground. I wasn't tired, but I wasn't willing to keep standing up the whole time.

"She told us to run away, but I have no business outta here. So, what are we supposed to do?" He paused. "Things are getting complicated by the second… And we've promised to Luffy we'd bring Nami back…" Zoro tried to assess our situation.

"What about Usopp? What if he was captured? And what about Luffy! Did he already land yet?" I questioned.

"I haven't thought about that…" Zoro mused. "Hey, do you have any idea how the hell we can get out of here before the fishmen get back?"

"Um… no?" I said, failing to come up with something.

"Let's wait for Luffy to come then." Zoro decided.

"What if the fishmen return before Luffy gets here?" I asked.

"Simple. We kick their asses."

"Agreed. But, um… what if we can't do it?"

"Then we're dead meat!" Zoro replied, annoyed. "What if you stopped asking questions?! Thinking too hard about stuff pisses me off, you know?"

"Why? At least it's better than doing nothing!" I snapped, turning away from Zoro. "Rude…" I hissed.

"Say what?" Crap…

"Nothing! Geez…" I tried to wave off.

A few moments to calm down, and we kept there for some time doing nothing and waiting for something interesting to happen… Not surprisingly, it got boring pretty quick.

"Aaaahhhh… how slow! When is Luffy going to land here?!" Zoro, after several minutes of silence.

"Yeah! If he doesn't come in five minutes…" I joined in the complaints.

"Five minutes? You're that patient? I'd give him five seconds! I'm about to die of boredom!" Zoro completed.

"Ooh! Ooh! This one is incredible!"

Huh?

"Even an Arlong's elite officer member like me can't pull it!"

We heard a voice coming from outside the fortress walls. There were some fishing rods leaning on it.

"It must be a superfish! I don't know where you come from or who you are, but your taste must be the best of all East Blue!"

We heard some grunts and the sound of a line being pulled.

"Huh? What? Ah… it was only myself!" Come on… that guy fished himself?

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Zoro asked.

I nodded.

"We can get out of here!" / "Stupid fishman!"

I uttered the nonsensical answer, by the way. It only earned me a blank stare.

"What? He's an idiot! Fishing himself…"

"Like I care about that!" Zoro said. "We're gonna have a small talk with our buddy fishman…"

"What if he's not friendly?"

"I told you to stop asking questions all the time! God, you're annoying!" Zoro complained. "Another question and I'll hit you!"

"Ok! Ok! I'll stop!" I said. "Rude…"

"Say what?!" Dammit, can't I talk to myself anymore?

"Nothing!" I waved off the issue again.

We then walked outside to meet the fishing fishman. He's a tall octopus with spiky white hair, six arms and the strangest mouth I've ever seen…

"Ahn?! Who are you?" He then strangely pointed to himself. "Me? Ah! I'm Hatchan! But you can call me Hachi!"

"You're also a fishman?" Umm… duh? Zoro doing a Captain Obvious here…

"That's a rhetorical… and stupid question." Can't you see right away?! He's clearly a fishman!

Hachi didn't seem to notice the obviousness, replying cheerily anyway. "Of course I am! I'm a charming fishman! Do you think I look like a human?"

"No." Zoro replied.

"Are you from the Marines? Or guests?" Hachi asked.

"Guests?" Zoro looked behind.

"We're guests, er… Hachi-san." I stepped ahead. "Besides, if we were Marines, we'd be in uniform and with a captain or some sort of commander by our side and stuff, am I right?"

"Ah, fair enough." Hachi replied. "But, nevertheless, Arlong-san is not here, OK?"

"Where did he go to?" Zoro asked.

"There's a strange boy with a long nose who was trying to escape." Hachi said. "And then there were those two guys running around who we captured, so Arlong and the guys went to Cocoyashi village to catch the longnose and bring him here."

"Usopp, right?" Zoro whispered.

"And how can we go to this Cocoyashi village?" I politely asked.

"Get in."

Hachi pointed to a giant jar.

"You're guests, right? Get in. This is my transport." Hachi explained. "I'll take you there… swordsman… and boy."

Without thinking too hard about it, we hopped in the jar.

Hachi jumped in the water, positioned himself below the jar, saying: "Hold it tight there now! Next stop, Cocoyashi village!"

Just like that, we set off from Arlong Park's entrance. A few minutes later, we arrived at the shore of the Cocoyashi village beach.

"We're here! Cocoyashi village. Arlong-san might be here."

"Ah… thanks." Zoro said as he hopped off the unusual transport jar.

"Thanks for the ride! Hachi-san!" I thanked the octopus man as well.

"Oh, you're welcome. See ya!"

He was about to leave, but he stopped on his tracks and turned his jar around. "Ah! I forgot to ask your names! Me? Do you want to hear my name again? That's Hatchan! 'Til we meet again!" Wait, he didn't let us introduce ourselves! He's leaving already… oh well. Goodbye then.

"Wow, that's surprising. What a nice fishman! That Hatchan guy…" I wondered.

"He's such a weirdo…" Zoro said. "Well, we're here and we better hurry."

I nodded and we started to run to the village. When we arrived there, we found people scared, gathered in small groups talking to each other… Did Arlong get here already?

We tried to ask the people…

"Excuse me… Did you see a boy wearing brown clothing and sporting a long nose?"

We asked many people that same question, but no one had any answer for us.

That was until a man, although very nervously, stepped forward with a palpable answer. "I saw… I saw him! He was here when Arlong came by… They've captured him and took him to Arlong Park!"

Wait, Arlong Park? Oh, please, no…

"What?! Captured?!" Zoro pushed the man to a wall.

Oh damn…

"H-h-he-he was brave enough to s-s-stand against Arlong and shoot at him! B-b-b-but this way, he might have gotten himself killed!" Another one completed.

I don't want to believe Usopp would be killed over this… at least they just captured him. It could be worse… no it still _can_ turn out worse!

"Dammit…" Zoro cursed. "All this while we lounged about trying to kill time…"

"Don't tell me…" I said. "Do we have to run all the way back to Arlong Park?!"

"It seems so…" Zoro concluded, sighing.

"AW, HELL NO! WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T WE JUST STAY THERE ALL THE TIME?!" I snapped.

"HOW WERE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!" Zoro snapped at me.

"I DON'T KNOW EITHER!" I shouted yet again. "I don't know, man, sometimes, instinct works!"

"Well, this time it failed!" Zoro said right away. "Anyway, the point is: We have to get back to Arlong Park as soon as possible!"

"Ok, then…" I said, regaining myself. "Here goes nothing!"

Oh dammit! We defeated a bunch of fishman thugs, we rode a jar to the village only to have to run all the way back?! We're going nowhere!

"Usopp! Stay alive!" Zoro said.

Yeah, I hope he's still alive…

We hurriedly ran through a forest, despite me having absolutely no idea where we were running to, though… as I sprinted, I just hoped we were on the right way to Arlong Park. As we were sprinting through the trees, we heard a loud crashing noise coming from the sea… and another crash.

"What's this noise?" Zoro asked as we paused to try to figure out what could be.

"Dunno…" I said. "But if you think a bit, I guess I have an idea of what it is. Wait… is it me or the noise's coming towards us?"

The noise kept getting louder and louder. No, that's not just me. It's coming towards us.

"Yeah…"

"OOOOOOIIIIII! ZOOROOOOO, DAAANNN!" Uh-oh…

We turned to a side… to see a friggin' boat heading straight in our direction!

"Aaahhh, Luffy! You idiot!" Zoro yelled.

Zoro and I tried to run, just when it was too late to do anything. Bang! The boat hit us head on and dragged us with it for quite a while until it finally crashed to a stop and shattered into little pieces against a mountain.

"Hahahahahah! We're here! We're here!" I heard Luffy stupidly laughing about this whole issue.

I emerged from the ship (or what remained of it) thanking all that is holy to be alive with just minor scratches and dirty clothes…

"You effin' numbskulls!" Zoro shot up to yell at whoever crashed on us. "What the hell were you trying to do?!"

"Are you trying to kill us?!" I shouted too, before I noticed…"Because if… huh?! Hold on?! Sanji-san! Is that you? You're here!"

"Yo."

Yeah! Luffy, Sanji and Yosaku finally arrived at Cocoyashi village! That means…

"You pummeled that Don Krieg bastard to the ground?!" I happily deduced. They confirmed. "Fantastic! I knew you could do it! Plus, Luffy, you managed bring Sanji aboard?"

"He did, he did." Sanji answered before him. "Nothing to jump about. I joined for my own reasons."

"Awesome!"

Luffy dusted himself off. "Yeah, but… now that we beat the crap out of that Krieg bastard, we're here to rescue Nami! Did you find her yet? How're Usopp and Johnny doing?"

"Usopp? AAAH!" Luffy's mention of him sparked a little thing that crash made us forget.

"Yeah… we don't have time to waste here! We have to go save Usopp!" Zoro quickly grabbed his swords, trying to walk away. I tried to follow him, but we were stopped.

"What happened?" Luffy asked, stopping us in our tracks.

Zoro turned to him. "That guy… Arlong caught him! If we don't get there quick, he's probably going to get killed!"

"He's already dead!" A voice said this right away…

Johnny. He panted and looked all-around tired, barely standing up… Then he kneeled on the ground and stated, trying not to cry. "It's too late now… Big Bro Usopp is dead!"

What?!

"He was killed… by Big Sis Nami!"

…

…

WHAT?

* * *

******Nami's actions only succeed in making her character a complete jigsaw puzzle ready to be solved. What is she thinking? After supposedly killing Usopp, what will be her next move? A battle between our adventurers and Arlong's fishmen is now coming even closer! Whose side Nami is going to take? The thrilling next chapter's only waiting for you! Don't miss it!**


	15. Now that's more like it! To beat Arlong!

**15** - Reunited! Nami's true story and Luffy's decision

* * *

Usopp killed… by Nami?!

"That's impossible! Is that true?!" Yosaku asked.

"It is true! I saw it with these eyes!" Johnny desperately pointed to his own eyes. He then paused to breathe. "This is too horrible a story… that woman really is a witch! She joined Arlong just to stay and keep a treasure hidden in her village! And she killed Usopp without ever thinking twice! She's a heartless worm! We were deceived all this ti-"

An angry red Luffy interrupted him, grabbing him by the shirt.

"You! Say that again and I kill you!" Luffy said, threatening to land a punch in Johnny's teeth.

Zoro intervened. "Stop it, Luffy. This has nothing to do with Johnny."

Johnny continued, desperately. "If you don't wanna believe me, that's fine! But I saw it with my own eyes… what she did with Big Bro Usopp!"

"That's all bullshit! Nami wouldn't kill Usopp by any chance! We're comrades!" Luffy would have none of that.

"But… but I…!" Johnny stuttered.

"Who are comrades again? Luffy." Surprise! We turned around and spotted Nami slowly walking towards us.

"Nami?" Luffy said.

"Why on earth did you come here?" Nami asked. Her body language remained totally different from the one of the Nami we came to get along with before. She glared menacingly at us.

"What are you talking about? You're our comrade! We came to bring you back." Luffy ducked to grab his straw hat from the ground.

"That's a big problem!" She interrupted.

Nami…

"Comrade? Don't make me laugh… You're just a pathetic group helping each other, right?"

What?! I can't let this one go…

"Pathetic?! What's pathetic in trying to help others?! Don't you see we're trying to help _you_?!" I tried my best not to lose my cool.

"Help me?! Hahaha! You're only trying to kill yourselves! I did not need and I will not need help!" She proclaimed snidely.

Johnny stood up. "Why… you…! I saw it with my eyes! How… how dare you kill our Big Bro Usopp?!"

"So what if I did kill him? Wanna get back at me, huh?" Nami replied, ever so sarcastic.

"What?" Johnny only got angrier with her every response.

"I'll only say this…" Nami said. "Arlong and his crew are looking for Roronoa Zoro's group to kill them. Everything because Zoro and some guy following him did something stupid."

Oh, damn, it's about me too? Looks like we are on their hit list…

"You can have these monster-like powers… but you're no match for real monsters. Stay wandering around this island any longer and you're dead for sure. Well… that doesn't bother me anyway…"

"Aaaahhh… your appearance is even more charming! Hello, Nami-san! Do you remember? It's me! Let's go on a journey together!" Seriously, Sanji! Are you gonna fall head over heels for her _now_ of all times?!

Zoro stepped ahead. "You stay out of this! You're gonna complicate things!"

Sanji didn't want to be left behind. "What'd you say, eh…? My love is like a hurricane…" only to be ignored."Oi! Hear when someone's talking!"

"Where's Usopp?" Zoro asked.

"At the bottom of the sea." Nami replied flatly.

Zoro tried to control his bulging veins… "You… Quit this bullshit!" He unsheathed his sword, dashing to attack Nami. However, Sanji blocked his advance and threatened to kick him for it.

"Do swordsmen attack women too, huh? Roronoa Zoro…"

Zoro redirected his anger at him. "What? You know nothing about the situation! Get out of my way!"

Sanji remarked: "Such a childish outburst… of course you're pissed off…"

"Ha? Oi, watch your tongue!" Zoro replied.

"It's not your business, you jerk!" Sanji glared fiercely at the green-haired swordsman.

Yosaku tried to set them apart. "Guys! Is it really the right time to be fighting like this?"

"Exactly. You two… stop… fighting… now!" Confidently, I put myself at risk to stop their bickering and hit them both. "Seriously, you don't know each other and you're already willing to kick and slash each other? Besides, both of you are wrong!"

"What?" Sanji and Zoro replied in unison.

"Sanji-san…" I pointed to him. "You seem to be a gentleman. You don't want to see women hurt in anyway and I appreciate your stance." I told him.

"So why are you doing this?" He asked.

"That's because she's our enemy now. We need to draw the line somewhere." I replied, pointing to Zoro afterwards. "And Zoro-san… Sanji-san might know nothing about the situation but we don't know that much either! We're trying to help Nami without knowing why she is doing all this! And if you both get that… this is not the time for silly bickering, ok?"

"Men… Comrade bickering? How pathetic!" Nami intervened, turning our eyes back at her. "If you're going to do this, do it out of this island! I hate foreigners who sneak themselves in the matters of this island! Don't you get it? The only reason I got near you was money. Nothing more. Now that your group has nothing… you have no use for me anymore. I'll return your ship if you want… so why don't you go find another navigator and enter that damned Grand Line? Go find One Piece or whatever it is… Get out of my island! You're no more than a hindrance! Farewell!" She then walked away.

Nami's speech only managed to make anger swell inside me…

Hold it in, Dan… hold it in… don't lose control. We have to figure out why she's doing what she's doing!

"Nami…" Luffy simply stared to her. Then he silently opened his arms and let himself fall to the ground. "Gonna sleep." With his hat off, he simply closed his eyes.

"Sleep?!" Johnny reacted.

"Now?! In this road?!" Yosaku, equally surprised.

Luffy responded. "I'm not willing to leave this island. I don't give a damn to what's happening around here… and I'm sleepy. Gonna take a nap now."

"Whaaat?"

"Big Bro…"

Zoro limited himself to a facepalm.

"Zoro-san… just let Luffy be." I said, sighing myself.

I turned to Nami, who I thought had already walked away, but she was stopped a few feet away from us. I noticed that one of her hands was covered in a black glove. She balled this hand in a fist.

"Do whatever you want! If you wanna die, go ahead!"

Then she ran away for real.

Zoro merely sat down in the ground. Sanji leaned to sit next to a tree and I sat down in the grass too.

Yosaku chimed in. "Hey, Big Bro Zoro! What the heck are you thinking? You're being targeted by Arlong and his crew, aren't you? Why don't you run?!"

Johnny spoke, quite upset. "Now that we know the kind of scum Nami is… there's no reason for us to stay in this island!"

"Reason? There's one." Zoro said, pointing to the sleeping Luffy: "This guy doesn't want to leave."

"Captain's orders…" I mimicked Zoro's saying.

"Don't tell me that even Big Bro Zoro is thinking to bring Nami back as a comrade?" Johnny asked.

"I don't particularly care about this whole deal." Zoro replied lazily. "But Luffy does and he's the one who decides who will be our navigator."

"Big Bro…" Johnny didn't know how to react anymore.

I joined the conversation. "Zoro might not care… but it's as he says. Luffy cares and I do too. And as long as Luffy persists, we're going to persist as well." I talked as I stared at the sleeping Luffy.

"Big Bro… alright. We understand." Johnny tried to counter my points, but he eventually gave up. "Our time together was short, but bringing you here was our mission and it's accomplished. We are leaving now."

Yosaku agreed. "I'm with him. I don't want to die like this."

"Ok. Take care, then." Zoro replied.

"Until then! Until we meet again!"

"Brothers! Take care too!"

The Pirate Hunters said their goodbyes and went away.

Zoro replied as he saw them leave. "That's for you too!"

The silence was predominant in our surroundings. I only heard the sound of the wind breezing past us and the occasional puffs from Sanji's cigarette.

"Oi." He called our attention.

Zoro replied. "Huh?"

"Can I ask you something? Why was Nami-san crying that time?" Sanji asked as he puffed his cigarette again.

"That woman… crying?" Zoro was doubtful.

"Her heart was crying." Sanji explained himself.

"Pfff… Crying tears of remorse for having killed Usopp?"

"Hm~? Do you think so?" Sanji continued his questioning. "Do you think she really killed the longnose?"

Zoro didn't answer. I decided to join the talk.

"I won't doubt it… but I don't believe in it either." I tried to be cautious. "Her motives are still very confusing for that to be clear… at least for me."

I then plugged off the talk, putting a finger on my chin to think about what happened. Nami… I hope everything is clarified soon, because I don't think we're going to find another navigator anytime soon. Besides… the idea of five men in a ship without a woman onboard doesn't please me one bit…

I'll surely miss Nami's good looks if she does turn out to be our enemy…

Wait, what? What am I even thinking?! This is serious business!

"WHAT'S SO LITTLE ABOUT NAMI-SAN'S CHEST?!"

Huh?

Sanji's sudden outburst drove me off from my thoughts. I turned around to see him attacking Zoro… again. When he tried to kick Zoro, he blocked it with his sword… or he would if both of them didn't hit…

"Oo~~ww…"

…Usopp!

"Longnose?!" It dawned on the blonde cook. "Is he… alive?"

Zoro, equally caught off-guard. "Uh, not anymore… I guess…"

Simply put: Usopp is alive! Nami did not kill him… but, maybe, Sanji and Usopp did it in her stead…

Luffy dashed out of his nap as soon as he heard the name Usopp, to check on the situation.

"Oi! Guys!" Luffy called.

"Luffy! Look who's with us! It's Usopp-kun!" I replied, seeing him sprint towards us

"Usopp… Usopp!" When he came he immediately tended to the knocked out liar: "Usopp… What did Nami do to you?!"

"Umm… it wasn't Nami… Those two here did it." I pointed to Sanji and Zoro.

"It was him." Zoro and Sanji pointed to each other.

"Luffy… are you here?" Usopp woke up.

"Yeah. For quite a while." Luffy replied.

"Me too… Nice to meet you." Sanji waved.

Immediately Usopp stood up, facing Sanji. "You… I'll kill you someday!"

Sanji jokingly patted Usopp's shoulder. "So? You're fine even after that?"

"Yeah… Didn't you get killed by Nami?" Zoro asked.

"Dammit! That Johnny guy was lying!" Luffy angrily deduced.

"No… there's a bit of truth in this story." Usopp intervened, looking to the ground. "But what happened was the opposite. I think Nami saved my life instead. When I was captured by Arlong's men, they threatened to kill me… I tried to tell them you'd come to my aid to buy time so I could catch my slingshot, shoot them and escape, but Nami noticed it and hindered me. I threw a smokebomb and through the smoke… Nami faked that she killed me so I could escape…"

"Oh… now I understand…" I said.

Usopp continued. "She must have some sort of reason to join Arlong's fishmen… I guess she's there against her will!"

"Of course." Sanji replied.

"What do you think we should do now? Raid Arlong Park?" Zoro asked.

"I don't see any other choice…" I mused.

"Wait a second! Before that we should ask Nami to explain herself!" Usopp tried an alternative.

"Save it, you all. Either way, it'll be useless." I heard a voice.

I turned to spot a brunette dressed in a light yellow tank top and baby blue shorts, sporting lavender blue hair and a tattoo that goes through her left shoulder all the way to her right arm.

"No matter what you do… Arlong's reign will not end."

"Nojiko?" Huh? Usopp? Do you know her?

"Who's that?" Luffy asked.

"Nami's older sister." Usopp replied.

"Wow… she's so pretty…" Sanji immediately activated his love mode.

"What do you mean by 'useless'?" Zoro asked, getting back to the point.

Nojiko went on to state: "Please do us a favor. Don't get involved with this island's issues anymore. I'll try to explain everything behind all this, but please leave Nami alone."

"Everything?" Sanji asked.

"You mean, explain why Nami joined the fishmen?" Usopp asked.

"Yes. Once you listen, you'll sure leave this island for good." Nojiko stated.

Usopp agreed. "Ok. Let's hear your story."

"It won't change anything, though…" I muttered.

"I'll pass." Luffy stood up and turned his back to us. "I don't wanna hear her story. I don't care about her past."

"Where are you going, Luffy?" Sanji asked.

"Gonna walk." Luffy said flatly.

"Walk? Where to? You're really not going to stay?" Usopp asked.

"No. I'm fine. See you later." He then walked away.

"What's up with him?" Nojiko wondered.

"Don't worry… He's like that." Zoro breathed out and leaned to sit in a nearby tree. "We will hear your story, although I think it won't change much."

"I want to hear it." Usopp stated. "I want to understand what's happening on this island."

"Me too. I want to clear my views about her before this deal gets too out of hand." I said.

"Me too! I wanna know everything about Nami-san!" Sanji stated, more happily than the situation required.

However… hold on, someone's snoring…

Nojiko pointed to Zoro. "He's sleeping…"

"IF YOU SAID YOU'D LISTEN, WHY YOU'RE SLEEPING?!" Usopp and I screamed.

No avail. Zoro was soundly napping , leaning on the tree.

"Leave him alone… long stories make him sleepy, I guess." Umm, Sanji… Nojiko didn't even start talking yet!

"I see…" Nojiko looked surprise at the odd behavior of some of us. "Nami has no idea how to cope with you."

She then paused for a few moments, before starting her story.

"Alright… all we must do is go back eight years in time… back when we were kids. A woman lived in our village. A woman who Nami and I will never forget. Her name was Bellemere."

"Bellemere?" Usopp asked. "Hold on, did she raise you two?"

"Precisely." Nojiko confirmed. "Bellemere-san's story… where can I start…"

Story time, kids!

Short of a decade ago, Nami was a little kid with a strong interest in cartography. She was known as the village's pest because she would always steal books and some other things from the local library…

Bellemere and her two children cultivated a tangerine crop. Their profit came from the harvest's vendage. Although the three of them got along well with each other, every once in a while they would argue because the family was poor. It was often that there wouldn't be enough food for all three.

Surprising… they were only kids, but Nojiko and Nami already had deep concerns with their situation.

Life sure teaches some hard lessons…

Nojiko said that neither her, nor Nami, or Bellemere were blood-related. When she was a Marine officer, Bellemere found the two babies abandoned in a battlefield. Nami's smile in the middle of the destruction was a new and crucial reason for her to keep living. Thus, she decided to step down from her position in the Marines and raise the two girls as if they were her own. As time went by, they formed a familiar bond stronger than that of any biological family. The villagers would always be joyous with their happiness.

Until…

The day when Arlong and his crew attacked the island.

Needless to say, things went downhill fast. They invaded and declared they would take the island to themselves, ordering immediately that, in every month, on the same day of their arrival, the villagers would be forced to pay a tax, adults and children, in order not to be killed and have their village destroyed.

"Paying just to survive…" I muttered.

Everyone quickly thought of Bellemere and her two children. They had to pay 200,000 beri every month to survive… and there was no chance they'd have this much money on a monthly basis.

In a certain day, Arlong's underlings barged in Bellemere's house. Nojiko and Nami tried to get there in time, but they were stopped by the village doctor. He ordered them to escape the island since there was no proof they were Bellemere's children. But Nami insisted in staying… and Bellemere didn't want to hide the fact that she was a mother of two. She decided to use the 100,000 beri that she raised to pay the kids' tax… while hers was left unpaid.

Thus…

Arlong killed her. Right in front of the eyes of the children she raised as her own.

Right in front of their eyes… just like me…

I'm not the only one then…

The pirates found the map Nami had drawn and captured her. To be spared, she made the decision to join their group and raise money for the village. Arlong then proposed a deal to the child: if she could bring him 100 million beri, no matter how long it would take, she could buy the village back peacefully.

"For a mere ten year old to accept to fight alone for survival… Do you have any idea how hard it is?" Nojiko asked.

"A deal that may free her homeland… That girl…" Usopp wondered aloud.

"Aaaaahhh! If anyone makes my beloved Nami-san suffer, i'm gonna-" Sanji expressed his outrage…

…or he would if he wasn't interrupted by Nojiko's punch.

"Nojiko-san!" I called.

Sanji caressed his stomach. "Why… lady…"

"Didn't I tell you not to interfere?!" Nojiko stated angrily. "If you keep claiming you're Nami's comrades, the pirates are sure to doubt her loyalty! And all the tough work she did… all the suffering she had to endure for the past eight years… it'll be for nothing! Don't make her suffer more than this. She's fighting on her own… To her, knowing that there are people who call her 'friend' is the most painful thing ever!"

After this story… and these words… I came to a conclusion. Simply leaving this island and letting Nami suffer is absolutely out of the question! _We_ would be the monsters if we did that!

"Nojiko-san." I stood up.

"Yeah?"

"You can call us idiots for the rest of your life, but…" I started to retort, trying to gather my confidence. "But after listening to your story, I have zero intention of leaving this island. I'm pretty sure I can speak for all of us when I say…"

I turned to look at the three men by my side. One of whom was still asleep.

"We cannot simply leave Nami to suffer all by herself! We will help her, even if it costs us our lives! She's our comrade!"

Nojiko closed her eyes and thought silently for a few seconds. "Hmph… Do whatever you want. Just don't come crying to me and say I've warned you."

She walked off.

Usopp stood up confidently. "That's right. Dan, you're spot on! We can't leave her alone now!"

I smiled. That's the boost we need to face this challenge.

"Alright! Let's go meet up with Luffy!" Usopp raised a fist courageously.

"Yeah!" I nodded. Sanji too was smiling, while he enjoyed his cigarette. "Sanji-san! Let's hurry!"

Sanji stood up as well, throwing his cigarette away. "Calm down. I'm enjoying this happiness too."

"What are you talking about?" Usopp asked.

"Nami-san is in more pain than anybody else. And I have the perfect chance to put an end to her suffering. Is there anything better?" Sanji smirked.

"Your motives are so obvious… love-cook!" Usopp scoffed.

"Is there anything bad in fighting for a beautiful woman?" Sanji tried to defend his chivalry.

"That's not the problem." I said. "We're fighting for her village's people too."

"Enough chit-chat. Let's go."

"You're awake?!" I shouted. All of a sudden I see Zoro already up and running.

He grabbed his three swords, put an end to our arguments and prompted all of us to spring right to the action. We immediately followed his pace, running to the village. As we got close, we heard a distinct wail… a shriek of grief. The grief of a friend, struck by the years of pain inflicted on her by an overwhelming outside force.

Nami.

We found her with Luffy in an avenue.

"Luffy… please… help me…" So that's the place Luffy was walking to…

To her desperate plea, Luffy had only one response.

We watched from a distance as he gave her his hat and walked a few steps away.

"DAMN RIIIIIGHT!" He screamed from the bottom of his heart.

Slowly, he walked further down the road and let Nami be alone for a while to recover from all the stress she's being put through.

"We're going!" He ordered as he approached our position, stopping his stride for a moment.

"Right!" The four of us replied in unison.

I stood up… and the five of us started our march to Arlong Park.

From left to right: Me. Zoro. Luffy. Sanji. Usopp.

We're only here to rescue Nami, but in a certain way, the hopes of the entire Cocoyashi village rest on us five. We shall not let Nami's struggle be in vain! These fishmen played with her dreams… now they will be thoroughly punished!

Unflinching in our determination, we walked to the Park. As we approached the gates, I felt a surge of confidence. I felt genuinely sure we would beat the fishmen and save our navigator, but I felt the fear as well. The fear of being torn to shreds by the enemy. They will make our lives miserable if we don't stand up to the challenge.

I entered this journey with the promise I would be up to the challenge and this is the first time I have to prove it!

"Here we go…" I muttered, clenching my fists.

We arrived at the Park's entrance, spotting a small crowd standing near the gates.

"Please move." Luffy said as the villagers gave us way to the door.

Luffy squatted, paused to breathe and quickly delivered three strong punches which destroyed the giant doors, quickly breaking our way into Arlong's base.

After the dust settled, our captain came into the fishmen's view and asked a simple question.

"Which one of you is Arlong?"

* * *

**The truth is finally revealed. Our heroes are even more determinated now. The only alternative left for them is to defeat the empire of Arlong and his fishmen and save their comrade! Only the unyielding determination and strength of our adventurers will give them reasons to march forward! See you next chapter!**


	16. Luffy's in BIG trouble!

**16** - Luffy in a big pinch! Arlong's Fishmen vs Straw Hat Pirates

* * *

Luffy only needed to punch Arlong Park's front door three times until it was completely destroyed. After the smokecloud dissipated, he asked a simple question.

"Which one of you is Arlong?"

An almost silent wind breezed past the Park as a blue fishman turned his head to stare at us. The one Zoro and I already met back when we were imprisoned.

Saw-Tooth Arlong.

"Huh? I am Arlong." He spoke from his 'throne'.

Luffy silently walked towards the group of fishmen.

"I am Luffy."

"Luffy? And what are you?" Arlong asked.

"A pirate!" Luffy replied confidently.

"Luffy? Ah! He's here!" Hachi, the octopus man, intervened. "The boy who likes to take a walk!"

Hm? What does that have to do with anything? Nevermind…

A few of the fishmen underlings tried to stop our captain before he could get to Arlong, but he effortlessly shoved them out of his way.

"What does a pirate like you want with me?" Arlong asked, glaring at our captain.

Not saying a word, Luffy simply grabbed his arm… and gave a punch strong enough to send Arlong flying straight into the park's wall!

"Incredible…" I muttered to myself.

Everyone, both humans and fishmen, watched with their jaws dropped as Arlong crashed through the wall and let himself lie down in the ground for a few moments.

Luffy, meanwhile, let out a stern and clear warning.

"Don't you dare to make our navigator cry!"

Again, a group of fishmen jumped out of the water and tried to punish him for the offense. It was time for Sanji and me to leap into the fray and kick them back to the water.

"Get outta the way, small fry!" We shouted as we barged in.

"Honestly, man… Only you to raid their park all by yourself…" Sanji approached our captain while he cleaned his nails.

"I wouldn't lose to them even if I was alone." Luffy declared.

"Stupid! Who said we were worried about you!" I talked to him.

"We're just warning you not to hog all the prey." Sanji completed.

"Oh. That's it?" Luffy said, not averting his eyes from the target.

Usopp walked towards us. "I… I really don't care… if you get them all…" His voice trembled as all hell…

"Wow, how courageous, Usopp… Hmph…" Zoro followed him, sarcastically commenting our liar's antics.

"Aaaaahhh! It's them! It's those guys! The unknown swordsman and the pencil boy!" Hachi pointed to us.

"Roronoa Zoro, the famous swordsman… but the boy… never heard of him."

Spoke a very buff fishman. He wore a navy blue karate outfit and sported fins in his elbows.

"The name's Dan! Nice to meet you." I introduced myself.

"As I thought… I knew it! The guys who duped me! They mounted on me… I mean, I gave them a lift…"

I tried not to think about how wrong that sounded.

"Look! That longnose one! He's alive!" Another fishman noticed.

"Ahn?! But Nami killed him some time ago, didn't she?" Hachi asked.

"He's alive… That means…" A light blue fishman stood behind Hachi. He was what I would call 'lip-monster'. Seriously, his lips were huge!

"I knew it!" The karate fishman concluded. "My deductions were right all the time! That woman is a traitor!"

Arlong decided to join the exchange, while sitting down and leaning on the remains of the now partially destroyed wall. "Pirates, you say? So this is your connection with her? From the start I thought you were Nami's victims… but…"

He then paused to let out a huge laugh.

"Shaahahahaha! What on earth four inferior humans like you can do against me?"

Just let us show you. _Just let us_.

"Hahaahahah! How stupid! Do you really think Arlong-san is going to waste time fighting you? This one here will be more than enough for the job!" Before we could reply, though, Hachi taunted and made a trumpet out of his mouth.

He blew it, sounding some sort of signal. Moments later, the sea began to agitate and soon the ground started shaking with it.

"Wh… What… What the hell is happening around here?!" Usopp tried to stay on his feet.

The waves seemed to get bigger… it seemed someone or something was about to appear from underwater!

"Hahahahaha! You're going to be his next bait! Come! Mohmoo!" Hachi called.

A whirlpool formed. It started to grow and scare the crap out of us…

"It's… it's a monster! It's the monster that turned the Gosa village upside-down!" Usopp shrieked.

When the water finally receded, it revealed a giant bullfish. For some reason, it was crying as it poked its head out of the sea. Poor one… I found it sorta cute somehow…

"It's huuuuuuuuuge!" If it could, Usopp's jaw would drop all the way to the floor.

"Hold on, it has a bump on his head!" I pointed.

When it looked over to Luffy and Sanji, it froze.

"What? It's only him?" Luffy glared at it, clenching his teeth.

"So he was allied with the fishmen?" Sanji did the same.

The beast that was supposedly there to scare us failed in its job… it got afraid of our captain and our cook.

"Hold on… you three have met before? That means, what did you two do to that poor bullfish?"

"It's a seacow!" Sanji corrected. "Nevermind. When we were heading here, it tried to eat us. We attacked him, put ropes on him to make him speed up our boat."

"Aww… how cruel…" I pouted.

"Are you crazy?!" Sanji lost his patience. "It tried. To. Eat us!"

"Pfft…" I scoffed, only to earn a humph from an annoyed Sanji.

Meanwhile, the bullfish (or seacow or whatever…) Mohmoo fled, probably desperately wanting anything other than get his butt kicked again by those two…

Hachi tried to call it back. "Oi! Get back here, Mohmoo! Where are you going! Hey! Wait, I'm telling you to wait! Mohmoo!"

"Mohmoo. What are you doing?" Arlong called for it in a scarily calm tone.

Mohmoo immediately stopped, probably even more scared now…

"If you want to run away, I'm not gonna stop you. Right, Mohmoo?" Arlong said.

There was a slight pause before the fish turned back all of a sudden, with a really angry face this time!

"Aaaahh! It's coming! It's coming!" Usopp almost soiled his brown jumpsuit…

That distraction was enough for me to_ almost_ overlook the fishmen trying to attack us!

Oh boy… ah, wait, I said almost.

"Enpitsu…" I prepared to the collision, but…

"I'll take care of them all! This is a waste of time!" Luffy interrupted me, stepping to the foreground and punching his fists. Then he did some sort of sumo stance and sunk his feet in the concrete.

"What the hell is he doing?" Sanji asked, baffled.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Zoro's premonition.

"If that involves the bullfish-"

"Seacow!" Sanji corrected again.

"Whatever! Fact is, it will not be good! Time to hightail it!" I said.

With his feet stuck in the ground, Luffy breathed before he twisted his torso a few times, grabbed the bullfish's horns and held them as hard as he could.

The fishmen about to attack him stopped for a second before proceeding again.

"Run!" Zoro quickly shouted.

"What the hell is this idiot going to do!" Sanji slowly backed away.

"I have a slight idea… and it's not pretty!" I did the same.

We sheltered ourselves far away from the point where Luffy would shout:

"Gomu Gomu noo~~… Kazaguruma~~~~~!" (Gum-Gum Pinwheel)

He started to untwist his torso and spin just like a pinwheel faster and faster, before he threw Mohmoo away, back into the sea! With that move, he blasted away most of the fishmen that would attack him… apart from destroying a good chunk of the building!

"I did not come here to waste my time fighting those guys! The only one who I want to kick the ass of… is you!" He shouted in utter annoyance before pointing to Arlong.

"That's just perfect." Arlong merely snorted. "I was here thinking about the best way I would like to kill you now."

We left our hideout and went to Luffy's position.

"That was a close one, huh, Luffy?!" Sanji angrily kicked Luffy's head.

"Do you want to kill us as well?!" Usopp wasn't amused by our captain's idea.

"Think first before you do stuff like that!" I joined the complaints.

"Huh?"

Luffy seemed to notice something. He started to wave his body one way to another, trying to release his feet from the ground.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Usopp asked.

"How dare you do that to our comrades?!" Hachi angrily asked.

The karate fishman prepared his act. "It seems we have to get our hands dirty after all…"

So did the lip-monster. "I think we need to teach them the difference between our species… chu."

"So… the main forces show themselves…" Zoro prepared also.

"Alright, at last we get to kick some real ass!" I gripped my pencil, preparing a stance.

"Arlong-san… just sit there and stay calm." Said the karate fishman.

"If you happened to fly into a rage, Arlong Park would be reduced to bits, chu." The lip-monster added.

"Aaaaahhh! Stay put, Arlong-san! We'll take care of these guys!" The seemingly nice octopus man joined the upcoming fight.

"Ok. Do as you like." Arlong authorized.

Meanwhile, on our side…

"Oi… Guys, hold on…" Luffy called.

"What now, Luffy?" I asked, not averting my eyes from the target.

"I… sort of… can't move my legs…" Luffy said, making me avert my eyes from the target and notice him struggling to pull his legs out of the concrete.

"What are you-"

"Shikai Zero! (Zero visibility!) Tako-Hachi-Black!" Oh crap!

"Oh, man! Luffy! Think for a second before doing something stupid!" I immediately tried to break the ground, seeing the black ink coming right at us.

Zoro and Sanji easily dodged it, but we couldn't. We were painted black… at least I had the time to cover my eyes.

"You idiots! Why didn't you evade it?" Zoro asked.

"Luffy's feet are stuck! I'm trying to break the ground to release them! Can't you guys help me out?" I said as I kept on the struggle.

"Aaaaaahhhh! I can't see!" I felt Luffy clinging to me…

"Hey! Let me go! I can't break the ground like this! Lemme go!" I said.

"And to finish'em off…" I heard the sound of a big stone being moved. Shit… Hachi will attack us again! And it's bound to hurt this time!

"Hey! Luffy, Dan! Run away!" Usopp called desperately.

"That's the problem!" Luffy replied.

I tried everything to get his feet off the ground.

"He's stuck! I… can't… get his… feet… off!" Fruitlessly, I pulled his legs as hard as I could, before I came to the conclusion that…

"Shit! Rubber stretches!" Way to go, Captain Obvious…

"Huh?" Sanji reacted.

"Didn't you put your feet here before?!" Usopp said from his hideout.

"Yes, he put them, but now he can't pull them off!" I said.

"Tako-Hachi-Black on the Rocks!" Hachi threw the big chunk of building right at us!

I ducked as low as I could. I closed my eyes, always expecting the worst, only to hear rocks crumbling. As it was taking way too long for me to get hit, I opened my eyes… to see Sanji standing ahead of us! He kicked the chunk of building away!

"You two, huh… honestly…" He snarked.

"Woohoo! Very good! Awesome!" Luffy only cared about cheering him, though.

"Cool! What an awesome kick!" Usopp joined the fanboying too.

"Thanks, Sanji-san! I owe you big time…" I said.

"Don't mention it. Still, it seems I chose a complete moron to be my captain…" Sanji griped.

"Welcome to the club…" Zoro quipped.

"Say you who aren't painted in black!" I shouted at them, glaring at Luffy after that.

"Sorry." Luffy quickly said.

"Well… at least it's a hundred times better than belonging to a crew of low-life shitheads who mistreat ladies left and right." Sanji stated.

"Spot on, Sanji-san." I stood up, cleaning the excess ink off my body and cracking my knuckles.

"Lady? Did you come here just because of that stupid girl? You make me laugh…" The karate fishman snorted.

"Stupid girl? Say that about Nami-san again, you bastard, and I'm gonna cook you in a frying pan with butter!" That quickly got on Sanji's nerves. He's not someone to let insults towards a lady slide, it seems. "I'm gonna make a meunière out of you, fishman!"

"Hmmmm…" I caressed my belly. "I'm getting hungry…"

Ohh… I wished to kick fishman ass for a very long time!

"Smelly humans…" The karate fishman, however, continued his speech. "You seem to know how to fight… but a pirate that fights for mere chivalry is simply worthless!"

"Why don't you come here and check out if my chivalry is really worthless? I was raised by an invincible pirate!"

"You seem not to be used to the superiority of the fishman race." The fishman cracked his knuckles.

"Pfff… in what exactly are you superior?" I prepared a stance. "To me, you're only fish, and fish is good in the frying pan!"

"You said it." Sanji stepped ahead. "But… boy… stand back. This fight is mine."

"Huh?" I complained.

"Now that Usopp left… Go help Luffy get his feet off the ground." Sanji suggested.

"Ahhhh." I pouted, but ultimately I gave up. "Alright. If you say so… I'll leave the karate guy with you!" I walked a few steps back. "Sanji-san!"

"Huh?"

"When this is over, let's have fish for dinner!" I winked at him.

Sanji only smiled back. That was enough. I walked back to try to help Luffy.

"So? You're still not off the concrete?!" Seriously, sometimes I have these bouts where I ask painfully obvious stuff…

"Nope. I'm rubber. That's why I need help." Luffy flatly replied.

"I know. I'll try to break the ground again." I said.

"How boring… This is getting really boring."

Oh no…

"I can't just stand back there and watch…"

Unfortunately, I only had time to tremble and pray for my life as I heard Arlong's whining… and saw him get close!

"Arlong-san… I thought we already asked you not to rampage around here…" The karate guy said.

"I'm not gonna rampage. I just thought of an interesting game…" Arlong's height and presence never failed to creep me out. He got near us and I felt right there the dread sinking down to the pit of my stomach.

"I… I'm gonna… defeat you!" Luffy grunted as he tried a last-ditch punch on Arlong… but the fishman evaded it and caught Luffy's arm.

"Do you really think you can defeat us?" Arlong asked smugly.

"Yeah… so what?" Sanji jumped to answer.

"Of course we think that, idiot! Let go of my hand!" Luffy tried to free his arm from Arlong's grasp.

"Superior, eh? You're no more than stinky fish!" Time to throw a remark.

"It seems that he wants to say something…" Zoro said.

I tried to attack him but he simply used his other hand and grabbed me by the neck…

Arlong glared at me: "I'm gonna start with you, insolent punk!" And he threw me forcefully into the water!

At first I was confused, trying to look at my surroundings. I tried to swim, but the force with which he threw me in the water sent me some feet below… Wow, now I remember there's a good side not to be a Devil's Fruit user… But what about Luffy?! He's at Arlong's mercy! He's the one who's gonna drown!

I heard the sound of the ground being crumbled…

I tried to hold my breath, keep control of myself and swim back to the surface when suddenly a big rock came in my way… hitting my body and making me lose the remainder of conscience I still had. From then on, everything went black.

Well… that's it, I thought. I'm gonna die here… This might be… the end.

…

…

…

Suddenly, I started to regain myself. When I opened my eyes, I noticed I was out of the water… again.

I coughed some water, taking deep breaths in between. I sat down to see… Nojiko… and a man dressed as a policeman with scars all over his body and… a pinwheel in his hat.

"Nojiko-san… a policeman… did you… save me?" I said while I coughed water.

"What on earth happened for you to go all the way down there? Do you know how to swim?" Nojiko asked in utter bewilderment.

"I do… kinda." I said, still a bit stunned. "But a big rock hit me and I lost my conscience… from then on I remember nothing else."

"Big rock?" The policeman asked.

"Yeah… the big rock on which Luffy is stu…" Oh shit! I forgot! "Luffy! He needs to be saved!"

"Calm down. We will save him."

Nojiko promptly tried to tranquilize me, volunteering to take care of our captain. That gesture confused me for a while, but I accepted her offer.

"I leave Luffy to you. Thanks." I said.

"No prob. I'm the one who should thank you." Nojiko replied.

She and the policeman dove in.

I rested for a few seconds just to think… Hey, why am I going to sit here while the others are fighting and having all the fun?! I have to go help them and get my part of it! I left the place where Nojiko and the policeman were to get back inside Arlong Park and see how Sanji and Zoro were doing.

When I arrived there I found a hole in the wall and Sanji approaching it. It appears he was thrown far away…

"Sanji-san!" I called.

"Ah, hey… boy… um, what was your name again?" Sanji replied.

"Ah! Sorry for the lateness." I introduced myself. "My name is Daiki and I'm a writer… also, I'd rather have you call me Dan."

"Alllriight…" Sanji didn't quite understand, but seemed to go along with it anyway. "Wait." Then he paused. "Writer? I get it… or rather, I don't. How do you do to fight with this pencil?"

"Simple." I explained. "It materializes what I write, or transforms itself in a fighting weapon on my command! But today I want to use it to write a story about how we defeated the fishmen…"

"You can write it while I cook fish in the dinner…" Sanji replied.

"No… I'd rather write it right now…" I said.

We went in to have a look, just to see Zoro fighting against Hachi.

We saw him panting heavily… What on earth happened?

"That guy…" Sanji talked. "His wound is hurting, isn't it? If he's not careful, he's gonna die right there!"

"He's not gonna die." I stated.

"What?" Sanji asked in disbelief. "How can you be so confident?"

"Because he wants to become the best swordsman in the world." I smiled before saying that. "And I think he's not one to bring himself down even if he has to struggle with a wound like that."

Sanji didn't reply. Instead, we turned our attentions back to the battle.

"Rokutouryuu! Tako Tsubo no Kamae! Shin Shun!" (Six Sword Style! Octopus Pot Stance! New Spring!)

Hachi used his six swords to form some sort of jar with them. Then, he rushed to Zoro. He blocked them easily… but…

"Takoage!" (Octopus Flight) He made Zoro open his arms, exposing his bandages!

"Taikai!" (Body Slam) Then he gave a headbutt straight in Zoro's wound!

After this sequence, Hachi ran to where Zoro was gonna fall.

"Rokutouryuu Ougi! Rokutouryuu no Waltz!" (Six Sword Style Special Move! Six Sword Style Waltz!)

With that he spun his swords around, aiming to tear Zoro to bits! I didn't want to see the result… I closed my eyes, only hearing cutting sounds…

When I opened them… I saw Zoro _still in one piece_! He somehow disarmed the octopus of his six swords!

But that came with a cost! Zoro wavered already… It must hurt as hell…

Hachi prepared another Octopus Pot Stance, taking this opportunity to win.

Zoro, even if he trembled, he wouldn't give up! He prepared a counterattack!

"Tatsumaki!" (Dragon Twister)

He spun around himself, waving his swords and sending Hachi flying, just like a hurricane! Apart from breaking all his six swords!

He then sat down, panting heavily… if only he didn't have to deal with a hard-to-heal wound…

"You bastard! What did you do to Hachi?" The karate fishman stepped to the foreground, ready to attack our swordsman while he's injured! Why you…!

"Freeze!" Sanji and I kicked him back.

"Damned bunch of flies…" The karate fishman regained his footing, retreating a few steps.

"Did you think you could get rid of me that easily?" Sanji said.

"Huh? I thought there was no one who could withstand my punch… Not in this East Blue…" The fishman bragged.

"I think there's a lot of them around. Especially in a certain floating restaurant…" Sanji's comeback.

"And this boy… how did he get back?" The fishman looked at me.

"Simple!" I smirked. "I can swim! Honestly, I'm quite glad not to have eaten a Devil's Fruit! And I have something to show you! Enpitsu… Bou!" (Pencil Staff)

Zoro panted heavily, trying to go underwater while I transformed my pencil into a staff.

"Hey! Stop! If you dive in, you're dead meat!" Sanji tried to talk Zoro out of it.

I did it too, not averting my eyes from the enemy. "You've done well, now go get some rest! Leave this to us already!"

"Shut up you two! Luffy can't wait for your battle to end!" Zoro said, breathing heavily.

"We know that. We know Luffy is running out of time. That's why we're stopping you!" Sanji talked. Soon he would take off his shoes and his suit. "So don't bitch at me for doing this!" He went underwater!

"Hahahahahaha! That's interesting! He wants to challenge a fishman underwater!" The karate fishman laughed.

"What a moron! An underwater battle is everything they need!" Zoro shouted.

The karate fishman dove after Sanji, shoving me out of his way.

"Wait, no! You bastard! Come back and fight me! Sanji-san!" I tried to get back as fast as possible, immediately heading to the pool.

"Wait!" Zoro tried to stop me. "Don't go in there! If you dive in, you'll end up as dead as him!"

That paused me long enough. I held back.

"Sanji… Goddamn it… why didn't I stop that damned fishman?!"

"Shaaaahahahahaha! It's getting interesting! What will you humans do now?" Arlong laughed at our misery.

I'm on a stalemate now. Either I dive in and possibly get on Sanji's way or I wait for him to come out! What do I do?

* * *

**************Finally, the great battle between the Straw Hat Pirates and Arlong's fishmen has started! But Luffy has been released from the trap he himself mounted by the worst means possible and now he's at the bottom of the ocean! Sanji accepted an underwater challenge and now he's in a big pinch! What will Dan do? How will this battle end? Don't miss the next chapter!**


	17. Sanji, let's go! It's clobberin' time!

**17** - Proud and tall warriors! The great battle of Sanji and Dan!

* * *

I was running out of patience. My nervousness only increased every second they kept themselves underwater… Sanji! Come out!

"Sanji-san!" I screamed, expecting in vain for him to come out safely.

Yeah, this thing called expectation. I could do nothing else than wait… And even the water didn't shake, further barring any predictions. Problem is: I didn't want to wait any longer.

"Is he going to handle it…" I prayed, at the same time desperately wondering why in the world would he dive to a highly disadvantageous battleground: water.

"I don't know…" Zoro panted. "Common sense is: when the fishmen fight in the water, their power drastically increases! The cook might not handle even five minutes without air."

"Five minutes moving around and holding his breath… it's definitely too much!" I said.

I was really torn between diving and helping Sanji or staying in the surface and waiting for him… He's our new comrade and I'm compelled to trust him to handle this issue, but I just can't stand to sit here and wait. What if he's suffering down there?

I then took a deep breath, calmed down and tried to analyze the situation surrounding me.

Ok. There's Nojiko and the policeman trying to help Luffy get out of the water… Sanji's fighting that fish… If I go back and help Nojiko and the old man, I might end up being noticed and risk both their lives and Luffy's. So, back to scratch. My only options are: Wait for Sanji to get back to land or dive in and help him somehow! What should I do… What should I do?

Ah! Enough of this!

"Aaaaaahhh! I'm already sick of waiting! I'm going in!"

As I said that, I took my shoes and my white jacket off.

"Stupid! Don't do that!"

Zoro still tried to stop me… but my mind was already set. I will dive underwater and do my best to help our new comrade. When I got in… I immediately spotted the karate fishman literally mopping the sea floor with Sanji's ass.

"Gyojin Karate! Kaisoku! Harakudashigeri!" (Fishman Karate! Underwater Speed! Stomach Drop Kick!)

The karate fishman used his hair to trap Sanji and then kick him hard in the belly. All that as I could do nothing but watch perplexed… this is the true power of the fishmen.

"Gyojin Karate! Ka Ka Kakato Otoshi!" (Fire Flower Heel Drop)

Next, he would pull him back to kick him in the neck with his heel…

Then…

"Kachiage Haisoku!" (Rising Thrust-Kick)

Poor Sanji… he'll lose his consciousness right away if he keeps being kicked around like that… I had to do something! Not wasting any more time, I swam deeper, trying to act just like a torpedo and hit him… I flapped my legs as fast as I could and tried to punch him, but he effortlessly evaded my attack and elbowed me in the back, shoving me away before he grabbed me by the shirt.

"Another stupid human who doesn't know his place…" I still could hear him talk…

"Hissatsu! Joudan Bakushou!" (Killer Move: High-Rank Explosive Palm)

Again he trapped us using his hair, punching us afterwards with the palms of his hands and tossing us straight to the rocks. I felt the pain in my head from holding my breath for this long coupled with the pain in my body from all these hits. My surroundings were getting blurry by the second… I had to go up and breathe!

"Air… Air… Air… Air… I'm running out of breath! I need to breathe!" I desperately thought to myself.

As Sanji and I flapped our legs to get to the surface, we saw a blur blocking out the light from the surface. Great, I forgot, the karate fishman's still there to stop us…

Dammit! Get out of the way! Let us through!

"Such perseverance… I don't believe it's human-like…" Does that matter for anything? Get out of the way!

I could only hear his maniac laughter before he talked to Sanji. "According to what I know… it was you… it was you who said anyone who hurts a lady is a piece of shit. I can see where your ridiculous chivalry took you…"

And now to me:

"And you… despite your being able to swim… it is nothing when compared with the speed and power of us fishmen!"

He's gloating. He probably realized we're far beyond the limits of our breath by now… my lungs hurt as hell… In a few minutes from now, I'm gonna beat the record for losing my consciousness twice in a single day. Not that it's something to be proud of…

"There's no way out for you… You shall die in my hands! After I'm done with you two, I shall kill that stupid policeman and that rubber boy too. Also, I'll personally slaughter Roronoa Zoro, that longnose he's with and every citizen who dares to rebel against us. And of course… I'll save that traitor Nami for last. She won't escape alive!"

What?! Do I believe my ears? Does he really intend to kill all our comrades and all the people we're trying to save?! Only to prove fishmen's superiority over us humans?! And, above it all, he wants to kill Nami? Unforgivable… just unforgivable! HE WILL NOT LIVE!

"Do you get it? Your stupid chivalry you blabber about… It will not save Nami or anyone else for that matter!" Count on this: once we're out of the water, I'll make sure you will pay for these words. You and the bunch of assholes up there! You will pay for hurting our comrade!

He grabbed me by my already hurting neck. Whoa, better save the trash-talk for when we're actually on the surface…

"You might have some abilities… but you're nothing more than mere weak humans! Your bodies cannot withstand a sudden change of pressure, right?"

Shit…

"That means if I dove to the bottom of the sea at an incredibly high speed… your bodies would be crushed from the outside in due to the change of pressure!"

"Appakushi Chouka Kouro!" (Death by Pressure Plunge)

He started to swim, speeding downwards and dragging us down to the bottom of the ocean… and I really felt my body being crushed… The pain in my head, a buzzing, piercing noise in my ears and the pain of my body multiplied by a thousand… My lungs screamed in pain… I couldn't handle it anymore. But I had to. That's decided. This son of a bitch will suffer! How dare he say we can't save anyone?! He's gonna gulp each of these words down his freaking throat!

When we reached the bottom, I already coughed blood out of my mouth…

But I have to endure it! Sanji barely got here and he's enduring it too! If I really wish to go forward, I cannot die here! I cannot die now!

"Don't you guys ever die? Fine, if you're still alright after one go… We'll do it again!" Oh no, if he does it, it's over for us!

Something to stop him… anything! Without much thinking, since I was already on my last fragments of consciousness, I did the first thing to come in my mind and bit the fishman's neck gills as hard as I could. Screaming in pain, he stopped before the second descent, swimming upwards instead. Finally, we were able to get to the surface again. As I poked my head out of the water, I took a really deep breath and tried to get a bearing of my surroundings again.

Drawing from all the strength I had at the time, I clung to a side of the pool, pulled myself up to lie down at the floor and took deep breaths. The underwater nightmare took forever to end, but it was over. Sanji was the first to stand… whereas I decided to keep lying down, breathing and slowly recovering.

Note to self: Never jump underwater with a superpowered fishman inside. Never.

So, we're off to a terrible start here. The fishman's at full power, Sanji's barely standing and I'm practically knocked out.

"You two are really…" Zoro didn't want to complete.

"Don't worry… he's fine… or half of him anyway…" Sanji, to Zoro.

"Half?"

"Ask about it later." Sanji quickly wrapped up the issue.

"I… I thought… we were going to die after this…" Supporting myself on my arms, I managed to at least sit up.

"You dumbass! Why the hell did you dive in too?" Zoro yelled.

"Shut up, will you?" I screamed, panting. "At least I'm in better health than you! I don't have to withstand a bleeding wound in the chest!" I paused for a moment. "I can't stand seeing a comrade getting bitchslapped like this! And I am not gonna let that karate fish bastard escape after what he said!"

"You went there just to get your ass beaten…"

"Say what?!" I raised my voice again.

"Hey, come on, save the bickering when this is over." Sanji tried to close the matter. "Our fight's not over yet. Guy, get up!"

"Right… away!" After recovering a little of my strength, I managed to stand on my feet again. Shaking, hurting, but still alive and ready to scream! "GET YOUR ASS OUT OF THE WATER, YOU STINKY FISH!"

"We still have to beat the living hell out of you!" Sanji screamed too.

Then, the karate fish left the water, coughing as well. Through it all, I spotted my pencil I left behind.

The karate fishman recovered, got out of the water and immediately stared us down, practically unharmed as he was, if you don't count the bite mark on his neck.

"You still don't understand, right? It doesn't matter if it is under water or in land, the result's the same. Your impertinence's making me angry now…" Look who's talking… I'm the one who's angry around here!

"I'm gonna show you the true essence of my Fishman Karate. The punch that sent you flying outside the park was a Hyakumai Gawara Seiken! (Hundred-Tile True Punch) But my special and most powerful move is the Senmai Gawara Seiken! (Thousand-Tile True Punch) Once you taste it, the chance of your survival is… ZE~~RO!"

His boast was useless. Sanji immediately leapt forward and shut him up with a kick straight to his face. A hard one.

"Collier." (Neck)

Sanji then pinned the fishman to the ground with a strong kick to his neck. The impact cracked the ground below open. "So… my chivalry is ridiculous, you say?"

"Épaule!" (Shoulder)

He then delivered another strong blow to the fishman's shoulder while he still writhed in the ground.

"So I can't save anyone, huh?"

"Côtelette! (Ribs) Selle! (Loin) Poitrine! (Chest) Gigot! (Legs)"

A fierce sequence of kicks to different parts of the fishman's body that threw him around like a rag doll!

"You… bastards!" The kicks looked strong, but the fishman's burly, he's not going to fall down so easily. Which means, I have to weaken him even further!

"Sanji-san… I have a lot to unload on him. My turn." About freaking time! I wanted to take my anger out on someone for a very long time!

"Go ahead."

"Enpitsu Bou! Introduction!"

As the fishman prepared a pose, I rushed to attack him, evaded his punch and gave him a strong blow in the waist with my staff.

"So… you said you'd kill everyone close to us and the innocent people who have nothing to do with this shit?! Text Body!"

I dealt him another strong blow, this time in the head.

"So, we humans are trash compared to you?"

"Climax!" This time, another blow to his legs.

"Now… I'll tell you something. You fishmen can be strong… but we're even more!"

"Conclusion! Quick-Fire Thrust!"

I launched a quick succession of thrusts, hitting the tip of my staff at his belly. "These ones are for everything you and your stupid friends done to Nami and all the people of her village for these eight years!"

I finished with another, stronger blow in his waist. He lost his footing and fell to the ground. Grunting, he still stood up, but now he wavered and rolled his eyes to the back of his head, working subconsciously.

"Kyuukyoku Seiken!" (Supreme True Punch!)

"Oh no, you won't! Boy, the finish!" Nodding to each other, we rushed to attack him from both sides to launch the final strike.

"Mouton!"

"Double!"

"Shot!"

As we exhaled the last word, I stored my pencil away, rushing forward with Sanji. We jumped together to land two powerful spin-kicks in the fishman's ugly face. He was flung away several yards and crashed inside the Park's building to stay silent once and for all.

"Written by… Dan and Sanji."

"So… that's your name, huh?" He asked.

"Yeah…" I panted, kneeling to the ground. "I'm actually Daiki, but please call me Dan. Sorry for not… introducing myself earlier."

Thus we earned a little moment to rest. Needless to say, I was more than glad to come out alive of such an intense battle. Panting, hurting all over, not having the strength to even stand after the fight, but alive nonetheless.

"I think… he won't get his desserts after this." Sanji said.

"And then, the fishman gang is down to its leader." I said.

There was a short and strangely peaceful pause. I let myself stay kneeled and rest while Sanji put back his shoes. After a small while, I put my jacket back on.

"Ah! Finally, hell to that itch of mine! I longed for the chance to take all this stress out on someone… and for a good cause. I still want my fish in the dinner, though…" I said, more relieved.

"Understood, sir. They're nothing more than weaklings… A fish rebelling against a cook? It's still a million years too early before that happens!" Sanji declared.

"This game… will go to us." Standing back up, tall and proud, I tried my best to stare down Arlong's minions.

"You bastards… how dare you defeat my beloved brethren! One after another… aren't you getting a bit too carried away, eh?!" As for the boss, he's losing his patience.

"Is that a threat? Look who's talking… You have no right to ask us that!" I gathered courage to point my finger to the group.

"Oi… when you said half of Luffy was alright… what exactly did you mean by that?" Zoro asked Sanji.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I wanna know too…" I asked, erasing my game face.

"That means he is not gonna die. It's as simple as that." Sanji said. "But if we want to release him… that means that either Dan or I must dive in again."

What a pain…

"And I don't think that guy's willing to let us do that…"

Indeed. Thus, the only option left to us is to trust Nojiko and the policeman to take Luffy out of the water. As for us, we have to try and stall Arlong for as long as we can!

Priorities set, it's time to face Arlong and the rest of his cronies. The power trio: Zoro, me and Sanji.

"Enpitsu Yari!"

"Oni…!"

"Collier!"

"Shaahahaha! No matter what tricks you try, they're useless against me!"

In an instant, Arlong covered the distance keeping us apart to punch the air out of my stomach… Again. Oh, come on… I went through so much for today!

Not giving any rest, he spat out tiny water darts that hit with the force of a bullet. It didn't pierce, but the impact still hurt internally and sent us to the ground. I didn't see what happened to the other two but I only caught them falling down as well. We tried to stand up, but the lingering pain made us waver and pant. Sanji stood up, but Zoro was still down. Needless to say, the accumulated fatigue hit hard on us. Holding our breath for a lot of time, withstanding the water pressure, almost getting crushed by a stinky fishman, and in Zoro's case, having to fight with a wound yet to heal… and now, having to stall Arlong so Luffy can wake up…

"In order to kill humans of your kind…" Arlong stated. "I don't need to struggle even a bit. Just a bit of water is more than enough…"

You bastard… that's because we're tired! If we were at our full power… we'd kick your ass, you freaky fish guy!

"… that's the difference between us and you humans…"

"Enough bullshit!"

"You're all talk!"

Charged with confidence, Sanji and I rushed yet again, but Arlong wasted no time to prove his point. He easily evaded both our attacks and once again shot another wave of water bullets right to our torsos. Once again I felt a strong pain in my abdomen… He's getting serious now! For him, it's just like playing with water! Is this the true power of a sharkman?!

The most powerful of all fishmen… It's in a completely different league… several levels above ours.

"Die once and for all. Nevertheless, your lives aren't worth that much."

"Arlong!"

Before he could continue his manslaughter, a lonely, familiar voice shouted from far away.

As I turn to see who it belongs to…

"Nami!"

What is she still doing here is beyond me, though.

"Oh, hello there, Nami. I was just here, giving a small sample of the power of us fish pirates to these smelly humans. What brings you here, after all?" Arlong turned to her, in an overly friendly tone.

"I came here to kill you." Nami? What on earth… did you come here just to spout threats at him?

Wait… the mark on her arm… it's bleeding.

What did she do? Did someone hurt her?

"Nami! What did you…" That was all I could whisper.

"You came… to kill me?" Arlong stressed out, in mock-disbelief. "Shaaahahahaha! You still don't give up? You really don't learn, do you? How many times did you try to kill me in these past eight years? Murder attempts… various poisons… attacks at random… All of them had the same result: failure."

Nami… of course. Would he think Nami trusted him enough to keep herself from trying to kill him when the chance was there? Or maybe he took this into account too…

"You should know by now. We can't be killed by humans that easily. Listen. You can never kill me… and you can never run away from me. Ever! Nami… you will keep being my great cartographer… for as long as I need you! Besides, you know I'm _still_ trying to be nice to you. I really expect you to continue drawing your maps for me, if possible."

Arlong pointed his finger to her.

"So, what do you think of this? Because of all that happened here… I'd be in the mood to kill all these people standing here, excluding you, of course. But… if you, by any chance, happen to decide now that you'll return to the Arlong crew and keep serving us as a cartography officer, I will spare the Cocoyashi village crowd standing here. But…"

Now he turned to us.

"I definitely won't spare these idiots here under any chance. They've gone too wild on my house."

You bastard…

"It's your decision."

The classic sadistic choice…

"If you choose me, your village's citizens will be spared… or you can choose to fight against me together with the dead-beat scum before you. Although… these guys who you're probably counting on are so torn up and battle-worn by now… there's no way this whole mess won't end in tragedy. For you, anyway."

And then, after all this blah-blah-blah, he gets to the point and makes the question.

"Nami… are you with me… or are you with them?"

Nami… I now know everything you hoped for was to keep anybody from dying, but it seems that it's impossible. If anyone has to die either way - and I really hate to say that - please let it be us. The people of your village are entirely innocent victims! They are everything to you! Don't risk yourself and don't risk their lives needlessly! I don't want to see you trying to help us, and if we lose, see the people of your village get slaughtered by this mercenary!

The future of this people… our future… and, who knows, maybe, the future of this entire East Blue… is resting in your hands!

…

…

"Guys… I'm sorry… but… would you die together with me?"

…

…

Nami…

Once she said that, the crowd went wild. Through the cheers and defiant screams, the strong resolve of the people became transparent. Their hearts are prepared to fight… even though they know it means certain death… even though they know they don't stand a chance against him.

It's stupid, I know, but I like people who stand up to their oppressors… even if they know it will be in vain.

I could do nothing but watch… not even trying to hold my tears.

"I get it… So you really want to be torn open?"

* * *

**After a truly grueling battle, our heroes are mostly beaten up and falling down. Luffy's still to be rescued from certain death and Nami is faced with a very difficult choice. Her unwavering trust and courageous decision is applaudable, but it translates into a downright suicidal mission.**

**The townspeople's hearts are filled with resolve to defend their land with their lives, but will it work out? Even though they have no energy left, our heroes will try their best to stop the fishmen until the end! Don't miss the next chapter!**

**Dan: "What a long preview!"**


	18. Luffy's back! Counterattack NOW!

**18** - Luffy in full power! Nami's courage and the straw hat

* * *

"Guys… I'm sorry but are you willing to die with me?"

Nami, I have to admire your courage. Even with the threat of such a deal, you decided to risk it all and leave it in our hands… you _do_ trust us, after all. We might be going down but Luffy is coming back, I'm sure of that! You decided to trust his word… and for the life of me, you won't regret it!

I take back everything I thought before. Our struggle will not be for naught!

"Now I see. So you really want to be thrashed…" Arlong snarled, ready to do the deed himself. However, his ultimatum was met with the unwavering determination of a roused crowd. They prepared their hearts to fight for their land. Even if it means certain death.

We can't let them down! We can't let Nami down!

Please, Nojiko… please, Mr. Policeman… rescue Luffy so he can rescue us all!

To my great pleasure, not long after my mental plea, I heard the sound of water shooting up just like a fountain. I turned my head around, rejoicing as I saw the water splashing behind the wall. Could it be? No, it sure is!

"Lu… Luffy…" I said, weakly.

"What's that?!" Arlong noticed it too.

"He… he's alive…" Sanji said. "We need to get rid of that boulder in his feet somehow…"

"What? Now I understand… that's it…" Zoro, trying to stand as well.

"I… I think… I still have… some power left for that…" I said, once again clutching my pencil and focusing my power on it.

The three of us managed to stand back up and once more face the giant blue fishman.

"Enpitsu… Yari." I whispered. Gripping my pencil, I channeled my power to make it glow and transform into a spear.

"Thirty seconds. I can't hold more than that." Zoro said, preparing his borrowed swords again.

"You won't need that long… Just ten seconds… are more than enough!" Sanji said as he immediately jumped underwater.

Arlong promptly walked towards the water, intent on diving too and going after him… and there's where we had to intervene.

"Oh no, you won't…"

Zoro swung one of his swords so it made a slight cut in Arlong's face.

"As long as we're here, you will not dive in this pool. That's only if you get past our corpses!" I said, pointing my spear to his face.

"You don't need to worry about that now! You goddamn half-fish!" Zoro threatened.

"Didn't I already tell you not to call me that…" He snarled slowly, his voice a growling whisper. "It seems your end has come, impudent insects!"

He simply licked his wound, washing the blood away from his face.

"All Devil's Fruit users are just like hammers when underwater. Your friend must be already dead by now. If he's still alive that means… someone meddled with my game."

Oh, boy… Nojiko! Mr. Policeman! Sanji, hurry!

"Meddled… with your game? I thought it was over already, shithead." Zoro taunted.

"Nonetheless, I will figure out who's doing this. Move." Arlong stressed out that final word with such force it almost prompted me to flinch.

_Almost._

"I told you…" Not moving one step, I defied his threats. "You'll only dive in this pool… over our dead bodies!"

"Is that so?" Arlong asked. "Then, it'll be my pleasure-"

"Tamagoboshi!" (Egg Star)

Suddenly, an egg hits Arlong, splashing all over his face before he could deliver his (possibly) final swipe.

"I'll back you up! Zoro, Dan!"

"Big Bro Usopp! Are you alright?" Yosaku called.

"He's so brave! He's facing this challenge fair and square!" Johnny admired…

Hey, Johnny… I don't think so. Why do I say that? That's because I quickly spotted Usopp standing at the hole in the wall that was there since our fight with that karate fishman.

"Fight with all your strength!"

"You're over there?!" The populace shouted.

I could do nothing but sweatdrop at all that.

"Usopp!" Nami screamed.

"Usopp-kun! You're alive!" I shouted.

"Look! Nami! Dan! One of Arlong's underlings… I defeated one of them! Of all people… I was the one to beat him up! One with a fa~~ace like this… Haahahahaha!" He demonstrated, stretching his cheeks… maybe he defeated that blue one with a big mouth. Pointing his finger at the fishmen, safely away from him: "You fishmen are nothing but trash!"

"Thanks! Usopp! You're awesome!" I thumbs-upped him.

He replied with a victorious V and a broad smile in his face. That was enough.

"Chuu!" Arlong exclaimed. "You… You bastard! How could you…"

"Yeah!" Filled with confidence, Usopp continued his boast. "You betcha! My arrival in this battle is the signal we're close to a conclusion! Be prepared for the grand finale!" We only need Luffy to wake up and come here for this battle to be decided for our side!

"Big Bro Cook!" Johnny called. "I have no idea what's happening underwater… but Big Bro Cook will be the key to this! Big Bro Zoro! Big Bro Dan! Give your best out there! Stall Arlong!" You didn't even need to ask!

"Aaahh… In no way… In no way I'm gonna let… you do as you please… you bastards!"…that voice… is it from…

"Hey, Arlong! Look here, you jerk!" Usopp called.

Usopp, be careful! You did your best already!

"Big Bro Usopp!" Johnny cheered.

"How brave of him!" Yosaku admired.

"Usopp… Wago~~mu!" (Usopp Rubberband)

Arlong didn't even spare a glance at him, focusing on us still. "Do you still dare stand in my way? Looks like you want to be the first ones to die… boy…" My name is Dan, you dumbass! "…and Roronoa Zoro."

What are you waiting for? Bring it on!

"Now! Attack! Zoro! Dan!" Usopp shouted again.

"Why do you think we're gonna die?" Zoro taunted, preparing a pose.

"This nose of yours… we're gonna break it!" If you won't attack, we're going first!

I immediately jumped toward Arlong, swinging my lance full power as Zoro used one of his swords, both aimed at Arlong's saw nose. However, the spear recoiled and shook as soon as it made contact with his nose. Wow, it's surprisingly sturdy! Even with our double attack, Arlong barely moved, barely flinched, not even bothering to evade it.

"You bastards…" He said, with our weapons still stuck on his nose. "My nose's unbreakable. That's why I like it." Oh, shit. "If you weren't so tired, you could take a better shot at it. You could still cause a slight bruise or a minor scratch, I can give you that."

Now stay with me through this, because he used his nose to throw me and my lance far away, sending me straight into a wall. With just his nose! When I got up to sit, I saw Arlong using the nose to counter Zoro's three swords! His nose's hard as steel, we don't have the strength to possibly break it the way we're tired.

"Look over there!"

"Ah! That stupid octopus woke up!"

Johnny and Yosaku called as Hatchan got back on his feet. Oh no… go down already!

"I… have… to… stop him…" I said, standing back up amongst the pile of wall rubble "Until… Luffy… is here!"

"Big Bro Dan!" I heard Yosaku calling for me.

Hachi tried to protect himself from something…

"Eh… What's he doing?" I wondered.

He widened his eyes, seemingly being taken aback by something. "Aaaaaahhhh! Oh dammit! I thought the rubberband was going to hit me!"

What? He was waiting for the rubberband to…

"Whaaa…" Usopp stared slack-jawed for a second before he took notice. "Ah! Ahahahahaha! Did you see? I was aiming at him this whole time!"

"Wasn't it you who were shouting 'Arlong, look here' all the time?" I thought.

"Roronoa Zoro!" Hachi turned to him. "I will not let you escape! I won't let your comrades do as they please here!"

I had to intervene. Zoro couldn't possibly take two fishmen at once, he's too busy trying to stop Arlong.

"Leave him to me, Zoro-san." I darted to a side. "Excuse me, Hachi… Zoro's busy! I'll take you on!" I rushed forward and tried to attack Hachi with my lance.

"Tako… San… Ren… Shin… Ken… Shira… Ha… Dori!" (Triple Octopus Blade Interception)

He tried to defend himself by using his three pairs of hands to try to catch my lance as I jumped and swung it down.

I passed two of his sets of hands, but in the third he caught it!

"Hahahaha!" Eek! "I won't fall to the same trick again!" Then, a cut appeared in his head, bleeding a bit. Even if he caught my blade, I still managed to leave a mark on his forehead. Does that matter now? What he's gonna do to me? I'm stuck!

"Takoyaki Punch!" He launched a series of punches with his six arms. I just took it all in with no way to evade. He sent me back to the wall again. Honestly, I should get a job as a one-man building demolishing team… Just send me against a wall and bam! Destroyed. I'd get hurt, obviously, but I'd get paid too. Big time!

"Watch as I kill your stupid comrade. Underwater!" He then jumped underwater, intent on hindering Sanji.

I had to do something, but the most I could do with the remainder of energy I had was to get up from the new rubble and lay in the ground in a shivering heap. "I can't do it…"

"Big Bro Dan!" I heard people screaming, but I couldn't see who it was. I was far beyond tired, just managing to lift my head and see Zoro still stalling Arlong. I definitely ran out of energy. Just moving my head hurt immensely.

"Zoro-san…" I sputtered.

"Don't be so frustrated." Arlong, to Zoro. "Very, very soon, the pain will go away. All of you will be dead."

He then used his nose to pierce Zoro's chest!

"Big Bro!" Johnny and Yosaku screamed.

"Zoro-san!" I screamed.

Zoro screamed in mind-blowing pain, it appeared to hurt so much, his hands went limp, letting go of his three swords. Arlong took the chance to better grab him by the neck.

Oh no… I want to help… but my body… won't… move!

"Ooh… Over already? How boring… by the way, what is it with all these bandages?! Did you fall somewhere before you got here or something like that?" He yanked off the bandages covering Zoro's chest, ending up with some specks splashing on his face. The bandages were blood-red and a small puddle of blood quickly formed on the ground.

The moment Mihawk slashed him in the chest flashed through my mind… For a second, all the emotions that coursed through me that day returned…

I didn't quite see Zoro's open wound, but all the blood he spilled was enough for me to almost pass out. He fought with a wound still unhealed and there goes stupid Arlong and takes his bandages off. Even he flinched when he saw the blood from his torso, acknowledging Zoro's persistance in fighting, despite his gaping wound.

I couldn't help but wonder how he's still alive… why is he still fighting…

How stupid of me. I still ask myself even after he told to my face why. That's because he wants to become, at any costs, the best swordsman in the world! And a wound like that will not bring him down! He's too stubborn and proud to back away from a challenge for any reason, no matter if he dies because of it… it's stupid, but I admire his determination.

I saw Arlong extending his arm back, throwing away the bloodstained bandages and getting ready to try something. He's certainly going to kill Zoro once and for all!

"Zoro-san!" I screamed, trying a last effort to get back up. In vain.

"If you go easy…" Arlong was about to swing his arm forward, but Zoro's words stopped him mid-swing. "The wounds… won't open." Zoro… even on the face of death, only you can have balls to talk like that. I wonder what he's talking about…

"Is that all you have to say?" Arlong asked, irritated. "You think that's funny?"

"I'm not talking about my wounds… but the octopus's."

"What did you say?"

"You heard this before… This game, we're going to win it!"

I then heard screaming from underwater, the sound of boulders breaking… could it be? Did Sanji do it? He crushed the boulder! That means… Luffy is free to come here! Not too long after that, I saw someone flying away from the spot where Nojiko and the policeman should still be.

I looked to the air left and right until I spotted it. A smile slowly broadened in my face… it's Luffy's silhouette against the sun! He's here!

"Luffy! Captain!" I screamed out loud.

"Aaaaaaaaahhh! I'M BACK!"

I could hear the joy and the cheers of the people celebrating Luffy's return and with him, the return of our hopes. The nightmare of Arlong's eight years of dominance will end right here, right now!

Taking a long and deep breath, with all the air in my lungs, I shouted my loudest.

"LUFFY! GET THERE AND KICK THE ASS OF THAT STINKY FISHMAN FOR GOOD!"

"OOOO~~UU!"

"You're late, moron." I heard Zoro's whisper.

"Zoro!" Luffy, in mid-air, stretched his arms and grabbed Zoro's jacket. Wait a second, what he's going to… I think I have a vague idea…

"Hey… Oh no! You're not going to…" Yes, he's going to.

"Let's switch!" He said.

Luffy yanked Zoro out of Arlong's arms, swapping positions with him. The problem is that now Zoro's in mid-air!

"YOU ASSHOLE!" I heard screaming.

Honestly, Luffy…

"Luffy! Think before you act, donkey!" I said, not expect him to have heard it. Just to get the weight of yelling at him out of me.

You feel a little lighter once you yell something out, I tell you. Seriously, you do!

Before the battle could start for real, I managed to recover a little of my strength and sit on the pile of rubble, although still hurting all over. Once I got enough strength to stand back up, I decided to slowly sneak a way to the other side, going around the Park's backyard and arriving on the other side. Together with my other comrades and the people of the village, I would have a safer view of the fight. Meanwhile, I saw Luffy stretching his neck on his way down to meet Arlong.

"GOMU GOMU NO… KANE!" (Gum Gum Bell)

He swung his neck forward and headbutted Arlong right in his head! Arlong stumbled a few steps back, allowing Luffy to land other hits.

"and… Muchi!" (Whip)

Luffy, as he made his way to the ground, outstretched his right leg and delivered a powerful kick to Arlong's waist, sending him another few steps back. As the fishman recovered from the hit, Luffy landed, readying another attack, determined not to give Arlong any pause.

"Gomu Gomu noooo… Pistol!" (Gum Gum Pistol) He stretched his right arm while pulling it back. He then swung it forward to unleash a hook in Arlong's stomach.

He's on a roll now!

"Gomu Gomu noooo…"

He advanced, continually punching the air… lots of punches to the air, progressively faster. He punched about ten to twenty times a second (probably, his arms moved too fast for me to count), reaching his fastest.

"…Gatling Gun!"

Thus, the barrage of punches to the air began to pounce on Arlong…

"Oryaaaa!"

…continually pushing him back, only ending with Arlong up against the crushed wall of Arlong Park's entrance.

"Yosh!" Luffy said, flexing his arm as he was done.

"Incredible…" I muttered.

Everyone stood there, static, staring with a perplexed look at the scene. At how easy Luffy was punching Arlong. Simply amazing! He's the one who will end this battle!

Suddenly, I saw the rubble moving again with Arlong standing back up. Of course he wasn't going to fall because of those punches alone. The fight has just begun!

"Did you think that affected me in any way? Oh, how wrong you are." Arlong got up from the rubble, shaking it off.

"Not even a scratch?!" Johnny and Yosaku, shocked in unison.

"Don't worry, you guys. He can take care of himself, I'm sure of it." Luffy only wanted to test his power for now.

"I… I'm gonna kill him…" Huh? Zoro?

I turned to a side and saw him resting against a wall.

"Ah! Zoro-san!"

He was on the other side of the park's doors.

"How the hell are you over there already?!" Zoro yelled.

"I just went around!" I replied.

"Are you crazy or what?!"

I didn't want to respond. It's time to focus more on the fight that's about to happen.

Luffy did some stretching routines, warming up to face Arlong.

"What the hell is wrong with you, pathetic ant… I thought you would be much better sleeping at the bottom of the ocean…"

"Yeah, me too." Luffy, still stretching. "I'm really grateful to whoever rescued me."

"Oh, you are? That's a shame. If you just stayed put, you wouldn't need to face all of my rage… and believe me, I have plenty now." Arlong walked away from the shadows. "You and your pathetic friends defeated my beloved brethren… When I start dealing with you, you'll soon wish to have died earlier."

Luffy simply ignored him and kept on stretching.

"Is he going to be alright?" Yosaku asked. "Big Bro Luffy… those attacks of his didn't cause any damage at all…"

"More importantly!" Johnny was much more unnerved, spitting all over Yosaku's face. "Where's Big Bro Zoro?!"

"Worry not. About neither of them!" They turned and stared at me. "Zoro-san landed in solid ground and is recovering. Luffy did that to warm himself up."

"Just to warm up?!" The hunter pair yelled.

"Yeah." I replied, calmer than ever. "If that was just a warm-up, it's a sign he has enough power to do a lot worse to Arlong when the battle starts for real. And, Nami…"

"Yeah?" She turned and looked at me.

"Don't worry." I smiled. I wasn't entirely sure why, but I was confident Luffy would win. "Your eight years of nightmare will end today." I then faced the battle area. "No matter what happens!"

"Go get him, Luffy! I'll watch your back!" Usopp said.

"Stop saying that over and over." Nami and I said.

The battle is about to start.

"Do you know the greatest difference between you and me?"

Luffy stretched and mumbled as he paused to think about the question.

"The nose?" He replied. "Chin?" That done, he put a fighting stance.

I muffled a chuckle…

"Big Bro… is he joking with him?"

"No, I think he's serious…"

"Webbed hands?" He pointed to his own.

"Grrr… it's our own race!"

Arlong launched a fruitless punch at him, purely out of frustration. He then tried to bite Luffy several times, but our captain would always evade Arlong's pointy teeth. Our captain never fails to amaze me… he evaded Arlong's bites as everyone escapes being tagged in a children's game!

As he leapfrogged over every bite, he moved around, but ended up being cornered against one of the building's pillars. Arlong prepared to bite Luffy's head, biting only the pillar as Luffy pulled his head to the side and evaded in time.

"Hahaha! You're gonna bite your tongue! Your teeth must be-"

Usopp stopped talking as soon as he saw the chomped pillar cracking… and breaking to bits.

"HE TORE THE PILLAR DOWN WITH A SINGLE BITE!" Johnny screamed.

Luffy evaded just at the right time, but the gaping hole Arlong's teeth left on the pillar, also left everyone with their jaws hanging off their mouths. That wouldn't just leave a mark if it hit… he'd tear his body apart, bones included!

"Did'ja see?" Arlong said. "This is the power we fishmen are born with." He walked toward Luffy. "The heavens dictate the difference between you and us. The heavens gave you humans, enough power to stand below us in the evolutionary chain."

Here he comes with the blah-blah-blah about being superior and stuff. Didn't he see us, inferior humans, kicking his comrades' asses? Talk about slow…

"You are inferior beings. Since the moment we're born, everything is different." He chuckled a bit. A sneering, demeaning chuckle. "I will show you, with plenty of detail, the difference between us, fishmen and you, humans."

"Ok, I'm waiting." Luffy smiled, standing back up. "Show it then. No way I'm gonna lose to a fish like you! … Because… I'm the one who's gonna be the King of Pirates!"

* * *

**Arlong and their fishmen are still with the upper hand, but now that Luffy's rescued and in charge, we'll see an epic battle between two crewleaders! Will this put an end to Nami's eight years of suffering? But Arlong's not willing to let that happen! And... he's angrier than ever!**

**Wait for the next chapter!**


	19. The good, the bad and the sharp teeth

**19** - Explosion! Fishman Arlong attacks from the bottom of the sea!

* * *

"Shaaahahahaha!" Arlong gloated. "I'm going to show you the true difference between us and you!"

"Ok… I'm waiting." Luffy replied, confidently. "Show it then. Whatever trick you have under your sleeve, no way I'm losing to you! I'm the man who's going to be King of Pirates!"

Well said! Get'em, Luffy!

A short pause later, Arlong picked up a boulder from the ground.

"King of Pirates? You? Don't make me laugh. Are you really sure a mere human like you has any chance of becoming something so grand like that? Can you break a pillar with your bite?"

Arlong's got a point there. True, breaking a solid pillar with a single bite isn't a thing that our human jaws are capable of doing. If he bit Luffy with those teeth, it wouldn't just leave a mark… his bones would be crushed and he would be torn in half!

"So, what's the matter?! Scared yet?" The fishman chuckled.

"Don't be so damn proud…" Luffy walked to a bigger chunk of the rubble and cracked it in pieces with a single punch. "…about pointless shit! I don't have to bite boulders to prove you I'm strong."

"Haha! Very well said, Big Bro Luffy!" Yosaku cheered.

"In the end, results are the same!" Johnny followed.

"You puny weakling!" Arlong, annoyed with Luffy's stubbornness. "The entire human race is simply pathetic! What a human can do against me? You barely saved yourself underwater!"

Arlong got back to the charge, launching his teeth at Luffy again. Luffy evaded his onslaught and picked up two swords from the ground.

"It's precisely because I can do nothing that I have people helping me!"

Luffy faced a smirking Arlong, quickly charging him.

"Big Bro Luffy… does he use swords?" Johnny wondered.

I don't think so… I never saw him use a sword before. What's he doing?

Luffy dashed forward, swinging the swords from side to side, trying and failing to hit Arlong. Luffy's movements slowed down considerably and Arlong had much more leeway to move around him, effortlessly evading Luffy's sluggish slashes.

"What the hell are you doing, fool?" Arlong taunted. "I only see you swinging these swords at random! Pathetic!"

One of the swords hit Arlong's nose, only to shatter itself immediately.

"I'm running out of patience to put up with your stupid jokes!"

Luffy prepared to bring his only sword down on Arlong… but the fishman launched his teeth at it, immediately shattering it too. Arlong chewed the bits of the sword, tearing it apart for good.

"It's useless, you know?" Arlong said.

"Then, take this!"

Empty-handed, Luffy launched a straight left hook in Arlong's face.

"He broke Arlong's teeth!" Indeed, Arlong's denture shattered like glass, pieces of his teeth falling to the ground.

Arlong fell flat on his back, trying to understand what happened.

"Of course I don't know a damn thing about swords, you jerk!" Luffy yelled. "I know nothing about navigation. I can barely write something worth reading. I can't cook good. I can't even lie!"

"Hey!" Usopp yelled.

"I can't do shit, but I have enough confidence to state I can't survive without people by my side!"

"So… you admit your own hopelessness?" Arlong sneered. "Your futility… is pitiful. The comrades of such a pathetic man… they must feel sorry about you…"

Sorry? Bullshit! Teamwork is what builds our bonds and makes us stronger. That's what will bring your downfall!

I wanted to yell it at him, but I kept myself quiet.

Meanwhile, Arlong continued his verbal assault. "Why should they risk their lives to save someone like you?! Someone they don't feel proud of… why should you be their captain? What the hell can you do?"

"I can kick your ass!"

Well said, Luffy!

Nami smiled at those words. An earnest, hopeful smile, much different of the despairing look and desperate cry she wailed back at the avenue.

"See, Nami?" I glared at her. "Our captain won't give up until he proves his point. Either we all die… or he wins!"

"Go at him, Luffy! Don't worry, your back is safe!" Usopp repeated, rubbing his nose, in a much more cheerful tone, one of trust. Luffy already knows we're by his side, but Nami needs to know we're going to stand by her. No matter what!

The crowd roared, cheering for Luffy.

"You all shut up!" Arlong growled. "An inferior race like you should know better than to stand up against us!" Arlong jumped back to his feet. While his broken teeth fell down from his mouth, he instantaneously grew a new set as a replacement.

"His teeth grew back again!" Luffy pointed.

"Fool. I'm a hunting shark." Arlong said, his voice just above a forceful whisper. "My teeth will always grow back, even stronger than the previous set!"

The fishman then yanked the newborn teeth off from his mouth, with another set growing back immediately afterwards.

"No matter how many times…"

Again, he pulled the newly-grown set off his mouth and, guess what? Another set grew up instantaneously, bright and shiny.

"…I happen to need them… they will grow back. This is an ability given to me by the heavens."

"Wow!" Luffy stared with wide eyes.

"Do you finally begin to understand how superior we fishmen are?" Arlong outstretched his arms, holding one denture in each hand.

"Tooth Gum!"

Arlong jumped, attacking Luffy with the pointy dentures. Luffy had trouble evading his assault until he was cornered, left at the mercy of Arlong's teeth. I closed my eyes, hearing biting sounds… and Luffy screaming.

"Big Bro Luffy!"

"Captain!"

I didn't see what happened, but it must've been horrible…

"Arlong-san… it hurts…" That's… not Luffy.

"Wha…?! My brethren?!"

The scene unfolded before my eyes. Luffy, in the nick of time, grabbed one of the knocked out fishmen, using him as a shield!

"You… you damned rubber-boy…" Arlong growled. "How dare you? Using one of my brethren as a shield?!"

Oh, does he actually care about his underlings?

"What are you talking about?" Luffy countered. "You attacked him, not me."

"Stay still right there… you shitty rubber-boy!" Arlong waved his dentures, click-clacking them like castanets.

"Interesting, I have an idea!" Luffy mused.

"An interesting idea?" Johnny parroted.

"What could it be…" Yosaku wondered. "Is it a secret attack?"

Secret attack or whatever, it better be good.

"Tooth Gum!"

Arlong again charged at Luffy with his dentures again. Luffy was back to the dodging game. barely skirting around Arlong's teeth. Luffy then stomped the ground with one foot, gained momentum to swing the other foot sideways and kick Arlong right in the cheek.

The fishman fell on the ground and his brand new denture came out of his mouth.

"It's out!" Luffy said happily.

Arlong fell down again, rising shortly after, unharmed. "You idiot. Don't you learn? I told you already. No matter how many times you try and break my teeth, it's useless. Don't you understand yet?!"

"Big Bro Luffy…" Johnny mused. "Does the interesting idea you were talking about have anything to do with…"

"Look! I have shark teeth now!"

A silent, awkward pause… the wind breezed past…

"It wasn't a secret attack at all!"

Jaws went down again while I failed to muffle my laughter.

"You're right!" I burst out laughing. "It is interesting! Hahahahaha!" Did you expect anything serious? Oh, you did. So did the rest of the people, it seems. On the other hand, I just laughed at his goofiness.

"Sorry… guys… I just… that's…" I looked at Luffy's "menacing" shark teeth again, not bothering to hold my laughter.

"DON'T LAUGH!"

"How long do you want to go on mocking me?!" Arlong snarled.

I forced myself to stop giggling when Arlong lashed out again, using his teeth to bite through Luffy's jacket.

"Aaaaahhh! A shark's biting me!" Luffy shrieked, although Arlong missed him by a hair.

"That's because you're fooling around!" Johnny and Yosaku quickly went from shocked to angry.

"Hey, I don't fool around, I'm serious now!" Luffy turned to them, freed from Arlong's hold.

"Tooth Gum!"

Arlong launched himself at it once again, cracking the ground each time he punched with his teeth-reinforced fists. Luffy's in a big pinch now! Another round of dodging fishman attacks by a hair. He used the rubble scattered around to protect himself, but each piece would break and the recoil would send Luffy flying a few meters backwards, leaving him at the mercy of Arlong's next attacks. This time, he failed to dodge, realizing a bit too late that Arlong was about to hurt him. Arlong's teeth struck right in his waist and Luffy screamed in pain for a while. However, Luffy didn't flinch, using the denture to bite back, right through Arlong's gills! Both of them retreated, dentures piercing their bodies.

"Gotcha! How's the taste of your own teeth? Shaahahahaha!" Luffy mocked Arlong's laughter.

"Indeed, these teeth are mine. But your jaw is powerless to handle them! Listen. True hunting sharks tear off flesh and limbs when they bite their prey. These are the teeth of a shark!"

Arlong rushed forward again. Luffy tried to shove him away, but he only had a moment's notice to realize: yes, this is about to hurt, as Arlong's teeth come down on him. Again.

"Big Bro's bones are going to break!" Yosaku screamed.

"Luffy…" Nami whispered.

I gaped wide with how loud Luffy was shrieking. Even I felt Arlong's teeth going through my skin. Arlong kept his teeth well in Luffy's flesh for just a few moments but it felt like an eternity until Luffy did something to fight back. He grabbed the fishman by the neck and turned him upside-down, making him fall on his back. The impact made him release Luffy's elbow, letting him fall to the ground and recover.

"His arm… it'll be alright?" Usopp wondered.

A beat, a silent pause and the two fighters clutched their aching parts, each on a corner.

"Big Bro's elbow…" Yosaku stared, again stating concern. "Is he going to be ok?"

"I hope it is…" I said, equally worried. "I can't imagine how it must hurt being bitten by Arlong's fang. But if he stepped back a single step, he'd be eaten alive."

Both Luffy and Arlong got up again, pulling off the dentures pierced in their bodies. Then, suddenly, in a matter of moments, Arlong jumped underwater and was gone.

"Huh? That guy… where is he?" Luffy looked around.

"Luffy! Underwater!" Nami pointed at him.

He looked to the sea.

"A shark!" Luffy called.

"It's Arlong, dumbo!" Nami yelled.

"Eh? He's down there…"

Damn, I hope Luffy doesn't learn it the hard way as Sanji and I did… Once a fishman's underwater, his power goes way up. A long pause later, I heard a sound approaching the land, becoming louder… Water splashed far and wide as we heard Luffy let out another scream and the water torpedo crashed against the walls of the building.

"Something shot from the sea!"

Luffy was sent flying several meters, only to fall neck-first back in the ground. Ouch… that would kill him if he wasn't made of rubber…

Something left the water and I'm sure it's Arlong!

"It's Arlong!" I yelled. "He's taking advantage of his full power underwater!"

His fast attack splashed water everywhere and blasted a cloud of smoke on the crash site. Then, Arlong appeared on the second floor of the building, out of the most recent hole.

"You've done well in dodging that attack. But… whether you keep evading me it or not… Hell will follow you from now on! Shark… on… Darts!"

Arlong crouched before shooting himself like a torpedo from his position, hellbent on targeting Luffy. He once again had to jump out of the way as Arlong stopped with his nose perfectly stuck on the ground for a few seconds before it cracked and crumbled the floor like a cookie.

"Shark… on… Darts!" Arlong repeated his full-body torpedo attack, again missing Luffy by a hair's breadth, diving underwater for another shot.

"Oi, Luffy, hide yourself!" Usopp called desperately. "That guy's back underwater!"

"Big Bro, hurry, go hide somewhere!"

"Arlong is preparing to attack you again!"

Johnny and Yosaku alerted him well in advance. If he doesn't hide, he'll become an easy target for a full-on high-speed frontal attack!

"Luffy! Get outta there!" I yelled.

"No."

"Quit saying nonsense! Run away!"

"No! I will stay here, stop this asshole and break his nose! Bring it on, shark!"

It's useless to tell him what to do. He's not going to hide. I then paused and thought better than giving any further angry advice I could think of. I remembered when Luffy insists on something, he means it. No matter the consequences.

"What part of 'hide yourself' don't you understand, Luffy!" Usopp, however, kept trying to talk him out of the challenge. "Back then you escaped by a hair! If he hits you full-on this time, you'll die on the spot!"

"Usopp-kun!"

He turned to me.

"Be quiet. He's not going to run away. We have to believe him."

"Gomu Gomu nooooooo… Tate!" (Gum-Gum Shield)

He called out the name as he used the fingers of one hand to pull the fingers of the other and make a shield of sorts.

"What kind of stance is that?" Yosaku questioned.

"Does he really believe that it will stop him?!" Johnny, equally incredulous.

A pause and shortly after, the sound came from underwater, faster this time. Water splashed around again, but for a brief second I caught a glimpse of Arlong hitting Luffy straight-on. When everyone expected the worst, I spotted his "shield" successfully stopping the Arlong missile before his nose pierced through Luffy's chest.

"What happened?! Did he kill him?!" Usopp asked.

"No! Luffy caught Arlong head on!" I replied.

He flew until he rammed the wall of the building's second floor.

"Haha!" Luffy screamed. "I stopped your little trick! That won't work against me anymore!"

"Shark… on… Darts!" Suddenly, Arlong came out of the ground of the building's veranda, startling Luffy enough to make him lose his balance and fall to the pool directly below. Arlong took the chance to prepare another attack and the situation seemed impossible to evade. Below, water. Above, Arlong.

"Gomu Gomu no… Ami!" (Gum-Gum Net)

He outstretched his fingers and weaved them around each other to turn them in a giant fishing net. Before it fired, Luffy stopped the Arlong missile in midair, swapped positions with him by throwing him down and got the upper hand! Time for the counter-attack!

"Gomu Gomu no… Yari!" (Gum-Gum Spear)

Now, he stretched his legs to push him all the way to the ground!

"Amazing! Luffy, you're amazing!" I jumped.

He landed back on the ground when Nami spotted something happening to Arlong.

"His eyes! He's changed!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's the first time I see Arlong with his eyes like that… It's the sign he's already fed up with Luffy. He's willing to go on a rampage just so he can destroy him!"

"Shit…"

"I was told he would tighten his pupils if he ever got angry past the point of no return… that's why the fishmen calm Arlong down every once in a while!"

"Shit! Luffy!"

"You inferior human!" Arlong growled, extremely frustrated. He then grabbed Luffy's head, spinning him, like a lasso. "How dare you do this to me, a fishman!" He threw him full force against the the walls of the building.

Luffy simply stood up again, wiping off the rubble from his body.

"Ah… wow, that was close! He's not hurt but… he's pissed the hell off!"

Arlong pretended he was going to punch Luffy, but apart from him having dodged it and jumped to the upper floor, Arlong punched the wall and when he pulled his hand off it, he brought a giant sword with many blades, just like a giant saw…

"Kiribachi!" Nami screamed.

"With goddamn big teeth!" Johnny noticed.

"What's that?!" I asked.

"It's Arlong's sword. He only touches it when he's extremely angry with his enemies!"

I'm quickly running out of interjections! Arlong began to spin his sword with seemingly no effort, and launched yet another onslaught, trying to hit Luffy as they climbed the building. Each and every miss would tear a chunk of the walls as they played cat and mouse inside Arlong Park.

"Run! Be careful!" Johnny yelled.

"Oh no… he's being cornered!" The village's doctor still spotted the two through a window on one of the upper floors.

Arlong, in the final spin, already atop the building unleashed a huge blow, entering through another room, visible as they were through another window.

"That room! It's…" Nami screamed.

"Don't tell me… is it yours?" I asked.

"Yes. It's my cartography office!"

The room of her maps. The room where she lived in for eight years. They went inside it, the battle raged on and we lost track of what would happen. Now it's a matter of praying all we can so Luffy can win this battle and free Cocoyashi village!

Go, Luffy! We're counting on you!

* * *

**Arlong and Luffy are still fighting inside Arlong Park! The tension builds and builds as no one has any idea of what will happen next! The battle between the Straw Hat Pirates and the fishmen is coming to its climax! The fate of Cocoyashi village... of Nami's fellows and family will be decided!**

**See you again in the next chapter!**


	20. Finish them once and for all! For Nami!

**20** - The end of Fishmen Empire! Nami is my comrade!

* * *

Plowing through the building, sending rubble and all-around wrecking the place in a dangerous game of cat and mouse, Luffy and Arlong entered the last floor of Arlong Park's building.

"That room is…" Nami gasped, her voice just above a whisper.

"Don't tell me… is it yours?" I asked.

"Yes! It's my cartography office!" Nami cried out, louder this time.

The maps room. The room where she lived her past eight years, subjected to forced labor for the sake of the fishmen… How symbolic is it that all the events that led to this battle would end precisely there…

"We can't see a thing anymore!" Johnny groused.

"What on earth are they doing up there?" Besides battling each other out, I don't know what else they could possibly do, Yosaku.

"I can't risk a guess…" That's why I don't throw guesses around.

Seriously, I hate it. Now that they are inside the building, we can't see what they're doing. Having to wait without knowledge of what's happening makes me ten times as nervous as before…

Silence was dominant on the atmosphere. The only sounds around were the occasional crash and crumble. The past events then flashed through my mind. Everything we went through just to get here.

When Nami ran away with the Merry to get here… when we found out she had betrayed us… when Nojiko told us the truth about her hard past… and when we decided that we were going to help her. Nami… it must've been eight years of a nightmare that seemed to be endless… As you will have the chance to witness, it will all be over today!

The citizens began to talk and gather in groups between themselves, trying to guess what's going on inside there…

"Dammit!" Yosaku growled again. "What on earth is happening to you, Big Bro Luffy!"

"We have no way of knowing what's happening up there…" Johnny repeated.

The only option left to us was to wait. The air was thick with tension. Every second seemed to last like an hour…

"Luffy…" Nami clutched her hands together. Concern was deeply written in her face as the wind blew softly against the straw hat on her head.

A few minutes later, we heard another booming sound, this one much louder.

"What the hell happened now?!"

Right after Johnny yelled, one of the walls of the room cracked and large wooden table with a dent on its middle, burst out of the cartography office and crashed on the ground.

"A desk!" Usopp shouted.

"My desk…" Nami whispered.

Johnny and Yosaku let out a big sigh of relief.

"Phew… that was scary! It was just a desk… I was afraid it would be Luffy being sent flying or stuff like that…" Yosaku breathed out a long, deep sigh.

"Oi, partner!" Johnny turned to him. "Don't you believe in Big Bro Luffy's power?"

I turned their talk off to reflect a bit. That desk… her desk. Nami used it for the past eight years… drawing maps for Arlong's gang…

"Luffy…" She whispered again.

More noise ensued and more furniture flew out of the window. This time it was a quite damaged bookshelf… What are they doing up there? Is it Arlong destroying everything in a fit of rage? Or is it…

"What the hell is happening?! Why are they tossing the furniture outside?!" Usopp asked.

"I have no idea…" I replied, only briefly taking my eyes off the scene to address him. "I don't have the slightest idea even for the wildest of my guesses…"

I was too tense to make any conjectures.

Moments later, another bit of the wall crumbled, and hundreds of papers flew as if they were thrown outside the room… papers with inscriptions on them.

"My maps…" Nami whispered, a barely-audible hiss. I glared at her and noted she was clearly struggling not to cry.

"Nami…" I clenched my fist.

"They must be fighting each other brutally…" Yosaku muttered.

"Yeah…" Johnny says. "Truly a battle to death."

"Please, end it already…" I said, gritting my teeth. "PLEASE, LUFFY!"

I saw Nami putting a hand over her mouth and tears rolling down her face.

"Thank you…" She muttered.

Her simple two words clicked it all together in my mind. Luffy, he is destroying everything she doesn't want to remember anymore! She must have lived these past eight years being mistreated, being abused by Arlong. I can't imagine how hard it must've been… And I don't know if I could endure for that long… Of course, my childhood wasn't any happier than hers, I had to get on with my life after I witnessed my father dying in my arms. I closed myself to the outside world for a long time after he was gone. I'm sure I'd try to kill myself if I ever had to be a slave to someone after watching him kill my family.

"Nami…" As I pieced together what happened, I gained an entire new level of respect for her. She's got immense willpower to endure eight years of frustration, just to watch it all end!

Shock and gasps coursed through the crowd before what was happening… I took a quick look at the broken bookshelf in the ground as the maps rained down upon us, some of them falling in the water.

No one dared to say a word in those moments… what is going to happen now?

"GOMU GOMU NO…"

…

Luffy's bellow was loud enough to be audible as something shot through the roof building. The thing shot back inside, followed by the loudest smashing sound ever. Thus, that was the last straw holding the building together. After Luffy's outstretched arm smashed its way back through the building, a huge smokecloud came out from it and the big flag resting atop Arlong Park's building fell and broke.

The cracking noises multiplied moments later and the smoke began to increase, together with ever growing bits of debris flowing around. The shockwave coursing through the ground was the definite sign something extremely bad for all of us would happen if we didn't run away.

"Oh no! This last attack is going to make Arlong Park…"

Don't tell me…

"It's about to collapse!"

"Everyone, run away!" Johnny and Yosaku promptly shouted for the citizens to evacuate the area.

What about Luffy?

"Big Sis Nami, run!" Johnny tugged her arm.

"But what about Luffy!" She countered.

"Big Bro Dan, we have to run somewhere safer!" Yosaku grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back a few steps.

"No! We have to wait for…" When the building finally started coming down, I quickly changed my mind. "Scratch that, RUN AWAY!"

I quickly grabbed Nami's hand as she took the Straw Hat off her head and we escaped the cloud of dust. Seconds later, the dusty winds marked the downfall of the once imponent building of Arlong Park. Hopefully, it will signal the downfall of the Fishman Empire!

After the cloud dissipated, what was left of the Arlong Park revealed itself.

"Arlong Park… is destroyed…" I whispered.

"Big Bro…" Johnny, clutching his hands together.

"What happened in there…" Yosaku, whispering in a trance-like voice.

"I hope Luffy's alright…" I whispered. "Did he win? Please come out, Luffy! Come out!"

Only then I noticed the clouds, which once enshrouded the sky above us, gave way to the sunlight to shine above us. In a sense… would it be the sign of our victory? Another loud bang and we saw an arm smashing its way to the surface. Then someone stood up over the mountain of rubble and debris.

"He's…" Nami quickly spotted the emerging survivor, letting her broad smile denounce the news we all wanted to hear!

"Biiiiiig Brooooooo!"

"Captain…"

…

"NAMI! YOU ARE MY COMRADE!"

…

At the time, murmurs began to course through the crowd and the question 'he won?' was repeated over and over between the completely stunned citizens. They held on firmly to the belief that no one would survive the destruction of Arlong Park.

Well, there's the proof for all of you to see!

"Don't you see… this guy… our captain… HE WOOOONNN!"

After my definitive shout, everyone jumped and celebrated the fall of Arlong Park.

Nami was the first to run toward the wreckage as soon as she spotted Luffy coming out of the remains of the Park.

"Luffy! You're alright!"

Usopp ran as well to be the first to pat Luffy in the back as he walked away from the battle scene. "Very well done, Luffy. You deserve my earnest congratulations! But, if you let me have a bit of the credit, I'm going to thank you even more!"

Oi…

Sanji arrived at the scene. "Honestly… this guy can really leave us hanging! Next time, be faster wrapping it up, you bastard!"

"Hahah! I knew it! I had a feeling that Luffy would end up winning this battle! We won! We won!" I celebrated, jumping joyfully and feeling my own body lighter as the pressure slowly waned away.

It was tough. It was hard. There were times we thought no hope was left anymore, but we did it!

We defeated the fishmen!

"The true difference between fishmen and us… is the trust we have in each other." I said, brightly smiling.

"Yeah." Sanji smiled earnestly.

Both of us smiled as we saw the party going on amongst the people, who crowded together to stare at us, talk happily between each other and hug their beloved ones. Sanji, Usopp and I approached Luffy and Nami as they grinned and high-fived each other.

"Nami, from now on will you be our comrade?" I asked.

"You have a place to go now. We're going to make history, I'm sure of it!" Luffy stated confidently.

"Right!" Letting the tears freely roll down her face, Nami heartily agreed.

"That's enough, you scallywags!"

What now?

The crowd quickly went silent as we turned around to watch a strange-looking Marine captain, wearing a hood with rat ears and sporting rat whiskers on his face, walking towards us. Behind him, obviously, soldiers pointing guns at us.

"Marines? What are they doing here?" I asked, baffled.

"Chichichichi… What a lucky day is it today, huh? Nice job, you lot! I liked the show you offered me… I'd never think the fishmen would fall that spectacularly, especially at the hands of puny pirates like you. Thanks to you, the bounty for Arlong's head and all the riches of Arlong Park shall be mine to confiscate. Everyone put down your weapons! I, Nezumi, Marine captain of the 16th squad, will take care of them from now on!"

During his speech, I heard steps coming nearby. Someone came out of the shadows to catch the rat-captain by his shoulder. Just as I was getting ready to lay a beatdown he would never forget, he turned around and paled in fear.

"Who are you to come here and spoil the mood? The people are trying to celebrate!"

Needless to say, Zoro's permanent frown made him let out a girly shriek. He was enough for the job. He kicked the rat-captain's ass and the asses of all the marine underlings who followed him as well.

"If… i-i-if you dare to h-hit me one more time… I-I-I will not allow you to live!" He stuttered, tripping in his own threats after being beaten to a pulp.

"You're not in the position to talk stuff like that! Scratch that, even if you were, do you think we'd let it slide?" I cracked my knuckles.

"This guy's all talk anyway. Don't get so worked up." Sanji put a hand on my shoulder.

Nami walked near him with her staff in hand, crouched, put a hand in his forehead and calmly told him this: "This one is for shooting Nojiko… and messing up Bellemere-san's tangerine crop.

Before she hit him hard in the head with her staff, sending the rat-captain several meters back in the water.

"Nice one, Nami!" I don't know why but I feel good when I see dirty marines like him getting the bitchslap they deserve like this.

"Thank you, Nami. I'm satisfied."

A voice coming from behind. I turned to see…

"Nojiko-san! Mr. Policeman!"

"THERE'S A THOUSAND MORE FROM WHERE THAT ONE CAME, YOU JERK!" The policeman bellowed.

When the captain tried to head to the surface, Nami grabbed his whiskers, sending him a glare powerful enough he had an I-pissed-my-pants look in his face.

"You will take care of cleaning the mess your stupid little fishmen friends did here and help rebuild the village of Gosa without laying _a finger_ on the treasures and the money in Arlong Park. It's now property of the people of this village. Got it? Or else…"

"Ow… ow… ok! I will obey you!" Nezumi submitted.

"Just one more thing…" Nami added. "Return the money you stole from me!"

"Ok, ok!" Nezumi pleaded for his life. "I'll return it! It's worth nothing to me anymore!"

He still tried to swim away to safety, as if trying to run, but for some reason he stopped to turn around and say a few final words.

"We will not forget this, you stupid pirates! Straw hat boy! Your name's Luffy, right? You're the captain, right? Don't forget me because I won't forget you! You will become notorious! Especially now that you messed with me! Now it's too late for you to turn back! I will make you regret that! Remember what I'm sa-"

Which is right when a stone hits him in the forehead.

"Oh, just shut up and get the hell out! Stupid marine!"

"Bullseye, Dan!" Usopp cheered.

"I had just enough of that ridiculous speech. These marines… do they ever learn?" I turned to shout some last words to the leaving marines. "Go away and never come near Nami's village anymore!"

"Hey, he said we will become notorious…" Sanji recalled.

"How does he know I'm gonna be King of Pirates?" Luffy wondered.

"He wasn't talking about that! You're really stupid, man!" Zoro groused.

"What are we going to do now?! What's going to happen if we catch the Marine's eye?! Oi, guys!" Usopp flailed.

"I dunno." I paused to think. "First, we're going to get bounties on our heads. Strong pirates are going to search for us and our name will circle throughout the globe! It's going to be _awesome_! My father would be so proud of me now…" I don't just think I'm sure, I'm definitely sure of it! "Our friends will see our photos and have an idea of how we're doing out on the sea!"

"Are you crazy?!" Usopp shouted.

"Wouldn't you be proud to have a bounty on your head?" I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's a sample of your strength! It's a valuable step towards becoming a brave warrior of the seas!"

"Are you sure?" Usopp calmed down, thinking about the idea. "Hold on… that sounds really nice! I hope my bounty comes out soon. That way, Kaya and my subordinates will see me on the news!"

We shared a laugh at our own thoughts, Nami happily laughing together with us.

"Nami! It's so good to have you as our comrade again!" I cheered.

"Yeah…" She said, still warmly clutching Luffy's straw hat to her chest. "I have to thank you all, guys. Luffy… Zoro… Sanji-kun… Usopp… Dan-kun!"

"Thank you!" I said, with rosy cheeks.

"Aaaaaahhhh!" Sanji, with hearts in his eyes. "You're so pretty when you're thanking us, Nami-san!"

"What are you talking about…" Luffy smiled his trademark big smile. "We just did what we had to do." He then switched to his bubbly mood at the drop of a hat. "Hey, hey! Are they going to post a bounty for my head soon?

"I don't know… maybe? Since you're the captain and all that." I said, looking at the sea.

"Ok, guys! We're going to celebrate!"

"Go around and tell the great news to the rest of the people and then we can go all out!"

"Isn't it great to see the people happy?" I said, filled with a warm, fuzzy happiness.

"Yeah." Sanji walked near and contemplated the landscape beside me. "It's as satisfying as a big feast…"

"Oh, that's it!" I snapped my fingers. "Speaking about feast, I still want my fish to the dinner, ok?"

"Cut it out, man!" He smacked me lightly in the forehead. "Stop saying that over and over again, I got it already. You talk like I forget an order…"

"But hey, you looked like the kind of guy who only listens to orders from pretty women. Back at the Baratie, remember?" I recalled.

"That's true. I'm a gentleman after all." Sanji said. "But I'm also a cook. Whoever asks me to cook food or is hungry, I'm up to the task. I just put the best of my effort to the meals of pretty women."

"Yeah, figures. You hit on Nami the first time you met her…" I chuckled.

"You jealous?"

Those two words immediately brought the bright red to my cheeks…

"N-n-n-n-no-no! Not at all!"

"Hmph, you're so obvious!" He chuckled.

"But that's one thing we have to agree. Pretty women have to eat well to keep pretty. Better, to become even prettier!"

"Boy… you really do speak my language, eh?" Sanji commented.

"Of course. I was raised to always respect and treat women exceptionally well. Without them we can't live. Do you imagine sailing without Nami by our side?" I asked.

So we did… and it wasn't pretty.

"Hey, stop calling me boy. I have a name, you know."

"Ah… I remember. You're Dan, right?" He asked.

"Good. Remember it, because we're going to stick together from now on, whether you like it or not."

"Yeah. Now if you excuse me, I need to take care of important business. Nami-swaaaa~~n!"

I could only sigh when he shifted to a lovey mood, switching his attention back to ogling Nami. But honestly, she really needs some special care now. Her shoulder and hand all bandaged up… I always feel a bit of guilt when I see a bruised woman.

We've talked a lot about what happened always with a smile on our face. After all, the battle is over and the victory is ours!

The other five were together talking amongst themselves as I walked a few steps away to think about my experience so far in the outside world.

This was my first greater-scale adventure on the sea… no, the first great step to my (hopefully) endless adventure! Up until a few weeks ago, I was a bit of a stuck-up, indoors guy, who would groan if needed to leave the house. I just hated pirates and got on with my life. That's all I was.

I looked at the sky and I saw the silhouette of my father… He must be beginning to feel proud of me… if he wasn't already.

I looked at my pencil, letting the thoughts course through my mind, as it is (alarmingly) frequent for me to do. Mom, Dad… thank you. You lit the fire of adventure in my heart. Don't worry, I'm doing just fine. I will go on with these five and search my dreams!

If I happen to bump into the man who killed you, I'll make sure to defeat him in your honor, Dad!

And with this same pencil, some day, I will find, live and write my Ultimate Adventure!

"What's up, spacing out like this?" Huh?

I turned to see Nami crouched, looking at me, sitting near one of the pools of what remained of Arlong Park.

"Ah… it's nothing." I said, throwing a little pebble at the sea. "I was just diving in the deep sea of my thoughts…" I really need to stop talking about that… or thinking too much about stuff.

"Again with that needlessly poetic talk of yours. What were you thinking about?" She asked.

I paused for a second. "Do you really need to know?"

"If it's not a bother to you to tell." She said.

"What's up with him?"

Sanji approached, Luffy and Usopp coming behind.

"He's just thinking…" She told them.

"Honestly, you gotta stop thinking too much about stuff, huh, Dan?" Just my thoughts…

Oh, crap. Gotta stop that.

Just smile and go with the flow! "Hihi… it's a bad habit of mine." I got back up. "I can't stop wondering… how are our next adventures going to be from now on?"

Then we all spared a glance to the horizon. I'm sure it holds the answer to all our goals.

"Alright, guys!" I propelled myself back onto my feet. "That can wait for later! Now it's time to care more about the present! And by that I mean LET'S PARTY!"

"Alri~~~ght!"

Time to hit the town and celebrate!

* * *

**The sun of victory shines upon our heroes! After a grueling battle, they've finally defeated Arlong's fishmen and freed Cocoyashi village's townspeople from their clutches! It's time to party, remember and get ready for what's to come! The Grand Line's there waiting for us!**

**See you again next chapter!**


	21. Arlong's gone! It's time to party!

**21** - Departing with a smile! Farewell… my Cocoyashi

* * *

The Fishman Pirates' long eight years of dominance in this island are over. We, the Straw Hat Pirates, have put an end to Arlong's reign of terror over Cocoyashi village. The pirates have been defeated and taken away, the village is rejoicing like it couldn't do in a very long time. The citizens are enjoying the first days of freedom and peace in the last eight years.

Of course, it will take a bit of time to release the stress that's built over that time, but now that the battle is over, here's a little thing to help them start: PARTYYYYY!

For us, the warriors who fought tooth and nail to free the citizens, a well deserved rest. Or not… at least in Zoro's case.

"Aaaarrrrrgh!"

Sanji, Usopp and I rested under the shadow of a bench at one of the village's main streets, me wincing with every pained scream of Zoro. The shrieks came from the nearby building where he was receiving medical treatment…

"Unn~~… arrrr! Ouch, that hurts!"

"Stay put and suck it up, sissy!"

…without anesthesia. Ouch.

The village's doctor and his team were busy sewing his wound back again and that's a painfully long process, since Zoro lost lots of blood in the battle. Wow, just by imagining that scene again I get shivers all over…

"They're still taking care of him…" Usopp stated, a bit tired.

"That guy…" Sanji says as he smoked a cigarette, letting out a big puff. "He seemed he was gone at the time…"

"Oh you're so right, Sanji-san. I couldn't even watch. Arlong had him in his clutches." I said, probably talking more than I wanted. "He needs rest, that wound won't heal if he's walking around and getting into fights like he does. But I guess he's not a guy to just sit around and do nothing, even if it is for his sake."

"Anyone else would take as long as one or two years only to recover from that." Usopp mused.

"Anyone." I said. "But Zoro isn't anyone… he's one of us."

Usopp and Sanji smiled. Just a line in their mouths, but it's enough for me to know they're sincere.

It's already a month and a few days since I first met the crew and found them to be nice, funny people. People who I could get along with, get to know more about their antics and see if I could stand them and see if they could stand mine. It turns out we get along so well, we spend all the time near each other. It's quite easy to get to know a little more about them, every once in a while. Even stuff I found out about them, only to immediately wish I could live without. Except they tend to talk about each other only when I ask, and with a bit of pressure by my part. I guess the past doesn't matter to them anymore.

But then, why should it?

Note to self: got to stop talking about other people's past. It might be someone's berserk button and I don't want to touch that. They might touch me in response. Violently.

Anyway, monologues aside, the day was predominantly peaceful and bright all-around, all because the sun was shining and sharing its warm heat with us. I wouldn't call it uneventful, because in the morning and afternoon, the people held a big celebration feast. Six long tables scattered throughout the streets and endless trays of food. Luffy, the big eater, stuffed himself full and turned into a big plumpy ball, letting the children roll him around the streets.

I wonder how he managed to digest his food that way…

…

…

Night.

It's party time!

And the party went on and on. The villagers got together and prepared a party that would last for the next _three days_.

Three whole days! Would you believe it?

Frankly, it was a blast! It's my first time in an all-around, city-wide party like this one. We never forget our first time… It's. Simply. Amazing! I got on drinking contests, drank a bit of all drinks, sang all the songs I knew to my heart's content, I even got the courage to ask a few of the girls to dance with me. Unfortunately, it always ends with me having to walk away, hiding an embarrassed blush.

Anyway, I even got to have a little chat with a lady. A simple chat of two people in the street, sitting on a bench and resting in the middle of a huge party. Her name's Christine. Oh what a cute blonde she is… In the short time I talked to her, I got along just fine, shared a few thoughts, but unfortunately I could go nowhere beyond that because we would leave the island… and there's a whole adventure out there waiting for me.

If I could stay, however, I'd try to get together with her and bring her back to Brush Island! In any case, I left her a message. If we ever happened to get back here, I would meet her again.

Sanji, already rosy in the cheeks, dragged me around to pick up some girls, but I was a bit drunk myself and getting tipsy at every turn… And when it comes to flirting, I'm absolutely nonexistent.

Every time we're at a party, Luffy doesn't walk around without at least one chunk of meat in his hands. Speaking about meat… I talk about Luffy's gluttony but the food was so great I couldn't help but stuff myself full too!

It was worth a lot to just have fun and let the stress go away…

On the third night of celebration, we were a bit tired of the partying itself, but it was time to enjoy the fullest, since it was our last day before our departure from Cocoyashi.

Thus, I decided to just walk around town and see the people before I bumped into my peers.

"Wow, I'm full… my belly's got plenty of time to break down all this food, though. Huh?"

In a corner, I saw Zoro holding a mug of beer and Sanji leaning to the wall, talking to him.

"Sanji-san, Zoro-san! What are you doing here? How's the party going for you?"

"I'm still trying to understand how can the people keep partying until today… it's been three days in a row!" Zoro said. "Talk about stored stress…"

"Heheh…" I chuckled. "Three days straight of partying after an eight-year long wait? I think it's short still. It should last for the whole week!"

"What about resting in-between?" He asked.

"Sounds like these people don't want to know what rest is, especially considering what happened." Sanji commented, lighting on his cigar. "When you're happy and you want to have a party, you should just go and do it to the fullest. So, how's your wound?"

"With some rest and lots of good food, it's going to heal. I can get back up on my feet." He replied.

"How come you're going to rest with this commotion going around?" I asked.

"I'll try."

"SANJI!"

Suddenly, I saw Luffy butting in between us. He held two pieces of meat in each of his hands and talked as he chewed on a chunk.

"Where did you come from?" His bursting in startled me.

"Hey, Sanji!" Luffy called. "That melon you ate a while ago… what's it called again?"

"And what about the meat you're holding?" Zoro quipped.

"Ah, that? The 'Nam-Ham Melon', it has a ham topping." Sanji explained.

Melon with ham? That doesn't sound all too yummy.

"Nam-Ham Melon?! Sounds yummy!" For Luffy, though, it does. "Where is it, where is it?"

"Beats me… It's an island-wide party so, someone out there must've-"

He stopped when he saw Luffy already yards away.

"This guy…" Sanji sighed. "He's eating like this for three days in a row!"

"He's got an advantage over us. A rubber stomach. Remember two days ago when he turned into a giant ball about our height tall and the children rolled him around town? He can do that."

Sanji chuckled, throwing away his cigar.

"Well, it's his way of having fun. As for me, now it's time… TO PICK UP SOME GIRLS!"

"Again?" I sighed, watching him speed away like lightning. A lady-chasing lightning.

Zoro simply ignored it and would drink again if he didn't notice his mug was empty. He then put the mug aside and closed his eyes.

"Sanji-san… looks like we got ourselves a ladies' man." I said. "Hey, Zoro, aren't you going to the party anymore?"

"No… Gonna sleep." Zoro yawned, lying sideways onto the ground.

"Alright. Get some rest, you need it. As for me… let's see if I can get another lady to dance with me!"

I ran to the crowd.

"Hey, you all! I'm the man who defeated the so-called unbeatable fishmen! The man who fought bravely, in the name of love and freedom! Captain Usopp!"

"Usopp-kun!"

I saw Usopp standing tall, on the top of a high platform, holding a speaker to his mouth and screaming to the four corners of the village.

"Let's all sing the incredible feats of Captain Usopp! Who is he? Who is he? He defeated the fishmen! Wow, you're so awesome! Yeah, I'm Captain Usopp!"

I chuckled, watching him yelling nonsense to whoever would care to listen.

"How boring…" I caught a familiar voice, somewhat tired amongst all the happiness.

"Nojiko-san…"

I spotted Nojiko sitting together with a boy, eating corn.

"What?" He asked.

"I thought you'd be all: 'Ah, that's not fair! Why didn't that happen before my father died?'… or something along those lines." Nojiko mimicked him.

"At the start I thought about that, but… I'm worried about my future from now on."

"From now on?"

Nojiko and I spoke at the same time. Only then she looked at me as if finally noticing my presence. I simply smiled at her.

"We… we were saved by the straw hat guy and his friends, but… from tomorrow on, we have to look after ourselves. We shouldn't forget the past, although it doesn't matter that much right now. Our main priority now is to think about what will happen in the future. What we must do. What we could take as a lesson. We are the future of this island. That's what I think…"

"How cheeky…" Nojiko pulled the boy's cheek.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Why are you pinching me? What did I do?"

"Just when I thought I could bully you a bit more…"

"Isn't that already enough?! You tattoed sadist!"

"'Sadist' to me is fine!"

"Hey, kid." I talked to him. "Those words were the ones I least expected to come out of the mouth of a little boy like you. You know, your story reminds me a little about my own childhood. How much I used to think about grown-up stuff I knew too little of."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean you should stop and just enjoy being a kid. I know, it's hard, I went through that too. I lost my father too when I was little. It forces you to grow up faster. From then on, I swore to myself, I would protect my island at all costs and now look at me, adventuring around the world…"

"Why are you telling me all that?" He asked again.

"Umm… I don't know myself." I said, closing my eyes. "Hey… want to walk around a bit? I have a few stories about when I was little. Wanna hear'em?"

We walked to a bench in a quieter street and shared a little of our pasts.

…

…

…

"A~~lright! This is the 184th song about the greatest feats of Captain Usopp!" I could hear Usopp, still on the top of that platform, screaming for everyone to listen about his supposed great achievements… or just random nonsense. His voice was already wobbly and slurred.

Yosaku and Johnny danced around like cockroaches, also drunk off their asses. Or just tired. Or both. Usually one leads to the other.

The moon was high in the sky, shining down right above us. As the night went on, our eyes were getting heavier, we were getting sleepy. Soon the hustle and bustle going on all-around town began to subside, and the citizens slowed down. Some of them walked back home, others just simply laid down in the street. In the end, everyone was asleep.

…

Night becomes day and it's another sunny morning. We woke up early, to have a few hours to prepare our departure from Cocoyashi village and get going on our path towards the Grand Line!

Usopp, Zoro and I walked around, helping to carry the heavier loads of supplies to the ship.

"This is the last one, right?" Usopp said, climbing back to the ship.

"Yeah." Zoro confirmed.

"Alright. Is everything onboard?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah, we are." Usopp confirmed.

"Ok, they gave us some food, all supplies are here, we're ready to go." Sanji glanced quickly at the boxes before giving the final call.

Usopp put the final box in the ground. "Ah… there. The last one. We just stayed here for three days, but it seemed like a week!"

"A week we will remember for a long time, right?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Luffy grinned.

"The people of Cocoyashi village… our battle against the fishmen… everything that happened here, I will write it down right away, as soon as we're back at sea!"

"That's your Ultimate Adventure?" Usopp asked. "You're going to get started, then?"

"Yeah! I settled on this: as soon as we're out of Cocoyashi, my focus will be to write a recollection of everything that happened from the time I met the four of you, I met Sanji-san back at the Baratie, until this day. And from then on too! I will keep a record of the best things we did and will do until the day Luffy finds One Piece, becomes King of the Pirates and we can reach our dreams!"

"Wow, sounds promising!" Usopp said.

"Brothers… we owe a lot from you." A voice came from the ground.

Yosaku! Johnny!"

They stood at the port, with hands on their chins as the wind billowed on their longcoats. As they always did, this was the last time they'd try to do a cool, manly pose to us.

"We are now returning to our pirate hunting duties." Yosaku said.

"We are saying goodbye for now, but," Johnny said. "We will look forward for the day we meet again. It will happen for sure. We will find you again in this world!"

"Take care, you two!" Zoro waved the duo goodbye.

"You take care too, Brothers!"

"Goodbye, you guys! You've been awesome!" I said as I watched them walk away through the land of Cocoyashi.

"So… let's set off too?" Usopp asked, scratching the back of his head.

Wait! Someone's missing.

"He-hey! Wait a second! What about Nami-san?" Sanji whined.

"I thought she wasn't coming." Zoro stated-WHAT?

"Why wouldn't she?!" Sanji and I yelled.

"You bastard! Did you say something just to hurt Nami-san, didn't you?!" Sanji immediately jumped to the conclusions and the two of them bickered over what Zoro didn't possibly do as he repeatedly tried to tell our newest, hot-headed addition to the crew.

Nami… are you coming or not?

"Yeah, he's right…" Usopp said. "She doesn't have any reason to become a pirate anymore. Maybe if she stays here she'll be happier…"

It does make sense, but why does it feel so sudden?

"WHAT ABOUT _MY_ HAPPINESS!?" Ow, what about my ears… "IF NAMI-SAN DOESN'T BOARD THIS SHIP, I LOSE 98.72% OF MY REASONS TO BE HERE!" Sanji screamed to Luffy.

"Hey, you! I didn't find that Nam-Ham Melon anywhere!" Luffy yelled back.

"Not Nam! He's talking about Nami, dummy. What's a Nam-Ham anyway?" Usopp bopped him in the head.

"If the chance of Nami staying home makes you lose 98.72% of the reasons for being here… then, what are your remaining…" I counted with my fingers. "Hmmm… 1.28% of reasons for being here?"

"ALL BLUE, YOU JERK!"

"All Blue?"

"All Blue You Jerk?"

"Yeah, it's a long story." Sanji explained. "When we're at the sea I can tell… you…! Awesome! She's here! NAMI-SWA~~N!"

He saw the silhouette of Nami standing far away.

"START THE SHIP!"

As soon as she made the call, she immediately began to sprint our way.

"Ahn… what's up with her? Why is she running to here? What's with all the scene?" Usopp, scratching his head.

"She said to start the ship." Luffy stated.

"Yeah, but…"

"That means she's coming with us! There's no time to waste now!" Cranking the ham-acting up to eleven, I shouted, outstretching an arm forward. "We should get moving, then! Raise the anchor!"

"Hey! I'm the captain around here! That's my line!" Luffy bopped me in the head.

"Ah… sorry. Go ahead."

"Raise the anchor! Release the sails!"

Zoro lifted the anchor back to its place, rushing afterwards to the sails and releasing them. As the wind hit them, the ship slowly steered away from the Cocoyashi port.

Nami! Get here, hurry!

"Hey… do you think they're going to let her say goodbye like this?" Sanji wondered.

"It's all ok… It's her decision after all." Luffy said, bubbly as ever.

"Wait, can't we stop the ship? It's pretty far away now, I don't see her jumping all the way to-"

The moment I see her doing an almighty leap from the shore, all the way to a perfect landing on the railing of the ship, I immediately gawk and slowly shut my mouth in stunned silence.

She just jumped a solid _thirty feet_ away from the shore.

Shortly after, she lifted her shirt just below her breast line and soon hundreds of wallets and purses fell on the floor of the ship.

"Now I get it…" I said, smiling and rubbing my nose.

"Take care, guys!" She then turned around and waved cheerfully at the citizens.

"YOU ROBBED US!" Yes, she did, guys! Yes, she did.

I couldn't help but laugh!

"Oi… She didn't change a single bit…" Usopp whispered.

"Is she going to betray us again?" Zoro hissed back.

"You talked about me?"

I laughed as the two of them gulped before they had to face a quick lecture about 'that's your idea of welcome back? Hissing nonsense about me behind my back' or something along those lines.

"That was a nice one! It seems you still got your fine touch after all!"

She simply smiled back. A broad smile I haven't seen on her face for a long while.

"Nami-san, nice!" Sanji, thumbs-upping her.

While Luffy laughed rather loudly.

"See you, guys! I'm departing now!" I could hear Nami giving her home island the last wave of goodbye. The Cocoyashi village got smaller and smaller until it disappeared in the horizon. She then walked downstairs to meet up with the group.

Nami… finally you're one of us!

I couldn't hold my happiness… way beyond broad smiles, this outcome fills me to the very core with joy!

"Dan-kun… what's going on with you?" Nami asked.

"A~~~~~lright!" I ran to a side just to shout. "I just felt like shouting out loud!"

"Oi…"

"Aaahh…" I let out a deep breath. "Sorry, guys… I just wanted to let my happiness out. Aren't you happy, guys? Nami is back and she's one of us now!"

Everyone smiled. We all stood in a circle in the ship's lower floor, around all the boxes and barrels of food and supplies.

"Welcome back, Nami-san." Sanji whispered tenderly.

"Hey, Dan! Bring one of your awesome books again! Wait, can you make up stories on the spot too? You're a writer, right?" Luffy hopped up and down.

"Umm… I'm not very good at improvising… I'm still a great-writer-wannabe, mind you. Usopp should come up with good ones on the spot, he's a liar, isn't he?"

"Oi…"

"Why do you ask?" I asked back.

"Just because I feel like listening to one!" Luffy hopped up and down again. "Especially those ones about adventures, I love'em!" Wow, Luffy… interested in stories? Well, since I first suggested reading him a book about adventures, it looks like I gained a listener. Nice way to become a storyteller if I ever happen to work at a public library or a children's daycare, if this pirate thing doesn't work out!

"Ok! But before that, there's a little thing we still didn't do." I said.

"What?"

"Like you did to me, and I'm really glad for that, we have to give a big toast to Nami, our great navigator! She endured lots of hardships to get here, and we'll make her dreams come true!"

"You can count on me to help you, Nami-swan!" Sanji interrupted.

"With her on our group… we can head towards our dreams… IN THE GRAND LINE!" I cheered, enthusiastically pumping a fist in the air.

"Ou!"

The other five raised their fists as well. Our six right arms and the determination in our spirits are the symbol of the return of Nami to our team!

I remembered my first day with them. The toast they gave me, the day I departed Brush Island, a happy moment lived again. And I'm sure, in the Grand Line, we will meet much more cool people and awesome friends to add to our crew!

"I'm now going to bring here 'The Legend of the Firebird'. It's good, I'm sure you're going to love it!"

Once I got back from the men's quarters, I got them to listen to one of my short stories and try practicing my sweet, story-teller voice.

"A bright and sunny day in the green lands of Westerton…"

* * *

**Nami is now an official member of the Straw Hat Pirates! She left her home village to chase her dream of drawing a world map. After their marvelous victory against Arlong's fishmen, they're bound to receive a great surprise! It's the start of their reputation as world-class pirates!**

**Next chapter's waiting for you! Don't miss it!**


	22. Bounty! The captain's up for grabs now!

**22** - Wanted! Straw Hat Luffy becomes world-famous

* * *

How nice it is to just have a reading session and plenty of time to rest and do as we please after such a totally wild and incident-filled week and a half! Arriving at an unusual, to say the least, restaurant just to see our ship being stolen, and then follow it to an island dominated by tall, scary fishmen, oppressive rulers over the humans of Cocoyashi village. A march to Arlong Park, the great battle and our victory… It sounds crazy, right? But it happened!

Today was very peaceful and lively, in a quiet sort of way, something that didn't happen for quite a while. I sat down at the floor, or the handrails, or anywhere I felt comfortable, just to hear the seagulls flying by, the sound of the sea waves… everything was so quiet, so relaxing.

There was a sort of different air coursing through our ship. Greener and smelling like orange juice! When we left Cocoyashi, Nami decided to bring with her three of her crop's tangerine trees. Thus, I could write and everyone could walk around the ship with a sweet smell through the air.

_«Meanwhile… Agent Hopkins set off to the Hamm Island. He will start the investigation that might be the most exhaustive and difficult of his life.» _ A bit of another one-shot I scribbled as I sat in the railing of the back of the ship, glancing over my notebook and glancing at the sea, thinking about words and plot points.

"Did they raise the price again?" Well, until now.

Nami's voice messed up the train of thought I was about to make, which involved something with ropes, a guillotine and an evil man dressed in a trenchcoat, but I didn't get to work out the details. I raised my head to see her frowning at the mail seagull, holding today's newspaper in her hands.

"It's getting too expensive, huh? Are they upping the price on a whim now?" She scolded the seagull. It could do nothing but grunt in an apologetic manner. "If you raise the price again, I won't buy it anymore, get it?" Nami put the newspaper in the bag anyway and handed over the money. It couldn't help but nod to her and leave.

"Geez…" Usopp sighed. "Why make such a fuss just because of a newspaper?"

"I have to." Nami countered, still annoyed. "If we just let it go, sooner or later the price'll become abusive!"

"'If you don't like the message, shoot the messenger', so the saying goes." I said. "I don't quite agree with that, though…"

"Seriously, you have to pay an absurdity just to get informed nowadays…"

"This journal is published by the government, isn't it?" I asked. "Do they want to keep their readers in the dark about what's really happening around the world?"

"Beats me…" Nami said as she opened today's news. "It's the only journal in circulation world-wide, so, there's not much of a choice anyway."

"Well," Usopp talked as he was working with a red sauce in a small pellet. "You don't need to save money for the freedom of your village from Arlong's clutches anymore. Why are you still getting so worked up because of money?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Nami exclaimed. "It's exactly because the matter was settled I am worked up! And you know why? From now on, I will save money to myself, that's why. Also… I can't keep walking around as a cheapskate pirate, am I right?" opening her arms and smiling.

I decided to give a break to my writing and go talk to them.

"She does have a point." I said, walking towards the two. "In the least, we need to have enough money to eat and sail under the radar."

"I doubt about that. Arlong's a pretty known name around the East Blue. Now that Luffy took him out, chances are he's going to get his share of fame because of it…" She said, more concerned than anything else.

"Hey, you two! Be a little bit quiet down there, will ya? I'm developing my Deadly Tabasco Star now, please don't interfere!" Usopp whined.

"Oooo, sounds cool…" I approached him, crouching to inspect his work closely. "What does it do?"

He grinned like a young prankster. "This one can make people breathe fire if I shoot it in their mouths!"

"Ouch, that's _bound_ to hurt, isn't it?" I said, clutching my throat.

"Stay away, please? I'm going to do a few delicate procedures now. Any false step and it goes boom!" A short pause… "Y'know? Boom."

Not wanting to disturb his work any longer, I peacefully walked away-

"Boom." Oka~~y…

"If I can make this hit the enemy…" I still heard him mumbling about…

"Waah!" A loud thump, bursting from the lower door and there was Luffy falling directly where he was and making him spill hot sauce right in Usopp's eyes.

Loud scream and pillar of fire shooting up in three… two… one…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Right on cue, our sharpshooter shot fire from his eyes and ran around, screaming a high-pitched shriek, before he rolled on the ground, trying to douse the flames.

"Wow! Just like he said! Fire out of his eyes!" I grinned, watching Usopp desperately soaking his head with water and rubbing his eyes.

Luffy was still down in the ground, recovering from whatever sent him flying down.

"What? Aw, come on… Just one won't make a difference!"

"Never!" Sanji said, stomping the ground. "These are Nami-san's tangerine trees. I'm not going to let you lay a single finger on them!" The blonde cook quickly shifted moods, waving to Nami with hearts coming out from his eyes. "Nami-san! The security guard of love is on duty!"

Turns out it was the blonde chef who kicked Luffy away from Nami's precious tangerine trees.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun." Nami didn't glance back to him, but her thanks were enough to make him squee like a fangirl… oh-o… o-or rather, boy. Nami then went to get a beach chair and a sun umbrella to read her newspaper. Or she would, if Sanji didn't speedily go get it for her. Guess she discovered her loving "servant".

She just sat down and leisurely read the news as we talked to each other. Usopp lay on the ground, still recovering from his "work accident" by rubbing a cloth in his eyes. Luffy sat in the railing of the ship, still trying to convince Sanji to let him grab a tangerine from the trees.

"What's so bad about it anyway, huh? Just one! C'mon, don't be so stingy, Sanji!" Luffy then stuck his tongue out at him, rather childishly.

"When I say no it's a no!" Sanji stood his ground.

"Aww…" Luffy paused. "Forget it! I'm in a good mood today, anyway!"

Luffy quickly stopped pouting and shifted back to his bubbly smile. In anyone else, a smile from ear to ear would mean something great happened to them. In Luffy's case, that's just his default expression. And I'm yet to find someone creeped out by it.

Nami, meanwhile, browsed the journal. "Wow… just wow. The world of nowadays is really messed up… Another coup d'etat in Villa…"

"That's what you get when you have a government more concerned about chasing pirates than with the people it's supposed to help. Can I see it?"

"Ok, have a look. Be quick, though, I'm not done reading it yet."

As she handed the newspaper over to me, something flew out from between the pages.

"What? A flyer?" Luffy watched it float in mid-air.

"Possibly. They sneak up advertising everywhere these days…" I said, letting out a resigned sigh.

The flyer gently landed in the ship's floor. Soon, the gentleness would be replaced with everyone gasping and all our eyes going wide. Five increasingly surprised "huhs?" later…

"WHAT?! Is that me?!"

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, that paper turned out to be not an advertising flyer, but a wanted poster issued by the Marine. And guess who was in the picture? Yes, none other than our captain, Straw Hat Luffy. He picked it up, took a good long look at it just to be sure and, for good measure, slowly went from a simple chuckle to all-out laughing. Tall and proud, holding his wanted poster for anyone to see.

"Take a look, guys! We're wanted from now on!" Luffy screamed.

"Wanted, dead or alive… 30 million beri?!" Usopp read the poster.

"30 MILLION, IT SAYS! A~HAHAHAHA!" Luffy screamed louder, in pure exhilaration.

"Hey, look here!" Looks like Usopp found another nice thing in the picture. "Even my back is there for the entire world to see! Yay! I am going to become famous any time now!"

His back? He's gloating just because of his back?

"What?!" Sanji and I screamed.

"They forgot about me and took a picture of the longnose?!" Sanji complained. We scurried to look at the poster more closely, trying to find him in the picture. "Hey, hey, where are you? I can't see you anywhere!"

"There!"

I pointed to the lower left of the picture where Usopp's yellow bandanna and black curly hair were clearly visible through the smoke.

"Seee~~~~?" Usopp pointed, still boasting about it.

"It's just the back of your head. It doesn't count." Sanji immediately left, sat in the ground and pouted, spinning his finger on the floor.

"Hey, don't get so frustrated!" Usopp didn't miss the chance to tease him to hell and back. "Someday you will have your poster and become famous like me, even though you're not the captain!"

"Really?!" Sanji perked up again.

"Well… if you're good enough to earn your own, haha!"

"Hahahahahahaha! Alright, you scallywags! We're going straight to the Grand Line!"

"Yeah!"

Luffy cried out. As soon as he did, Sanji and Usopp raised their fists to the sky and the three of them danced with each other, celebrating Luffy's newfound fame. Nami, however, watched the party of theirs from a distance and with a deep frown in her face.

"Hey, guys…" She called them, letting out a long sigh when they didn't respond. "Here they go. They do realize how serious this situation has gotten, do they? This means people are going to start trying to get our heads from now on. After what Luffy did at my home… I guess we're no longer able to lounge about unnoticed in this East Blue anymore."

"That's true, but…" I still tried to make her be at ease. A difficult task, it would seem. "It was bound to happen sooner or later anyway."

"I still wish it _didn't_, though." Nami insisted.

"Thirty million beri." I said. "The highest bounty for the head of an East Blue pirate. The great commanders of the Marine will soon start paying attention to us. Bounty hunters are bound to start appearing out of everywhere and try their luck with our captain."

I cast a serious glance at her, being greeted with an equally concerned stare.

"We better prepare ourselves."

30 million… it's still a good tenth of the value of bounties common at the Grand Line, but it's the East Blue record by a landslide. Here, a 10 million bounty is way more than enough to make the people hold its owner in high regard. By fearing him. Or her.

"Yeah, that's it." Nami decided. "We must adjust our north now. That Arlong incident must shift us towards the Grand Line. From now on, our reality will be far different."

"Doesn't that make you think?"

"What does?" Nami asked.

"The fact Luffy got a bounty. Doesn't it make you think?" I repeated the question.

"About what? How so?"

"Like…" I thought for a second. "How is this going to resound in the places we passed by…"

"You're cool with it? That's not the right question to make, Dan-kun." She said. "I'm way more concerned about saving my hide from now on."

"Let's, let's, let's go! To the Grand Line! Let's, let's, let's go! To the Grand Line!"

They're still dancing around?

…

…

…

Sailing through the seas… sailing with our little ship… just us and the endless blue sea. That is, until we passed by someone else.

"There's a ship ahead!" Nami spotted.

"Wait, it's bigger than ours!" Usopp completed.

Looking closely, it seems to be quite badly damaged.

Deciding to find out whom it belonged to, we jogged to the handrail on a side of the ship. As the damaged ship passed by us, we noticed a Marine symbol in one of its sails. The ship slowly went through, but it immediately turned around and decided to follow us.

"Did they get pounded by a pirate or something? That ship's so beaten up I can't believe it's from the Marines…" Luffy scratched his hat.

"Talk about being wasteful…" Usopp groused. "Don't leave scrapped ships drifting away like this, it hurts!"

"We're not scrap! You're idiots _and_ blind?!"

Someone ran over to their ship's railing just to yell at us. How surprising, is there actually someone onboard that junk?

"Have you forgotten about Iron Fist Fullbody?" Now where did I hear that name before…

"Ah! It's that Marine guy!" Luffy pointed to him. It still didn't click with me though.

Fullbody… wait!

"I remember!" I pointed as well, as the realization beam hit me. "It's that pink-haired man Sanji-san beat the crap out of at the Baratie!"

"You're adrift?" Luffy asked. "Do you need help?"

"Quit the jokes already!" Fullbody retorted, quite angrily, I might add. "What a turnabout! Destiny put you in my hands! Monkey D. Luffy! You're under arrest!" He stressed out our captain's name before he whipped out his copy of Luffy's wanted poster and pointed to it.

"Cool!" Luffy smiled. "That's a handsome picture, don't you think?"

"The back of my head is there as well!" Usopp screamed.

"Wow, captain. Your picture is really good-looking!" I said, in a mock-praising tune.

"Dead or Alive. 'Nuff said. Load the cannons!" Following the order, several cannons jutted out of the holes, immediately pointing to us.

"Huh? Are they gonna shoot?" Noooo, what does it look like, Luffy? What did you think they were going to do, show us their cannons and leave it at that?

"They're aiming right at us! That's surely not good!" No, that's totally good, I like their style. I'm all about having a cannonball hitting me square in the face, Usopp.

Sarcasm aside, I just focused on the incoming attack, preparing my pencil. "Let's get at it again, shall we?"

"That's fine! Bring it! I will just give it back to them!" Luffy stepped forward.

"Guys, leave it with me. I got this."

Zoro woke up just in time to the attack, walking to the handrails and outstretching his arms before he held one of his swords, in a stance.

"Yeah, yeah, and you two stand back!" Usopp pushed us hurriedly to the background.

"H-Hey! Why, what?" Luffy questioned.

"Hey! Let me go!" I whined.

"Don't get in the way!" He insisted, still pushing us away from Zoro.

Once Fullbody gave the signal, the cannon shot their steely load at us. Zoro simply let the cannonball approach a certain point in the air before he unsheathed his sword, swiftly slicing the projectile in two equal parts that passed harmlessly through our ship before sinking back to the sea in two loud splashes. Zoro's skill dropped some jaws amongst us… and amongst the Marines too.

"Wow… incredible!" Luffy, surprised. He cheers every time Zoro shows a bit of what he can do.

"I could've done the same, though…" I remarked offhandedly.

"You really shouldn't bother people who are trying to sleep." Zoro sheathed back his sword, sleepily yawning and probably wishing he hadn't gone through the trouble of waking up just to get back to his nap.

That yawn, however, was seen as an insult by Fullbody's bunch. Especially by Fullbody himself. "How many shots do you think you can handle, huh?! Fire them all!"

This is about to suck.

"Not good…" Luffy groused.

"Not good?" Usopp and I parroted. "For whom, us or them?"

It soon would be "not good" for us if we didn't do something to swerve the incoming wave of cannonballs, but it turned out to be "not good" for them, since their cannons blew up rather spectacularly, leaving the soldiers covered in soot all over.

"See? That cannon had a cracked barrel." Luffy pointed, rather duly.

"Yeah, that definitely was not good." Usopp agreed, putting a hand in his chin.

"Umm… shouldn't we count ourselves lucky?" I asked.

Cannons or not, they were determined to put a stop to whatever they thought we were doing and decided "to hell with all strategies, let's just ram them as hard as we can." And ram us they did.

"You insolent brats! Don't underestimate the power of a former Marine captain!"

"Former? Did they fire you?" I asked.

"Fire? They threw me away!" Fullbody ranted. "This is a totally different story. This is the perfect time for me to capture Straw Hat Luffy! Today is the day I get my rightful place back! Let's defeat them in the close quarters, soldiers!"

After his gloat, Fullbody ordered his soldiers to charge and immediately his subordinates complied, jumping out of their ship with their swords and meanest faces towards us.

"Take care of this one. I'm going to deal with-"

"You don't have to. Leave it to me." Before I could even crack my knuckles, Sanji put a hand in my shoulder and pushed me back. Here I am in the sidelines again! Won't you let me fight for once?

"Your head is mine!"

Fullbody just launched himself at our captain. He managed to strike a blow in Luffy's face, but as a result, his neck just stretched outward.

"Gomu Gomu nooo… Kane!" (Gum Gum Bell)

Luffy used the momentum he gained to launch his neck back and headbutt Fullbody full-force. I, for my part, watched somewhat begrudgingly Sanji absolutely mop the floor with the Marine captain's subordinates and look cool doing it.

"You have some guts to disturb a cook when he's at work!" Snappy one-liners included. "Just because you pissed me off, no soup for any of you. Do you want to lick the kitchen floor?"

Fullbody looked left and right, only finding knocked out subordinates. He ran for his life, screaming like a little girl as soon as he spotted Sanji in our ship. He was beaten to a pulp right when we arrived at the Baratie, immediately gasping over the fact he was in our crew. Without any intentions of risking the safety of his butt, and of the rest of his body, for that matter, he commandeered his underlings to retreat.

They escaped and jumped in the water.

"Aw… It's over already?" Luffy pouted, putting his hands over his head.

"That guy's full of crap…" Usopp said.

"You're the one to talk." I tapped him in the head.

"Wow, he's still a coward I almost pity him." Sanji quipped.

"Hey, can't you guys be quiet for a second? I'm trying to read the newspaper around here!" Nami yelled, from the back of the ship.

"Nami-san! It's lunch time!" Sanji cheerfully screamed.

"Really?! I was getting hungry already!" Guess who? Luffy, of course.

"You always say that, don't you?" I said.

"Food! Food! Fo-od!" Luffy screamed, without a care for anything else.

Back to the kitchen table, it's chow time! Just like the meal we had at the Baratie, Sanji's lunch was absolutely superb! Every mouthful of it just made me grow a craving for the food. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to repeat meals as a certain someone repeatedly stole the others' meals and ate the banquet in lightning speed.

I found out it is going to be hard to actually eat something whenever Luffy's around…

After this delicious lunch, we discussed our route from now on. Nami gathered the guys around a map centered on the Grand Line.

"We're getting close to the Grand Line now." Nami said. "The only way to get there is by crossing something called the Reverse Mountain." She then pointed to the center of a net of river channels, located in a strip of land called the Red Line. That presumably is the entrance of the Grand Line.

"That's troubling…" Zoro stated. "Why don't we just enter by sea?"

"That's impossible." Sanji countered. "According to the tales the old geezer told me, this is the only entrance to the Grand Line. Nowhere else."

"Care to explain why?" Usopp crossed his arms.

"Because it's extremely dangerous, he said." Sanji explained.

"That's why I asked! Why?"

"It's all I know!"

"Maybe this map might give us a hint or something…" I said, browsing over the map. That would be futile, however, as only the terrain and the landmasses' names were laid out and I have no geographic knowledge whatsoever.

"That's because-"

"Ah, I get it!" Before Nami could possibly explain, Luffy interrupted. "Let's enter from the front!"

"Are you even listening?!" Nami asked, irritated.

"It sounds interesting that way!" Luffy explained. "If we enter from the front, it sure is going to be more exciting!"

"Ow…" Nami groaned, rubbing her forehead. Apparently she's trying to deal with the migraines Luffy's silly antics might cause her from now on. "Thinking about a way to explain this to you is driving me nuts…"

"Hey, guys, before that! We gotta stop somewhere and get more meat! Meat, meat!" Need I say much?

"Luffy, let Nami talk…" I interrupted. "She's the navigator around here. Please, try not to give her a headache…"

"Geesh… thanks, Dan-kun." Nami calmed down and pointed to an island close to the entrance of the Grand Line. "In this island, there's a famous city. It's called Loguetown."

"Loguetown?"

"Hold on, Lo… Loguetown?!" That name rung extremely familiar in my head. "D-do I believe my ears? Could it be…? Yes, it is!"

"Is it what? Is there any meat?"

"Fool! Do you not know about Loguetown?" I jumped, nervously grabbing Luffy's red vest. "It's famous for much more than meat!"

"Known as 'The City of the Beginning and the End'." Zoro said. "At least that's what I heard…"

"It's the city where the most famous of pirates, Gold Roger, was born." Nami ended the mystery.

"Exactly! Not only born, but executed there as well! Everyone with a speck of common sense knows about the day of the execution. You too, don't you? The day Gold Roger uttered those most famous words… the day that started… the Great Age of Piracy!" I said, walking around the room and flailing about.

"The city where the Pirate King died…" Luffy immediately assumed a serious look. Once it's about the greatest among the greatest, he gets serious for once.

"Wanna go there?"

"Yeah. I wanna see. The city where the man who owned One Piece… the man who conquered everything in this world… The city where he was born and died…"

"Well… Everyone agrees?"

Nami nodded to me.

"Our next stop…"

Luffy nodded to me, grinning.

"…will be Loguetown!"

* * *

**Thanks to the incidents at Arlong Park, Luffy now has a bounty of 30 million for his head! The Straw Hats are now sure to start drawing attention in the pirate world! As the crew deals with their growing reputation, the boat sails towards Loguetown, the city where it all began!  
**

**See you next chapter!**


	23. A day with the Straw Hats, what else?

**23** - A day with the Straw Hats. The wait to land

* * *

"Raise the anchor! Unfurl the sails! Full speed heading for the Grand Line!"

Sanji and Usopp took charge of the sails while Zoro and I took care of the anchor, putting it back in place. The work got done while Luffy kept shouting anything he possibly wanted to say… and bugging the hell out of everybody else.

"Umm… captain, do you really need to shout everything out loud?" I asked, rubbing my forehead.

"No, I don't! But I want to! Because I have a feeling today will be exciting! We're finally heading to the Grand Line!"

"I know… I know…" I said, scratching my right ear. "What on earth shouting has to do with it?"

"I'm looking forward to it and it's making me thrilled!" Again, Luffy shouted, raising his arms to the sky and broadly smiling.

"Gotta agree with that…" I said, brushing my hair. "Who would think someday I would visit the city where the Pirate King was born and died…"

"Interesting, don't ya think? Oh? Sanji! Food! Food!"

Not decreasing his volume, he detected that his belly began to rumble and shouted towards the sails.

"Ok, ok!" Sanji shouted in response. "Just wait over there! I'm gonna get down and prepare something for us all."

Luffy cheered and relaxed. I sighed in content relief. Looks like even he had enough of his own shouting. I sat drowsily in the stairs, and just looked all around the landscape. Soon, Luffy went to talk to Zoro.

"Oi, oi, Zoro! Wanna play some tag?" Luffy asked.

"Huh?!"

"What, what? Tag?! I wanna play too! Let's play!" Usopp eagerly joined the conversation.

Zoro just frowned, impressed by the silly suggestion of the captain. 'Did I really hear him trying to get me to play tag?' He probably thought.

"Are you stupid or what? How old are you, nine? Honestly…" He groused, then let out a good yawn. "I'm gonna take another nap before breakfast…"

"He just doesn't want to lose…"

Usopp appeared to touch a nerve, since Zoro immediately stopped in his tracks and turned around, sporting an angry face and a popping vein. "What'd you say? That's not it!"

"See? He's angry now!" Usopp chuckled.

"Say what?"

"You're it, Zoro! Let's run!" Luffy pointed, quickly running away from him.

"Get back here, you two!"

The two children convinced Zoro to play tag with them after all. Frankly… I wonder why they still like to play tag even when they're 17. Oh well, I shouldn't really. I do like to relive my childhood from time to time. Play tag, just fuss around with my friends and have not a single damn to give to everything else. Unfortunately I didn't have many chances to do that back at Brush…

I watched the duo consistently outsmarting Zoro and laughing at him, before I noticed Nami leaving the upper room and resting in the window-sill.

"Zoro-san! This way!" Usopp…

"Zoro… that's not fair! You have to tag me too!" Luffy, actually wanting some challenge.

"I'm not playing!" Zoro…

"Hahahaha… those two are really man-children, right, Nami?" I grinned, quickly stopping when I didn't get a response.

Nami just hummed something, looking to the distance.

"Nami?" I stood up, getting near her. "Hey, Earth to Nami…" When I waved a hand in front of her eyes, she woke up of her "trance".

"A-ah… hi! You're there! Good morning, Dan-kun." She flailed around for some moments, recomposing herself.

"Yes, I'm here. Something wrong? Fazing out like this…"

"Nah, just thinking about stuff." She shrugged. "He really said that…"

"Huh? Said what?" I caught her whisper.

"Ah! Nothing… nothing important…" Again, she was stumped.

"Really?" I chuckled. "It's so out of your character to just doze off and whisper to the wind… And I thought I was the only one who liked to think a lot around here. Come on. Tell me… what were you thinking about?"

"Why do you want to know?" She asked.

"Just because. Can't I? Well, if you don't want to tell me, I won't bug you further."

"No, it's alright." She said, brushing her hair. "I just thought about the day I met Luffy. In the beginning, I thought he was just another kid claiming to be a pirate. But that was a long way back. I saw his strength when he defeated that Buggy guy. Then, I saw how far he would go to help me. I guess being a pirate isn't all that stupid!"

"No, it's not. I thought the very same thing up until you arrived at my island." I said. "Since I lost my father at the hands of pirates, I've become very bitter towards any and all of them. But look at me here… in a pirate ship."

"Things change, don't they?" She said.

"Yeah. Plus, I'm here not just for my dream, but to meet the person who killed my father and avenge his death. Despite having exactly zero idea of whom he might be." The last thing I need is to drown in my own thoughts. Just bury it back in the mind… and smile!

"Well! That doesn't matter right now. I want this day to be a nice day!"

"I still can't believe he said that…" Nami whispered, staring back at the horizon.

"Said what?"

"Ah… No-nothing!" Nami just smiled as if nothing had been said.

She probably never thought anyone would go to such lengths for her sake. Yeah, not everyone does it. I don't know if I ever have the courage to defend a friend no matter what… wait, what am I thinking?

A friend is a friend, isn't it? I should stand up to anything for the sake of a friend!

And I gotta stop here before I put you through another tirade of mine.

"The breakfast is ready, Nami-san!" Sanji happily announced.

"Ah, sweet! I'm hungry!" Nami clapped her hands together, heading to the room.

"Dan, go call the others." He said, swiftly switching to his deadpan face.

"Okey-dokey!" I saluted, facing the play area, also known as the lower floor of our ship. "Zoro-san! Usopp-kun! Captain! The breakfast is ready! Come on!"

Our breakfast was a nice plate of soup with meat buns and a side of bread. Luffy and Nami sat at the table facing each other, as I sat next to her.

"That reminds me… what happened to Buggy?" Nami said.

"Buggy?" Luffy blinked. "Ah, that Buggy? Beats me… he must be somewhere in this ocean, I don't know…"

"Buggy? Who's that again?" I said, sipping a spoonful of soup.

"Remember? We told you about this pirate clown who was in the very same town I met Luffy?"

"Hmmm…" I paused. "Ah, I get it! Hey, that Buggy guy is in the middle of the sea now?"

"Who knows…" Zoro walked inside the room, dragging Usopp by his long nose. "It's hard to tell."

"You bastard! What's your problem? You started it…" Usopp rubbed his ailing nose, having been dragged all the way from the lower floor to the room, despite his protests.

"I was a pirate hunter for quite a long time. I know a lot about them. No two pirates are alike." Protests that Zoro didn't even notice.

"Are you going to just stand there, Usopp? Your food's gone already."

Usopp stared at his empty plate before it hit him. "AAH! Luffy, you jerk! You ate my food again?"

"Who said it's yours?" Luffy retorted.

"It's on my plate, so, it's mine!" Usopp countered.

"Usopp-kun… you should've known better by now. With Luffy around, we have to defend our-HEY!"

I should've just put food in my mouth instead of using it to talk… too late now, I won't be eating anymore, since Luffy stole my meal. _Again._

"Hey, you! Give me back my food!"

"Ya snooze, ya lose!" He retorted, chewing his stolen prize.

"Ah! You…!"

"Quit fooling around and eat, you two!" Sanji interrupted, exasperated. "Honestly… what are you, brats?" He turned to Nami, shifting to his swooning persona. "Nami-san! Here's a special yogurt made only for you."

"Thank you, Sanji-kun."

"GIVE OUR FOOD BACK! LUFFY!"

Too late, it's in his belly. Unless we get it back as… no, that's just… no. If you got the idea, I'm sorry. Please disregard that last sentence.

Anyway, this was our (not quite) peaceful breakfast.

Later on the day, Nami walked around her tangerine trees, inspecting the fruits and their overall aspect. Usopp polished his cannon and the rest were scattered around the Merry, each one doing some sort of task.

Well, except for me. I'm a writer, and I'm not feeling particularly inspired to write anything and nobody asked me to help on anything. Exempt from that too is Luffy. Well, he's the captain so, he's got no specific duties… and he found a hermit crab onboard.

"Hey guys, check this out!" He presented it. "Where do you think it came from? Was it from Nami's village?"

"Was it? Maybe he got onboard when we docked in Usopp's village?" She said.

"If it's true, that's quite something!" Usopp said. "But it could've gotten onboard when we stopped back at Dan's city, right?"

"Possibly…"

"Really?" I said, staring at the crab closely. "Maybe it snuck in because it wants to stay and travel with us."

A silent pause… Luffy apparently heard something.

"Huh? Did you say anything?" He asked.

"Me? No."

Usopp shook his head negatively.

"Well… I didn't. In the last ten seconds anyway."

"That's weird… was it my imagination?" He wondered. "I could've sworn I…"

"Hey, Luffy! Stop doing nothing and come give me a hand here!" Sanji shouted.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going…"

He then gave it up, going to help Sanji in the deck.

Later in this day… We played a game that was all about math puzzles. The player must make calculations with his head. Usopp is a gunner, so he has to be good with numbers. Nami is a navigator, so she has to be good with numbers… I'm just a writer and to boot, I'm not good with numbers. I try my luck at it, though.

"Four hundred…"

"Right, Usopp. Now ask a question."

"Uh…" He put a finger on his chin, pausing to think. "What percent of 16 is 5?" to Nami.

"Hmmm… sixteen… four are twenty five… one is six and a quarter… five is… I know! Thirty-one point two five percent."

Usopp had to write down the calculation. "Wow, correct! Your turn."

"Umm…" She paused to think. "If you slept eight hours a day, how many minutes would you sleep in two days?"

"Hmmm… uhh…" I wracked my brain to get it right, only to take too long and fail. "I literally don't know."

"Aww… Correct answer: nine hundred and sixty. Now you owe me 10,000 beri."

"What? When did we agree on that?"

"We didn't!" She happily said. "That's a punishment I'm instating right now. Any wrong answer and the askee has to give 10 grand to the asker."

"Please don't tack on money. You're probably going to control our 'budget' from now on, but don't start here, ok?"

"Besides, 10,000 beri is too much!"

"It's one bill!" As if they're not inexplicably rare to find… "Wait, I am?"

"I said probably." I repeated. "Men like to spend, in my view. And if we don't put a tight leash on the money, it's all going to go to a certain someone's stomach."

Money turned to meat being broken down in Luffy's belly. We would have food, but it'd quickly run out if he has his way. Letting it rot would be out of the question right off the bat as far as our captain and our cook are concerned.

"You have a point…" Nami thought aloud. "But that's surprising coming from you."

"Well… let's say I just had a bit of an education about that." I said. "I'll spare the details for later."

Although I'm a man, there are certain male trends I don't follow.

"Dan sucks at math but he's broke. Any ideas?"

"Here's some rules." I proposed, yanking a sheet out of my notebook and putting it on the floor. "We all start with a thousand points. Wrong answers cost 200 points. Right ones give you twenty. Once you go down to zero, you lose."

"Why so little points?"

"So we can get a loser quick."

They glared at each other, snickering "discreetly", before agreeing with my terms and thus, game on. Unfortunately, I would soon have the very rules I set turn against me as the number gizmos refused to ask me easy questions. Predictably, I was the first to lose just after five or so rounds.

Nami then suggested we play some cards, something more akin to her tastes. Alas, it would be even more embarrassing for me, since I was equally unfamiliar with the rules of poker, only managing to build a perfect losing streak. Despite being more used than me about the game, Usopp still managed to come out of it winless. Nami won all the matches.

Once we got bored of the game, each one of us walked off to a separate way. She got back to her cartography duties and Usopp got back to work with the cannon and his gadgets.

In a long stretch of sea, I desperately search something to do in the free time if I'm not being asked to help with the tasks. I nourish some hobbies of mine, involving practice. Either I draw whatever comes to my mind, or I write down any ideas I have… or I just read. It sure helped to have brought lots of books before the trip started. I just wonder if we'll get to an island before I read them all…

I tend to draw simple landscapes and portraits, but I still suck with all the rest. Complex poses, body positions, detailed clothing, drawing shades and all that advanced stuff… Hey, I just started drawing a few years ago, and that's just a pastime.

Wait, this gives me an idea… that's it!

Since this is the best I can draw, I'm going to draw portraits of everyone, every time I'm free. I don't know if they'll like it, but I'll do it.

Today was my turn to be in the crow's nest for the night.

I changed to comfy pajamas, taking with me a poetry book to read. I read poems as well… just to stare in awe at how the greatest authors play with the words. Or to take a nap, that usually does the job. Not this time, though, because the book was so good it kept me awake. I did need it… because I was on duty!

_"Arms and the Heroes, who from Lisbon's shore / Through seas where the sail was never spread before / Beyond where Ceylon lifts her spicy breast / And waves her woods above the wat'ry waste._

_With prowess more than human forc'd their way / To the fair kingdoms of the rising day / What wars they wag'd, what seas, what dangers pass'd / What glorious empire crown'd their toils at last / Vent'rous I sing, on soaring pinions borne / And all my country's wars the song adorn. "_

Wow, the initial verses of 'The Lusiads'… they never fail to amaze me. A great adventure of the past… and to think I'm in a great adventure myself. It sure does make me think…

What am I now? What I was up until now? A mere teenager with no initiative, with just a few friends brought together by our parents. We grew up together, inevitably parting ways… and leaving me by myself again. All after my father died right before my eyes…

I read out loud more often, so I can dramatize the lines and get a feel of the plot. But I always worry if others around me are listening, so I immediately stop if I sense somebody nearby. It's plain embarrassing… they think I'm talking to myself-

"Are you talking to yourself again?"

Great… who's down there? Judging by the feminine voice, it's obviously Nami.

"Kya~… Did… Did you… Did you hear it?" I hid myself, putting out the top of my head.

"How could I not?" Nami stated. "I heard you from the kitchen!"

"Sorry…" I groaned. "Did I annoy you?"

"Not quite. I'm not that sleepy anyway…" She said, scratching her nose. "I was reading myself to sleep, but the snoring just kept me awake. I went to the kitchen, and I heard you reading."

Yeah, snoring. How annoying…

"What are you reading?" She asked.

"The first verses of 'The Lusiads'. It's an epic poem about a group of sea explorers and their discoveries, which elevated them to a status of national heroes."

"Reading, huh… You're a man with such unmanly traits…"

"What? What's wrong with a man reading to pass the time?"

"Nothing, it's just unusual, that's what I'm saying." She said. "You don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't pick fights just because… and you're courteous to me!"

"Hold on… I'm getting down."

Slowly, I got down through the mast, landing with both feet in the ground. Nami sat on the handrail facing Merry's figurehead while I leaned on it. Moon high in the sky, our only guide around the blue vastness…

"That's just me. I think it's obvious, isn't it? I don't do that because it's just _stupid_. I'm a man, not a neanderthal roaming around and getting pissed off with everything or picking fights just because. I was raised to always treat women well. I always tend to think we men are idiots…"

Nami chuckled. "Idiots?"

"Mainly because we tend to try getting things done with a right hook to the face. I'm not trying to count myself out, though. I do argue over pointless stuff and I do some stupid stuff from time to time too, but I mostly try not to."

"Then, I doubt you have what it takes to be a good boyfriend."

"I don't think I ever will… Hold on, that's all you took from what I said?"

"Why is it that last time you had no issues about reading to us but now you're all shy about it?"

Yikes…

"Because I like to do it when I'm alone and if someone's around, it just kills my mood and I have to shut up." I said. "I like to dramatize the scenes as they play in my head, and I do it best when I'm reading out loud."

"What a lonely hobby…" She said. "You could do acting lessons if this pirate thing doesn't work out, you know?"

"Yes, I get told that a lot. But wow, when was the last time someone said that… Yeah, I could, that would be interesting. Pirate… that reminds me…"

"Now what?"

I said, leaving the handrail, walking a few steps and talking with my back turned to her. "I thought until now… I was just a common guy… well, not so common because of my magic pencil, but still, I was just one of the crowd, living a simple life. I have dreams but not the means or the will to make them come true. I just thought about going on with my life and that was it."

"That's all people want anyway."

"Then you all appeared." I said. "I thought you were just another bunch of pirates coming to raid my home. Just more crap I had to deal with since my dad was gone."

"I can relate to that…"

"You helped me… and everything began to change a bit. I'm grateful for that. I thought I was just going to live an uneventful life until I eventually die, but Luffy's invitation and all the things we went through so far showed me a bit of the world outside. I feel the dream going back to my grasp! I'm now the writer of the Straw Hat Pirates! I will help Luffy become the Pirate King and write my Ultimate Adventure!"

"If you need anything, just tell me." Nami smiled an earnest smile.

"Yeah, and… what? Really?" I would go on about random stuff again, but I stopped.

"We're on the same boat, right? I help you and you help me. Except when money's involved, of course."

"Nami…"

"Thanks, this talk made me sleepy. Good night."

She walked to the door. The moon was about to leave the sky and give way to the bright daylight.

"Sorry if I kept you awake…" I said.

"Don't mention it." She shrugged. "Just get ready. We're getting to Loguetown by tomorrow morning or afternoon."

"Alright!" I nodded with a big smile. "Thank you…"

She left to the quarters. I remained on the outside, watching the sky beginning to clear. My eyes got heavy and I was getting sleepy myself, so I decided to just lie on the floor and wait for the new day to arrive.

"Cold…"

…

…

Sun high in the sky, a relatively peaceful day. Luffy invited me to play around for a bit, which I did, but not before I wrote a small to do list before we possibly landed at Loguetown.

Hours later, already in the afternoon, Zoro would make the call. Sitting at the railing, in the front of the ship while Luffy, as always, sat in the sheep figurehead.

"Hey, guys… I think I saw an island ahead." He called.

"Really?" Luffy said.

I leaned on the railing also, grinning when a small speck appeared in the line between sea and sky, still far away on the horizon. "It must be where Loguetown is! We're finally arriving!"

Sanji, Usopp and Nami walked to the front of the ship.

"To a small island, it seems like a big town…" Sanji commented.

"That's what I heard anyway…" Nami said.

"I hope they have good fresh food stores there." Sanji said.

"I need to go to a weapon store." Zoro said, glancing at his only sword. "I can't see myself practicing my style with just one of these…"

"Well… I wanna have a good walk around town, maybe get some more gadgets!" Usopp said, cheerfully.

"I'm all about a bookstore. I brought a load from home, but it won't last long!" I said.

"The place where Gold Roger was born…" Luffy stared ahead, with a serious look. "…and executed. The place where the Pirate King died… 'The City of the Beginning and the End'…"

The place where the Great Age of Piracy started… Our next stop, Loguetown!

* * *

**We were presented with a piece of the routines of our heroes. Playful youngsters that dived in an adventure much bigger and way more exciting than anything they've ever dreamed of! Now their next stop will be the city of where a legend was gone and a new pirate fire was lit and still burns today.**

**Action starts now! Don't miss the next chapter!**


	24. It began and ended in Loguetown

**24** - The city of the beginning and the end! Arrival at Loguetown

* * *

"Lower the anchor! Furl the sails!"

Over two days of sailing later, we finally arrived at the famous Loguetown. The City of the Beginning of the End. The place where, twenty-two years ago, the greatest pirate who ever lived, Gold Roger, was publicly executed and the Great Age of Piracy started.

"Woooooooww! What a big city!" Luffy circled around, taking a good long look at the buildings up and down.

We stood still at the entrance, right before the identifying label "Welcome to Loguetown".

"Since a long time ago, many pirate crews stop here to get supplies before they head to the Grand Line. Here you'll find everything you need." Nami explained, glancing over a Loguetown pamphlet located at the entrance.

"Everything?" I asked, cheerfully.

"Everything, it says!" She smiled back.

"Alright!" Usopp shared the mood, stretching his arms. "I'm going to need some cool gadgets and material to my great adventure!"

"I hope there are some fine books for me. Bookstore, here I go!" I said, clapping and rubbing my hands together. More than the books, I could use a little time to tour around town and stretch my legs a bit.

"I bet there's a lot of fresh food stores for me to choose. Also, lots of pretty women!" Sanji said, glaring around, grinning with whatever he's imagining.

"Sanji-san…" I sighed. I could go for a flirt too… if I had the courage.

"I need to buy some things too." Zoro said, simple as ever.

"How exactly are you going to do that? You're out of money, aren't you?" Nami asked.

"Beats me… I'm going to find a way, anyway. I can't practice with just one sword." Zoro replied, clutching his white-sheathed sword.

"Guys, go do your shopping. I'm off to the execution platform. See ya!"

"Hey, Luffy! Wait!" I said, holding a hand out, only to see him already far away.

"I wanna see it! The place where the King of Pirates was executed!" Luffy screamed.

"We still didn't settle on a place to meet later! Oh, he's gone already. It can't be helped…" Usopp still tried to talk to him, only to sigh tiredly and give up.

"Ok, I'm off to buy food. See ya." Sanji walked away.

"See ya!" I and Nami said.

Quickly, one concern sprung up in my mind. What if Nami drags me to be her 'bag-boy' again? I don't know how to move around towns I never walked before, I probably would get lost forever in this crowd! Yeah, there's always asking people for directions, but actually following these directions is an entirely different story and _I'm thinking too much again_.

"Usopp-kun!"

"Huh?" Usopp turned to me.

"Where are you going? Can I go with you?" I asked, eagerly.

"You like gadgets? 'Cause I think I'm going to take a long while to find my way around here…" He said.

"Wait up! Where are you going, Dan?" Nami put a hand on my shoulder. I slowly turned to look over it, with that nagging idea of what she wants… "Don't you want to come shopping with me?"

"Can I politely refuse?" I said, rather meekly.

"No, because I won't let you!" She said, stomping the ground. "Come on, no one else wants to go with me. Usopp's off to the gadget stores, Sanji's already away to get food, Zoro's going to buy his swords… and I'm not on the mood to wait! Are you going to let a lady carry heavy things around?" Again resorting to my chivalry…

"Plea~~se?"

Cornered by all sides, represented by the absence of everyone else, I just sighed in defeat.

"Okay… I'm going with you."

"Yay!"

"Not to interrupt your talk, but… I need some money, by the way." Zoro walked to us.

"Say what?" Nami frowned. "You just told me you'd find some way to get two swords for free!"

"I gave up. What if it doesn't work out?" He retorted. "Or am I to stay with just this one?"

Sighing, Nami begrudgingly lent him a hundred thousand beri.

"Here. See if you can find something useful with these 100 grand."

"A hundred grand?! That's it?"

"Look, that's me being nice!" She frowned again. "I was just going to lend you seventy-five grand, ok? Don't forget I'm going to charge you three times in return, got it?"

"You…" Zoro would pop a vein in his forehead, but he decided to let it go, take the money and walk away.

Still, it's better than going empty-handed.

Well, that only matters to him, since my main concern now is how am I going to stand tagging along with her shopping. My mom takes forever to choose what she wanted… Back at Brush, new character, same old tale.

"Ok! Dan-kun, let's go to the clothing store first!"

I sighed heavily. "Yeah, let's go. As long as you let me go to a bookstore once we're done?"

"Ok, ok… let's go shopping now!" Giggling excitedly, she walked ahead.

"Ya~~y…"

Unenthusiastically raising a fist to the air, I followed her around and off we go to a clothing store. I didn't want to say that out loud, but let me put this out: If it's not me buying for myself, clothing stores just suck. I almost fall asleep waiting for my mother to decide whether she wants to buy something or not, now I have to endure Nami's shopping antics! Oh, well… Nami is just like the big sister I never had…

"This one?"

"Oh! It's marvelous on you, lady!"

A cowgirl dress with a long fluttering cape…

"And this one?"

"Oh! Very elegant, lady!"

A long oriental-style crimson dress, one of those which sport slits on the sides to reveal her legs. Also, she was adorned with a white furry scarf…

"How 'bout this?"

"Essential, my lady!"

"And this?"

"Electric, my lady!"

"And this?"

"An elegy, my lady!"

Seriously, do you need me to bother describing the other dresses? Look, I'm bored out of my skull with the ping-pong between Nami asking "How's this one?" and the clerk's scripted praises… Honestly… well, it's their job…

Hey, wait, that compensated well… talk about eye candy! Each time she came out of the dressing room, she wore the fanciest clothes the shop had to offer. And they really emphasize her figure…

Which makes me wonder…

Is it me or her breasts are bigger than I first met her? She's quite the hourglass now…

When she was done, she dumped it all in the cash desk. Cheerfully, the clerk asked if she was going to buy it all, but she bluntly said no. She said she was looking for something more casual… Now, where did I see that again?

"Nami, if you're looking for something casual… why the hell are you trying such fancy clothing?!" I whispered as we made our way out of the store.

"Because I feel good trying them on." She said. "Why am I supposed to try on casual clothing if I know what I want?"

"Hmmm… maybe to check if it fits?"

"Do you think I don't know that? I know myself enough to tell what clothes fit me, thus, I don't need to test'em!"

Women… every day I understand them less… If they made a test out of men trying to understand women's eccentricities, I'd get disqualified even before it started…

"Nami, ok, we're done, aren't we? Can we go to a bookstore now?"

"Not yet."

"Eeh?! Where else do you want to go now?" I asked, slightly exasperated.

"That's the first store only, dear boy! You're free to go only after I get what I want. But I'm on a good mood today… so, let's find some nice clothes for you too, Dan-kun!"

For me? Oh that's great. Nami's completely acting like my mother.

"Ok. Two things catch my eye here. First: why do I need someone to pick my clothing? Second: When did you start to worry about what I wear? I'm mature enough to pick my own clothes!"

"Do I look like I care about your age?" She said, in an overly mother-like tone. "What really counts is your fashion sense! Do you think a white jacket and a t-shirt go well with shorts?!"

She said, glaring me like a disapproving mother groaning about her son's mismatched appearance.

"Tell me something I don't know…" I sighed. "I have just one pair of pants and they're not in a good shape. I don't intend to use the same clothing forever. This one aside, I only brought about five t-shirts and a couple of shorts. I don't even have clothing for cold weather!"

"That's it. You do realize you just gave me reasons to buy you some nice clothes too?" Crap, it hit me now. "You're going to need some coats and warm clothing if you want to survive the Grand Line!"

I balled a hand in a fist, veins pumping in annoyance. "Then why didn't you buy it back at the shop we went in the first place?! Worse still: Why the hell am I talking about clothes?"

"I didn't find something fitting! That store's just for women's clothes. Do you want to wear what I wear too?"

"Aw, come on…"

"No, I say come on. Let's go already!" Nami ended the discussion dragging me to yet another clothes store. "Stop whining! At least I'll let you choose your clothing! Happy now?" She grumbled.

"Ok, ok, I get to choose, it makes my day. As long as we get to a bookstore after this…"

"No! We still need to find a maps store. I need new navigation tools. _Then_ we can go to the bookstore."

Umm… moving the goalposts, aren't we here?

Anyway, I get to go to a bookstore once this ordeal is over and I get to choose my own clothes for once! Fashion issues fly over my head and I fail to get the idea of buying outrageously ridiculous (or ridiculously outrageous, which is just the same) clothing just to catch attention. The only things I want to catch people's eyes with are my qualities. My good spirit and kindness. And my writing too, which shall be famous!

One day.

Otherwise, fashion doesn't really interest me.

I'm just a simple black-haired boy who wears glasses to read and aspires to be a great writer in the future. I just want to make my dream come true!

Wait, you see where my thoughts brought me to: from fashion, the train derailed and crashed in my dreams… I really have to stop these mighty leaps of mine…

We went to a clothing store for both sexes. I chose two pairs of black pants I felt would go well with the white buttoned shirts I already have, two nifty winter coats and nice, cozy gloves for the cold weather. I was surprised to find stores selling winter clothing with a sunny weather outside, but they know people buy things before they go to the Grand Line, the most unpredictable stretch of sea to ever exist.

Nami bought a tartan winter coat, with bits of yellow, orange and white. While we don't go to a cold island, she added to her wardrobe many tank tops and daisy dukes, quite skimpy clothing for my standards… Well, who am I to question her choices…

Besides, if it translates into eye-candy, I'm all for it and _good lord, stop trailing off!_

I took just twenty minutes. Surprisingly, she took the exact same time to choose her whole spectrum of clothing before we went to the cash desk to pay it all.

There was an old lady smiling as she counted the money.

"What do we have here? A young couple! Are you lovers?"

I immediately felt my cheeks flushing, amazed by her straightforward… mistake.

"Well… no… we're not… we're just… uh…"

As I stuttered with my own words, recoiled to a corner and twitched my fingers, Nami sighed and spoke up.

"Quick assumptions, ma'am… We're not lovers or stuff. We're just passers-by restocking for the Grand Line."

"Nami! Did you need to…" I hissed nervously.

"You're worried, young man? Don't be, I'm used to hearing it. Most of the people who buy here are heading to the Grand Line."

"See?" She hissed.

"You're brave to go there, youngsters. But I warn you, you should watch out for Captain Smoker."

"Captain Smoker?" We said in unison.

"Yes!" She said, always with a serene expression. "He's one of the chief soldiers of the Marine Headquarters. This city used to be full of pirates intent on going to the Grand Line. Since he's in command of the Marine base here, he managed to put every pirate on jail. His power is far from normal… they say he's a monster. They say he might have Devil's Fruit powers, you know?"

"Devil's Fruit?" I parroted.

"Which kind?" Nami asked.

"I have no idea." The madam just shrugged, keeping her warm smile. "You can't dawdle with this captain nearby. You're young and perky; watch your backs, ok?"

We nodded, immediately thinking about this new threat. I bet it's going to be tough. Once the Marines figure out our connection to Luffy, now a bounty holder, that Smoker guy's going to be on our tail the moment he meets us…

"Ok… it totals 103,000 beri." Huh?

"Wow, that much?!"

Only then I noticed the madam struggling to lift an enormous bag, finally resting it on the desk.

"Nami, don't tell me… I have to carry this monster of a-"

"Precisely." Bluntly, she cut me off. "I can't carry that, can I? Can I?"

"Don't say it twice…" Guilting me into doing it does the job just fine.

Oh how I hate buying clothes.

Swallowing my rants and taking a couple of deep breaths, I lifted the bag out of the desk, immediately struggling with its sheer weight.

It's all for the books, all for the books… Oh man, we still have to go look for her navigation tools…

"Sorry, but do you know about any store selling navigation material?"

We asked this question to a lot of people. No… Dunno… I have no idea. After asking a couple of people, on the eighth or so try, a gentleman gave us directions. I'm not particularly good with directions, but the bottomline is: we found the store.

Nami bought a sextant and a compass.

And then the magic moment, my reward! A bookstore right nearby!

I bought a couple of fantasy stories and a calligraphy book. Also, a few colored pencils and crayons, because I was thinking about adding color to my drawings.

Shortlived was my joy because it quickly dawned on me that I had to carry the bag again… now coupled with another bag with my books…

"Where shall we go, where shall we go…" Nami said, still cheery, walking way ahead of me.

"Let's go… to the execution… platform… please?" I breathed, fighting with the bags.

"The platform? You want to go there?" She turned around.

Her stopping allowed me to close the gap. I then put the bag in the ground, panting. After a few deep breaths, I spoke. "Yeah… I want to see the place where it all started. The place where Gold Roger died… Maybe we can find the guys there."

"Ok then!"

"Ah, before that, Nami, could you please carry my books at least?" I said, holding the respective bag.

"Nope. You said you'd carry it all."

"No, I didn't! You goaded me into…" I'd argue again, but I sighed at the fruitlessness of trying. "I have to find a way to walk around with that monster of a bag! These books are like feathers compared to it."

"Ok… but I charge 500 beri."

"Could you stop taking every chance you get to charge me?"

"Just kidding!" You'd better be. "Come on, give it to me."

She agreed to carry my stuff.

"Sorry, but do you know where is the execution platform?"

Again, off we go wander around the streets asking people where the platform is. This time we had an easier time to get directions, but the place was a bit far away, about twenty minutes of walk through the busy streets of Loguetown before we arrived at the much wider plaza, a great circular square right on the end of the Main Street.

"Wow, is this the place where Gold Roger died…" I said, breathing out as I put the bag on the ground, being taken over by a strong feeling of awe.

"Yes, it is. The place where the Great Age of Piracy started." Huh?

I turned around just to stare at a gentleman standing right next to us.

"You're…"

"I was here on that day, kids."

"Really?" Nami asked.

"Yes." The gentleman replied. "Twenty-two years ago, I was a common working man when I heard news of the greatest pirate ever being brought to justice. He was handcuffed, but his last walk through the streets was proud and imposing. They say the Marines captured him but I doubt it. With all the tales going around about his great skills, I can't believe to this day the Marines would bring him down."

Wow, a witness of the great day!

"He did something no one would dare to do. He faced his death with a smile. I remember that moment like it was yesterday. A lone voice amongst the crowd eagerly shouted 'Where's the One Piece?!'. At the top of the tower, he laughed before he said those most famous words… My treasures?"

"If you want them, I'll give it to you…" I then slowly raised my voice from a whisper to normal tone, matching with the gentleman's.

"Search for it! I left there everything I had!"

"Wow!"

"Those words were the spark of the new pirate flame. That flame spread like wildfire… here, it all began." He finished.

"You seem to remember it awfully vividly, don't you?" Nami smiled.

"Of course I do!" He nodded, smiling at us. "However, the kids of today don't care about these tales anyway…"

"The kids may not, but I do! I'm a writer and these stories fascinate me the most." I said, happy like never before.

"Writer?" The gentleman chuckled. "Do you have dreams?"

"I have… and this pretty lady with me has too!" I said, sparing a quick glance to Nami.

"'Inherited willpower. This Age's destiny and people's dreams. As long as there are people searching for the meaning of freedom, these things shall not vanish!' Even if he's gone, Roger's memorable quotes still breeze along with the wind, in the minds of people everywhere. Youngsters, here's a quick advice. Follow your dreams and never let go of them. In this messed up world of today, they're the only thing we can hold onto if we want to keep living. The dream is the force of life!"

I just stared in awe. His words and his vivid recollection awakened a warm, nice feeling inside me. I never heard someone talk about that moment so beautifully! I shall treasure those last words in my heart!

The dream is the force of life!

* * *

**It didn't take long for the Straw Hats to blend into Loguetown's fast-paced daily hustle and bustle. As each and every one of them goes about their business, Gold Roger's hometown presents glorious surprises from times immemorial. But the excitement is far from over!**

**See you in Chapter 25!**


	25. Zoro and a girl? Waaaait a second!

**25** - Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri! Zoro's new swords and the female Sergeant Major

* * *

We left the execution platform, walking around town to search for our fellows.

And I still carried around the damn bag with me.

Nami! Someday you'll pay for that! Uh… I don't know how. But! I shall make you pay nonetheless!

"Aaaaaaaaaaa…" I stopped my scheming when I heard a voice coming from above…

As we looked to the sky, we noticed something flying above our heads… immediately groaning when we found it sported a straw hat.

"Luffy!" Quickly identifying the flying object, Nami frowned. "That idiot… what the hell did he do now?"

"Don't… ask… me… ah! Is it me or this bag only gets heavier and heavier?" I walked a few steps before resting the bag on the ground and breathing a few times. I then noticed that the mere existence of the bag (and the fact I'm carrying it) is causing me to lag behind Nami's pace.

I do hope we can find the others soon. As long as I get to carry this bag for as little as possible!

"Ah, ah! We bought so much today! Maybe I'm going to another store…" Cheerfully, Nami walked ahead again.

"Eeeeeehh?! You're kidding, right? That bag's damaging my back and you have the nerve to talk about buying more stuff? Why did I tag along in the first place again?"

"Because I forced you to-I, I mean, I invited you!" Not very smart, Nami. "Just one more! Plea~~se…."

Aw, that cute stare of hers… and I can't help but feel inclined to say yes… quick, look away, look away!

"Uh, I-I don't know if I can ha… huh?" I stopped mid-sentence once I caught Luffy's wanted posters affixed in the wall. "What's that over there?"

"Huh?"

Walking until we stood in front of the posters, we noticed a Marine base nearby. Upon hearing the sound of a door being opened, we hurried to hide behind the walls.

"Damn that girl! Why the hell do I have to do this?!" Hey, I know this voice! Is it…

"Zoro… in the Marine?" Nami took a quick, disbelieving look at the scene.

"Huh, really?" I asked. "Say it again?"

Nami just stared for a few seconds at the scene of Zoro cleaning a floor mop and throwing a bucketload of water away. "I'll pretend I saw nothing."

"What's he doing? Tell me!"

"Zoro's working in the Marine… as a janitor." She said.

"Janitor?" I tried to stifle my laughter, failing miserably. "Hahahaha! Zoro? Janitor?! Hahahahaha! It seems the money you lent him was for nothing!"

Then I felt a fist hitting my head.

"Ow… Nami! Why did you do that?" I said, tending to my newly-formed bump.

"Quiet!" She hissed. "Do you want to get us in trouble? Let's just get out of here. If anyone asks, none of us saw anything!"

"You have to agree that that's very fu-"

"…"

When I saw Nami giving me that if-you-don't-do-as-I-say-I'll-hit-you look, I stopped.

"Ok. Let's go."

So, here continues my "journey" with a bag in hand. We walked around for what felt like fifteen minutes, more or less. Wandering around the town still, since Nami wasn't quite done with her shopping yet, but couldn't decide which store she wanted to go. Incidentally, we ran into Zoro, who walked around still with a single sword, looking for a sword shop.

"Zoro?"

"Zoro-san!"

As soon as he spotted us, he walked towards our position.

"Nami, Dan… what are you two doing here?"

"It looks like you're still looking for an arms store around here, right?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, I am… things happened on my way, though." Short and to the point, Zoro replied.

"Oh, that's it… I remember we saw you back at the Mari-"

I was interrupted, screaming with the sudden, intense pain in my foot… it was stomped by a high-heel.

"Shut up!" Nami quickly twisted her mouth to hiss at me.

"Ow! What's up with you?!" I twisted back at her.

"What was he about to say?" Zoro asked, somewhat befuddled.

"Nothing… nothing at all!" Nami nervously laughed. "Ah? So that's what happened, huh? Yeah… tough break, huh? Well then, we're going now!"

"Hey… Nami, I'm staying." She tried to walk away, but stopped after a few steps. "Go make the rest of your shopping, I'll stay here."

"And how about the bag?" She asked.

"It's safe with me, don't worry." I replied, smiling earnestly. "You can go."

Confidence reassured, she left.

"Where were you two? What's with that bag?" He then grinned a little, for no discernible reason. "Don't tell me, is this all her shopping?"

I stand corrected. For that discernible reason.

"Yes, but not quite." I said with a sigh. "Part of it is mine. All clothes, though."

"Huh, is that so. Wow, this town's bigger than I thought… I sure wish I found a weapons store quick…" He said, looking around, slightly annoyed.

Back to walking we go. After a few minutes and passing by the same place three times, we finally got to a weapons store. Upon stepping in, we saw all kinds of weapons possible and imaginable being shown on the displays. Spears, bows, arrows, pistols, shotguns, everything. Well, not _everything _everything, but you get the idea.

Zoro went to the cash desk and talked to the balconist, or he would if he didn't find the man sleeping… and drooling. Must be a slow day around here… or the store musn't get customers all that often.

"I want to buy a katana…" Zoro said.

Immediately the balconist woke up, still drooling in a corner of his mouth.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes! Hello, you're welcome! Get comfortable and choose as you wish! Our store is running for 200 years!" He quickly woke up and greeted us properly, smiling and presenting his merchandise, always with the tone of someone hoping his customer will spend as many beri as it takes to leave him rich.

"200 years?!" I gasped in "surprise". "Hmmm… You sure have a lot of history."

I left the cash desk to see the swords they had to offer, staring at the ones in the showcase, apparently the best in the store. Well, judging by the price, no wonder they must be. Costing around 600 thousand, 700 thousand beri each, average, and the most expensive going out at 1 million, 950 thousand beri.

A grip adorned with stylish decorations and a dark-red sheath… yeah, that does look expensive.

Hmmm… What now, Zoro? 100 grand ain't nearly enough!

Steering my eyes away from the displays, I spotted two barrels containing lots of swords. Those must be the cheaper ones. And surely they looked pretty plain, except for a few that really caught my eye…

As I looked over the barrels, Zoro put the money in the balcony and hammered his point.

"100 grand. I need you to sell me two katana."

"What? Two swords for 100 grand? Are you nuts?" Immediately the owner's smiling face faded away with how little Zoro had. He must think Zoro's bankrupt or something. Or he's poor… Yeah, he's poor, but there's more to it.

"With 50,000 beri, you can only buy a low quality one." The balconist, who I guess is also the store owner, sat back with a deep frown in his face.

He's got a point, though. 100 grand in two good swords is nigh-impossible. Unless they're really cheap, but low-quality swords won't handle the stress Zoro's Three-Sword Style might put them through…

The wall was also peppered with other types of weapons in the displays. A collection of spears, armors arranged in order of fanciness, shields with more bling than purpose, bows and arrows… hmmm… maybe I can try transforming my pencil into one of these later.

By the way, you're probably wondering how do I transform my pencil, aren't you?

Well, let's pause the plot for a little explanation, shall we?

It draws much from my imagination. I must have the desired weapon in my mind and then turn the pencil in it. It can go wrong if I don't focus, but a strong dose of practice does the job. The staff was easy to create, but I remember it took me half a year in training just for me to make my spear. New weapons send me right back to the drawing board.

And that's how I shot web.

Back to the plot!

"Anything goes for me. I'm really out of money right now." Zoro insisted, still facing a grumpy store owner… until he took a look at the sword in Zoro's waist and began to sweat cold for no discernible reason.

"O-o-oi… T-t-t-t-this sword! C-c-can I see it f-f-f-f-for an i-i-in-in-instant?"

"Wha? Why are you so nervous?" Zoro asked, confused.

"Please!" The owner practically begged him to.

"What a weird fellow…" Somewhat reluctantly, Zoro pulled the sword from his waist and showed it to the shop owner. I approached the scene, still holding a bow in my hands.

"You're buying something too, Dan?" Zoro asked.

"No." I said. "Just getting a bit of inspiration. My pencil is enough for a weapon. Plus: I don't have to spend any money on it 'cause I'm running out."

"How much do you have?"

I pulled my wallet out of my pocket, only to find a handful of coins. "Hmmmm… bills, none. Five hundred, one-k, two-k… yep, twenty-five hundred or so."

"And how much you had initially?" He asked, looking a bit surprised.

"75 grand."

"Whoa! What did you spend that much in?"

"Tell you later. Because… it seems the man liked your sword, Zoro." " I replied, pointing to the owner breathing deeply.

"Huh?" We turned back to the owner, trying to hold back but literally glaring at the sword in his hands like it was magical. It seems he figured out something about it…

"Wow…" The owner finally spoke up. "What… what an old and shabby sword you have… I can give you money for it. How'bout this. I'll give you 200 grand for your sword. That way you'll have 300 grand and walk out with three decent swords!"

"Ha? What are you talking about?" Zoro continued to question the owner's motives.

"300 grand aren't enough to buy even one sword in that showcase. And Zoro's got a reason not to sell this one. Right?" I looked at him.

"Yeah. No matter how mu-"

The owner interrupted him, still trying a deal. "250 thousand beri. How's this?"

A silent pause…

"No? Then 300 grand."

Another pause.

"Still no good? Then how'bout… 500 grand for this sword!"

Zoro remained impassive through the whole ordeal, only frowning progressively harder.

"Hey, hey… no matter how much you offer for this sword, I'm not going to-"

"Fine! I'll buy it for 650 thousand beri!"

Again, the owner interrupted him, trying his best to take the sword.

"Ah, you're such a wise guy! I'm buying it for 800 thousand beri and it's final! I really mean it!"

Zoro would raise his voice if…

"Good afternoon!"

If a peppy-looking lady didn't run up to the balcony.

"I'm here to get my Shigure. Is it done?" The dark blue-haired woman talked to the owner, bringing with her something wrapped inside a piece of cloth, supposedly a sword.

"Whew… what a relief!" The girl, now talking to Zoro. "You're alright! Did you know? Someone invaded the Marine base today and caused some serious trouble there and I noticed you went missing… I was worried!"

As she yacked on, Zoro kept making strange faces at her… He seemed somewhat afraid to even talk to her he didn't even dare to look directly at her… Have they met before?

"Excuse me…" I poked my head between their conversation. "Not wanting to intrude but already doing so… do you know each other?"

"Yes, indeed!" The girl.

"Oi!" Zoro, nervously.

"We met by chance in the street, though." She clarified. "He broke my glasses and I brought him to the Marine base to work as a janitor as a means to pay for new ones… but he went missing since that mysterious attack. Are you a friend of his?"

"Yup!" I replied, smiling. "The name's Daiki, but people call me Dan. Nice to meet ya!"

"My name is Tashigi. Nice to meet you!" She replied, going back to her talk with Zoro. "Anyway, I am just glad you are alright! Now that I know you are safe… I know as well that you rejected other people's kindness and ran away from an honest job."

She then pulled money out of her pocket and gave it to Zoro. "Take it back, please. I refuse to accept money from men that do this kind of thing…"

Then, also from her pocket, she picked up a pair of square-lensed glasses with violet frames… "I even got new glasses by now."

She immediately shifted her eyes from Zoro's figure to Zoro's sword. "Ah! This sword… is it…"

A silent pause as she stared at the sword. "Wadou Ichimonji! This is the Wadou Ichimonji, isn't it?"

She forcibly took the sword from the owner's hands and better checked it out, only to unnerve the owner some more… but why? Tashigi unsheathed Zoro's sword, took a look at its blade and said:

"The tip of this sword is really magnificent! This is surely one of the 21 Great Grade Swords."

Twenty-one what?

Soon I would find out when she picked up a little book and browsed through it.

"Hmmmm… you're really knowledgeable about sword arts, aren't you?" I asked.

"Yes!" She replied with a glint of excitement in her eyes. "I'm a fan of swords and I'm always collecting knowledge about them. This one, for instance, is a sword worth more than 10 million beri!" She pointed precisely to Zoro's sword, referencing her book.

"But why do a person like you have such a famous artifact?" She asked.

Wait, hold on.

Ten million?! And the store owner was about to buy it for just 800 grand?! Wow, we sort of dodged a bullet now…

The owner tried to hold himself… until he snapped, hit the balcony and angrily stepped in.

"Hey, girl! You told everything to him! I'm suing you for blowing my deal!"

"I-Did I ruin your deal?" Tashigi yelped. "I am sorry… Did I say something wrong?"

"Not wrong… but quite right." I stepped in. "This man was trying to buy Zoro's sword for just 800 grand!"

Upset, the owner hurried to grab a sword with a stylish sheath.

"You came here to get your Shigure, right, girl? It's here! It's sharpened! Now just catch it and go away!"

He then tossed the sword to the girl and she caught it but lost her balance, crashed against a shelf and dropped all swords in it.

"Aaah, why did you go over there?! What the hell is wrong with you, girl?!"

"Sorry…" She meekly apologized.

"Tashigi-san, are you alright?" I walked closer and reached a hand to her.

"Yes… I am." She held my hand, I pulled her up and put her back on her feet. "Thank you."

"Yeah, so what? This stupid girl just saved you." The owner grumbled. "This sword is, in truth, one of the most famous artifacts in the world. It's something too valuable for an amateur like you to have. The fifty grand swords are on those barrels! Grab two of'em and get out of my face!"

Zoro then did as told, walking to the barrels.

"Gee, why is this guy so worked up?" He wondered.

"You really like swords, don't you?" Tashigi approached him. "You even carry three around! It is just like a certain bounty hunter roaming around…"

"Bounty hunter?" Zoro replied.

"He is very famous. His name is Roronoa." Tashigi said.

Uh-oh…

"I hear that name a lot…" Zoro said, smirking still.

Hold on… she's not registering that she's talking to the man himself! He was at the Marine base, yes. So he's the one who must've caused trouble there… and the marines recognized him! Honestly… she's a Marine? Because if she is, Marine's standards are a bit low… she's a cute girl, but she's very clumsy.

Well, all the better to us.

Tashigi continued. "He is recognized in the entire East Blue as being a great swordsman. But he is evil. Using swords to gain money… unforgivable! Why is evil so strong in this age? Most of the greatest swordsmen today either are pirates or bounty hunters… The greatest artifacts in the world are at their mercy… I can hear their cry…"

"Umm, hey, these people may have other motives to hunt bounties or to be pirates… I keep wondering how as soon as a Marine hears the word pirate, they focus on taking them down like there's no tomorrow… it's really all about evil people?" I said.

"Different people have different reasons… Our age's needs tell a whole lot about people's actions." Zoro quipped.

"Opportunity makes a thief, or so the saying goes…" I said.

"Nevertheless." Tashigi clenched her fist. "With this Shigure, I will hone my skills, travel around the world and take the legendary artifacts from the hands of ill-intentioned people! The 12 Supreme Grade Swords… the 21 Great Grade Swords… the 50 Skillful Grade Swords… I will collect them even if it costs my life!"

"Wow, that's too many swords, don't you think?" I yelped at her goal. I wonder what she's going to do with them…

"You'll take this one too? The one you call Wadou Ichimonji?" Zoro asked, frowning slightly at her.

"I, uh… I didn't mean I wanted them for myself." She said, twitching slightly. "I only said I didn't want them to fall in evil hands…"

There was a pause and Zoro picked a sword from one of the barrels. It had a scarlet red sheath and other details that made Tashigi hurriedly browse her book again.

"This sword… is it…" After a quick check… "Exactly! This is the Sandai Kitetsu!"

"Sandai-what?" I asked.

"Sandai Kitetsu, Daiki… I mean, Dan-san." She said excitedly. "Its ancestor, Nidai Kitetsu, was one of the Great Grade Swords! And the firstborn, Shodai Kitetsu, was one of the Supreme Grade Swords!"

She then turned back to the owner. "Gentleman, do you really want to sell this sword for 50,000 beri?"

"Hold on, is this sword that good?" I asked.

"It is! It's fantastic!" Tashigi said, practically two inches from my face. "It is one of the legendary masterpieces of swordsmiths… it'd normally cost 1 million beri! You have to buy it!"

"And the luck is really by your side, Zo-" Whoops!

"Zo?"

Don't blurt it out, man!

"Zo… zo… sorry, I _zo_ned out there! My friend's really lucky to get that sword, isn't he?"

"No! I'm not gonna sell it!" Angrily, the owner stepped in again.

"You'd be right not to, though…" Tashigi said. "To sell it for just 50 thousand… it would be really weird!"

"No, it's not because of that!" The owner interrupted.

"Then why wouldn't you-"

"It's cursed."

Zoro…?

"You know about it?" The owner asked, taken aback.

"No… I feel it." Zoro said ominously.

"Alright, you kids, listen carefully." The owner said. "These are excellent swords but they also carry a curse. Every single one of the previous owners died mysterious and tragic deaths. That's why no swordsman today wants to use them!"

Wow, that's just… that's just…

"Awesome. I'll take it."

Yeah, that's awesome, he'll take the…

WHAT?

"Have you lost your marbles?!" The owner yelped. "What if I let you have this sword and you die? It'll be like I murdered you!"

To the owner's indecision, Zoro stepped forward and made a proposal.

"How about me testing my luck with it?" Zoro said. "If I come out in one piece, I'm worthy of having it."

"H-hey, Z… I mean, hey, how are you going to-"

"Just watch."

He then tossed the sword to the air, making it spin while he stretched his arm. I gasped as I watched the sword come down directly above his arm! He's really risking to have his arm chopped off just to test his luck?!

Fortunately, the sword beautifully swerved around Zoro's arm and stuck itself in the store floor, leaving no scratches on him whatsoever.

A silent, stunned pause…

"I will take it."

Zoro passed his test. The owner and Tashigi both kneeled, sighing in relief.

"Man…" I wiped the sweat off my forehead. "You're really crazy!"

"Just so you know: I am the only one in this world with the right to call myself crazy." Zoro declared. "Girl… could you pick another sword for me?"

"Ok." She recomposed herself, walking to choose another sword but…

"Wait!"

The owner acted first, running to the inside of his store. A few moments later, he went back out carrying another rather fancy sword.

"The long sheath, painted pitch black and with inlays. The blade of unraveled thread. One of the Skillful Grade Swords… Yubashiri! For a small store like this, it might be little, but this is the best sword I have."

Whoa, why is he doing this? Presenting Zoro with a sword like this?

"I can't buy it." Zoro retorted. "I don't have the money."

"You don't need it!" The owner replied, confidently. "I don't want you to pay for the Kitetsu either. I regret trying to trick you before. It was long since I last saw a true swordsman. They say the swords choose their rightful owner and it looks like the Kitetsu chose you! I cheer for your luck!"

Zoro gladly accepted both swords, thanked the store owner and we left.

Wow, what an incredible turn of events!

Standing away from the store, I watched Zoro sparing a glance to his new artifacts, finally resting relieved as he had three swords hanging from his waist again. Not just three common swords, but three of the best swords in the world: Wadou Ichimonji, Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri.

* * *

**Zoro tested his luck and as a result earned two swords, each one with a history of its own. The tour around Loguetown continues and in the next chapter, we will follow Usopp taking part in a duel of honor against a character with superb skills and a kind heart.**

**Don't miss it!**


	26. Sharpshooting Showdown! Alliteration!

**26** - Usopp vs Daddy, the Father! Showdown at high noon

* * *

Zoro and I walked away from the store, him finally in relief for carrying three swords again. And he still has the lent 100,000 beri intact!

"Haha~h… how lucky you are, huh? You didn't need to pay for any of them, Zoro!" I said, smiling.

"Yeah. Three-sword Style can't be called as such if I just have one…" He replied.

"Now, what are we to do? Let's find the others?" I asked, immediately recalling I have to trot around with an enormous bag over my shoulder.

"Nah, I'm going on a walk around town." Zoro shrugged. "I want to test my new swords out. If you want, go alone. Ah, if you find Nami, tell her I didn't need her money."

"Alright." I nodded. "What if you get lost, though?"

Zoro grinned, turning his back to me. "I'll find my way. What about the bag, you're going to keep carrying it?"

"It's Nami's stuff we're talking about. Wanna hold on to it yourself?" I asked, offering him the bag.

"Nah, you stay with it then."

"Huh…" I sighed. "I'll keep it then. The last thing I want is Nami to yell at me 'cause I lost her stuff…"

"Then I'm going now… see ya."

Zoro and I walked off to separate ways around the town.

Tell her he didn't need the money, he says… as if it'll do him any good. I wonder if she's simply going to take her money back… She asks a three-time refund out of anyone she lends money to… Tough call.

Well, best thing I do is not think about it.

Anyway, the day is just sunny and good! I chose and bought nice clothing to myself, I went to the execution platform, I bought a few more books to read on high sea… and I'll be able to practice and perfect my skills. They will surely be useful for something in the future!

In the Grand Line, somewhere, is the pirate who killed my father. I wonder if I can meet him…

"Ahahahahahaha! I bought, bought, bought so much! My preparations to become a brave warrior of the seas are complete! Now did I forget something? Hmm…" This voice…

I raised my head, only to spot Usopp far away.

"Ooooiii! Usopp-kuuuun!" I screamed, waving an arm and walking towards him.

"Huh? Dan? What'cha doing here?" Usopp spotted me back.

It turned out my complaints about the bag are nothing but whining. Usopp carried a much more bloated backpack and didn't seem really concerned about it…

"Wow, what'd you buy, Usopp-kun? A little of everything?" I asked, taking a look.

"Heheh! I bought lots of things! So much so that if I stop and show you them all, we won't be done until tomorrow! So, how long did Nami drag you around? Your bag's huge too!" He retorted.

"Eh… well… for pretty much the whole day, yeah. You spotted it pretty well. It's not mine, it is Nami's garments… She bought this much and then asked me to carry her stuff. Delicate woman, can't carry heavy weights and other related stuff…"

"Hahah!" Usopp only laughed. "You fell right in her hands!"

"Huh, whose fault you think it is?" I sneered. "None of the guys wanted to tag along with her in my place! Now I'm stuck with this thing and Nami's with my books."

"Yeah? You bought your books already?" Usopp asked.

"Phew…" I brushed my hair. "Yeah, I did, but not before having to stretch my patience for an entire morning. Y'know, have you waited for a woman to choose her get-up? 'Cause if not, I don't recommend it."

"Did you fall asleep?"

"Almost…" I said.

He chuckled once again. "Well, I bought all this, but I still get the feeling I'm missing something… but I don't quite know what it is."

He paused for a few seconds to figure it out.

"Ah, yeah! Goggles! It's bad to a sharpshooter like me to go on without zoom goggles. This is the basic of the basic! Even if I use all the money I still have to buy them, my shooter heart will not regret it!"

Out of nowhere, Usopp runs to a random direction.

"H-h-hey! Usopp-kun! Wait for me!"

I followed him, still struggling to sling the bag over my shoulder. Apparently the direction wasn't random as he only stopped right in front of a souvenir shop.

"Usopp-kun! Wait! Usopp-kuuun!" I screamed as I tried to catch up to his pace.

"Ah, Dan! You followed me?" Only then Usopp turned around and spotted me.

"All the time! Where the heck were you going?" As I arrived there, I stopped, immediately placing the bag back in the ground and resting my hands on my knees.

"I'll buy nifty goggles to myself." Usopp replied, cheerfully. "I can't be a shooter without zoom vision goggles, can I? Can I?"

"I presume you're going to buy them here?" I asked.

"Hmmmmm… dunno… ah! There!"

Usopp then pointed to a store whose entrance had a marquee with the label "Junk Shop".

"Junk Shop? Is there anything useful? To have this name…"

"Beats me… but if there's goggles fit for me, I'll be happy enough!"

Usopp sprinted first to said shop with me following suit. Leaving our XL-size luggages at the entrance door, Usopp walked in, but I decided to wait for him outside… in case someone "gets an interest" in our luggage, if you know what I mean.

All the while, I heard Usopp's cheerful squeals. I guess he found his place and he's having fun with the gadgets in there. I could only grin a bit and try to see something of myself reflected in him… even though I found nothing, I felt sort of happy because I knew one of my comrades was having fun and that's enough to make me smile.

"I must have these goggles! Granny!"

Then suddenly, a girl with long, curly, blonde hair and wearing a long light blue dress walked in the store.

"What? You don't have money? If not, get the hell outta here! I don't deal with broke people!" Sounds like the store owner's pretty grumpy too…

"Hold on! I'll get the money…" Usopp scurried through his handbag to get the money, but…

"I want to buy these goggles, please." A squeaky voice said.

Huh?

Usopp argued for a while, before there were crashing noises, which was when I decided to go in and take a look at the scene.

"What a pity, uncle!" I saw Usopp sitting in the ground while the little girl walked away with the goggles.

"She called me uncle…" I heard Usopp muttering.

"Usopp-kun? Are you alright?" He quickly stood up and left the store running, probably after that girl. He was lucky not to lose track of her, hurriedly approaching her. I decided to just stand back and watch the scene.

Now, this begs the question: How is he going to argue with a little girl?

He was trying to convince her to hand him the goggles, but she only replied by calling him "uncle" and generally annoying him, whilst using a vocabulary very inappropriate to her looks. She then threatened him saying if he still persisted in pissing her off with the goggle thing, she would call the Marines.

"Yeah. I'm a very close friend of the Captain of this city's Marine base… the smoky uncle!"

Smoky uncle? Who is she talking about-

Hold on… is that Captain Smoker guy?!

Waving off the thought for now, I watched Usopp trying to distract her with the story of how he defeated the Arlong crew. Peppered with fantastic exaggerations very alike of his tales…

"And as a result, I have a 30 million bounty on my head!" You liar, you just defeated one of Arlong's underlings! Your head's worth exactly zilch!

"Daddy!" I heard the girl screaming.

"Daddy? Why the hell are you calling me da-" He stopped, looking back and sighting a man clad in a long gray cape and a brown hat that added more to his mysterious-looking get-up.

The girl offered him the goggles, telling that they were for his birthday. It looks like he's her father. When he saw her little gift, his tough-looking persona completely melted down and he turned into a cuddling ball, spoiling his daughter with praises and baby talk.

"But, daddy, daddy! That uncle there tried to steal them from me!" She said with a cute-sounding tone. Wow, talk about a split personality…

"Stealing is not good under any circumstances. Intimidating a little girl to boot!" The man said, quickly switching back to his mean-looking face and looking directly at Usopp.

"Is it you? The guy upsetting my precious Carol?" Usopp was frozen static… "You're worth a 30 million bounty, you say?" He asked after his daughter whispered something in his ear, which only made Usopp freeze even more in place.

The man then pulled a handful of posters and browsed them, looking for Usopp's picture.

"30 million… Straw Hat Luffy. To be worth this much in such a short time… Hold on, punk." The man glared at our trembling sharpshooter.

"Uh… um… as you know… there's no way I can be in this pile of wanted pirates… It's a lie, a lie! My plan to scare your daughter was a success, then goodbye!" He tried to worm his way out of a harsh beating, but…

"This one here is you, right?" Usopp stopped dead in his tracks as the man pointed to the part of the picture where Usopp appears. Yeah, I totally forgot about that!

Usopp then admitted it was him, sort of trying to brag about it.

"Yeah, that back is mine! Bu-bu-but are you sure you want to challenge me? I-I-If you lay a single finger on me, my captain won't let it slide!"

And then he tried to scare them saying that Luffy is blood-thirsty, very diabolic and blah and blah and one more blah.

"And so, you'd do better if you leave it as it is, or else Luffy will get you!" Usopp finished, pointing his finger at the man.

"I get it… this kid must be a problem. He's worth 30 million beri. He mustn't be your common pirate."

"Daddy! No doubt, daddy is the strongest! Daddy's the best in the world!" Little Carol said.

Hahaha… the way she cheers him and turns him back into a total creampuff makes me remember the times where I admired the strength and the fantastic tales of my father… it's as if he's a mix of kindness, a tough persona and Usopp's tall tales.

"So? Do you understand the vastness of my power? I won't tell anything bad… if you hand over these goggles to me."

"Huh?" The little girl responded.

"Don't worry! I'll pay the corresponding price! Now, let's go… come on…" Said Usopp, losing his taunting tone. That is, if he ever had any. He approached the girl somewhat reluctantly.

"Hey, you! I just gave these goggles to my daddy, yet you keep insisting…" Getting angrier by the second, the girl once again lashed out at Usopp…

Or she would, if her daddy didn't step ahead and make a suggestion. He said the two men would settle the issue by means of a duel at noon.

Unbuttoning his overcoat, he revealed a scary assortment of pistols of varying sizes before handing Usopp a gun, where Usopp widened his eyes before a realization hit him.

"Daddy… Wait, are… are you Daddy, the Father?!" Daddy, the Father? Never heard of him…

"Yes, I am." Daddy revealed. "And that's all you need to know. We shall meet again at noon. I hope you're prepared for our confrontation."

Usopp could do nothing but accept, watching his soon-to-be opponent walking away.

"Aw man… what am I going to do?!" Usopp asked himself.

Honestly, I would ask the same thing too… who would believe that little girl's daughter was one of the most known sharpshooters of Loguetown, according to Usopp?

He got himself into a good one, didn't he?

…

…

…

A little over an hour later, the moment of the duel arrived. Many people rushed to the place upon sighting Daddy the Father.

"They said there's gonna have a duel!" The rumor spreads around as the crowd gathers to see the soon-to-happen confrontation of gunslingers.

Well, actually a true gunslinger against a… uh, slingshot-slinger? That's redundant.

On my way to the dueling field, I happened to bump into Nami again, in a corner, close to the city limit sign.

"Nami!" I called.

"Dan-kun! Did you see all the commotion? It looks like there's gonna be a duel!" She said, jumping still.

"Yeah, I knew about that, it's between-"

"Let's take a look!"

Before I opened my mouth to tell Usopp was about to get a bullet lodged in his body, she pulled my hand and dragged me to the place. When we arrived there, we saw a quite large crowd.

"Daddy, the Father… the greatest gunman bounty hunter… This East Blue must have lost the notion of reality! Who's enough of an idiot to challenge him?" She talked to herself as we threaded our way through the assembled crowd.

"Nami, I think I know. It's…"

It didn't take long for us to spot Daddy and Usopp, backs turned to each other… and Usopp trembling like crazy.

"It's one of _our_ idiots…" I said.

"Aw, c'mon, no freaking way!"

Anyway, the duel was set to begin and two completely different personas would face each other. A hard-boiled sharpshooter, one of the best there is… against a sharpshooter-wannabe, with the overall looks of a complete wimp.

"The rules are clear." Carol, who volunteered to be the referee, announced. "Each of you will walk ten steps, then shoot."

"What on earth are you doing?!"

Nami shouted, garnering Usopp's attention.

"Nami! Dan!" Usopp begged, completely powerless.

"Did you really challenge _Daddy, the Father_ of all people to a duel?!" Nami yelled in exasperation. "Are you THAT stupid?!"

"Shut up!" Usopp tried not to cry right there. Good thing he wears a brown jumpsuit… "I was carried away by the circumstances! A-anyway, stay there and watch!"

"It's a single round match. You ready?" Carol announced.

"Yes." Both of them gave the signal for the counting to start.

After a rather long pause where even the large crowd went completely silent, Carol started counting.

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

Usopp's getting nervous…

Five…

Nervousness levels rising again…

Six…

Shiver down his spine…

What if he really goes through with it?

Seven…

"Enough!"

In the eighth step, Usopp broke down and used a smokebomb to escape. There was a single shot amongst the smoke before a gun flew out of the smokecloud… Usopp!

When it dissipated, we spotted an immobile Usopp. That lone shot amongst the fog had disarmed Usopp, leaving him frozen in place.

"Incredible…" I muttered… and I meant it!

The crowd immediately left, with groans of disappointment with what they saw. Meanwhile, Usopp just lay there, kneeled down and looking to the ground.

"I only disarmed you." Daddy said, walking up to him.

"Why did you run away, you coward!" The little Carol run to him, scolding him for his weakness. "I knew from the beginning you wouldn't do it!"

"Hey, you…!"

"Happy now?!" Usopp stood back up, interrupting me. "This is the kind of man I am! You can take my life if you want, but are you going to gain anything doing that?"

A gun pointed at his forehead stopped his self-defeating speech. Nami decided to intervene in his behalf before things got ugly.

"If it's about money, she has enough! Please, don't shoot! Spare my life!"

What, using her as a…?! Aw, come on, he can't be that much of a coward!

"Hey!" I bopped him in the head. "I know you're easy to scare, but you crossed the line there! How dare you hide behind a woman?"

"You took the words out of my mouth." Daddy stepped in.

"N-nevertheless-"

"You're all getting it wrong." Usopp pushed her aside, cutting through everyone's talking. "Forget what I said. They don't have anything to do with this. If you want to shoot me, fine. Do it. At least leave them out of this."

Usopp stepped forward and outstretched his arms, leaving his chest area wide open to shoot.

"Usopp…" Nami whispered.

"Usopp?" Daddy caught it. "Boy… your name is Usopp? By any chance… do you know a man called Yasopp of the Red-Haired Pirates?"

Hey, Yasopp… I think I heard that name before…

"Yasopp?" Usopp parroted. "This is the name of my dad. Wait a second, you know him?"

"So you're Yasopp's son…" Daddy quickly switched to a longing voice. "I never said a single word to anyone of what happened back in that day… The day I met the best sharpshooter in the world. Everything started in a hot coastal city like this one."

He then proceeded to tell us a story about the time when he was a Marine Lieutenant. Right off the bat, there's this. A _former Marine Lieutenant_ turning into a wandering sniper? Wow…

A certain day, he found Shanks's pirates and challenged their gunner, Yasopp, to a duel. Under the sunset, both of them walked 10 steps, hitting each other, but Yasopp won. Daddy was ready to die because of his fair-and-square loss… but he was spared. Yasopp found out, through a necklace with the picture of Daddy's daughter, that he was a kind man, with a family waiting for him. He, Yasopp, would just do pointless harm by making a wife lose her husband and a cute little daughter live without her brave father.

Yasopp chose the sea instead of his son when Usopp was still a baby, but he didn't that out of spite or any bad intentions. It was because the call from the pirate flag was just stronger than him… yeah, it still doesn't excuse him out of a severe scolding for choosing something other than raising his son, but… would Usopp have a reason to be proud of his father if he wasn't the man Usopp knew and loved?

"A member of Marine's elite becoming a bounty hunter… So this was the reason behind it…" Nami said.

"Daddy… you lost to a pirate and had to have your life spared? Tell me you're lying, daddy!" Carol pleaded.

"Wow, Usopp, your father's fantastic!" Nami put a hand in Usopp's shoulder. "Defeating Daddy Masterson isn't for anyone! Besides, he didn't forget about you after all."

"Of course not! And, who knows, we can still meet him in our adventures!" I said, standing next to him.

Usopp extended his arm, interrupting… he was trying to hold his tears.

"I understand how you feel…" Nami said.

"No! I'm not crying because of that!" Usopp burst out again, talking to Daddy. "Do you find it normal? Telling a complete stranger the story of how you were on the brink of death? Especially a wimp like me… You clearly told this to encourage me!"

A sudden meeting…

"A story anyone would hide! You told it to me… to a wimp like me… you told me how my dad lives his life! I can't live being a coward anymore!"

"Carol!" He turned to the little girl. "Strong people you can find everywhere… but someone as powerful and as kind as your father, you can't find easily!"

Usopp clenched his fist. "I… I can't lose like this! If I don't show my courage, I will embarrass your daddy!"

He then turned to Daddy.

"Daddy! Please, give me another chance! So I can risk life and limb the proper way! This time I'll face it, no matter what!"

Daddy mulled over it for a couple of seconds, closed his eyes and declared:

"Understood. This time, it will be a real duel. Choose the weapon you're best with…"

Usopp, then pulled out his slingshot.

"Well. With it… Let's see…"

Daddy looked around. "See if you can hit that weathercock over there."

"Weathercock… that one?" Usopp spotted a tiny silver windmill on the top of a tall house, roughly 200 feet away.

Daddy then pointed a gun at Usopp's head. "If you miss…"

"I know, I know. You'll blow my head open. That's fine! This is a duel where a man risks his life!" Usopp readied one of his silver pellets.

"Usopp!" Nami whispered.

"Just let him be. He chose to do this." I said.

"But…" I subtly poked her with my crossed fingers. She glanced at them and got the message. I said that, desperately hoping in the inside for him to come out of this alive.

Honestly, we men are such idiots…

Usopp used all his focus to aim at the weathercock very far away. The tension accumulated by the second. As the bell of the church rang, he fired his shot, followed by a short pause as the bell stopped jingling.

Did… did he miss?

"Did he…"

"…miss?"

"Daddy! Don't shoot him, please!" Carol pleaded still.

"Wh… why would I? He hit the target!"

He did?!

"It's true! He hit the crown's jewel!" Nami resorted to a pair of binoculars hidden in Usopp's backpack to spot that indeed Usopp hit the target, despite it being nearly impossibly small.

"Let me see!" I swiped the binoculars from her, wanting to see it for myself. "Wow, he did hit it! There's a hole where the jewel used to be! Stunning! Usopp-kun, I'm stunned!"

"A fantastic skill, indeed… it was to be expected, coming from Yasopp's son." Daddy regained his composure, greeting Usopp with an earnest smile. "If you don't let the courage within you die, one day, you'll be a great shooter just like your father. Head to the Grand Line! Yasopp surely is there!"

Carol then approached Usopp, handing him the goggles he wanted so much.

"Not bad, uncle!"

"Carol, but…"

"It's ok! See ya!"

With Daddy cuddling his precious little daughter, they walked away under the high sun.

"Despite being humiliated… he keeps fighting for the people he loves…" Nami trailed off.

"Oh man… Do we really need to keep risking our life over everything?" I tended to a growing headache.

"What a pointless question, Dan." Usopp regained his toothy smile. "This is the nature of manly men! Someday, I will be a great marksman. Just like Daddy, I will be a courageous man… a true warrior… and I will grow strong enough to have a duel, face-to-face with my dad!"

You'd better do it, because the Grand Line is unforgiving. To all of us really. I wonder if we'll ever meet Yasopp…

"Someday!"

That's a nice start.

* * *

**Daddy Masterson. A man with powerful aiming skills and a heart of gold. This duel will remain in Usopp's mind for a long, long time. And talking about duels, in the next chapter, we will follow our cook around in his battle against an old rival... and admirer!**

**Don't miss it!**


	27. Sanji's got a rival too? Hey, not fair!

**27** - Burning culinary battle? Sanji vs The beautiful chef

* * *

"Your aiming skills are superb, Usopp-kun!" I said, giving a second long look at the hole in place of the crown's jewel in the windmill through the public telescope.

"Heheh! Thanks!" Usopp only smirked, proudly carrying his bloated backpack. "With this duel, I'm a step closer of becoming a brave warrior of the seas!"

"That's right! Now… can we get somewhere else?" Nami interrupted. "Let's see if we can meet the others."

"Ok. Let's go. Usopp-kun?"

"Yeah."

I put the telescope aside, grabbing my bag back and slinging it over my shoulder. Or trying.

The three of us then walked away from the open graveyard and heading back to the city.

"Heheh! Today's being a very interesting day, do you agree, guys? Zoro bought new swords… I bought plenty more books to read and I have some cool clothing too… and we saw Usopp winning a duel to the death! Isn't that fantastic?" I said, very happy with the busy day.

"Surely! The day's being quite fun! But I have to say, thank goodness Usopp didn't end up with a bullet in his head…" Nami replied, just as cheerful as me. I couldn't help but notice she was carrying lots more bags than when I last saw her.

"Oi, Nami… I'm just curious but… where on earth did you get so many bags in such a short time?" I asked.

"Ah… these? I decided to go and buy a couple of little things here and there with the money I had left. The bags are because they're from different stores."

"Honestly…"

She went to three, four, _five_ different stores in what, two hours? Talk about shopping spree…

"But I'm really surprised on how you carried this bag in my place for the whole afternoon! Thanks a lot, Dan-kun!" Oh, goodie. She's appreciative of my hard work!

"No big deal…" I replied, in a lame attempt at sounding aloof. "I only did what a good gentleman does. But if you really are looking for tough-working people, talk with Usopp here! He can jog for miles with a bag twice as large as mine strapped to his back, with absolutely no problem!"

"O-o-of course!" Albeit late, he caught me praising him. "Besides, I have super-strength, an attribute of a super shooter!"

"Yeah, yeah… We get it."

His bragging aside, I'm genuinely surprised. Oh well, there was the time when he brought his world to the Going Merry and now he does it again. Apparently there's more to that skinny frame than he lets on.

"It's finally the time of the competition everyone was waiting for! The East-wide Culinary Festival!"

We heard a voice on a loudspeaker blaring nearby, followed by very loud cheering noises. Naturally, this piqued our curiosity.

"What's all this noise?" Usopp wondered.

"It sounds like a competition… or an exposition… don't know which." Nami said.

"Judging by the cheer of the crowd it sure sounds like a contest. Well, whether it's one or the other… let's go check it out? Who knows, we can get out of there with a nice meal and a full belly!" I said.

Usopp jumped at the idea and agreed immediately. Nami still mulled it over for a few moments but ultimately agreed too. Then, the three of us strolled to the stage set in one large crossing.

"So many people here! This must be a really good contest!" Nami said, a bit overwhelmed by the numbers of people present.

I put my bag in the ground and looked around. I couldn't help but go along with the ecstasy with the excited screams of the crowd at every speech from the announcer.

"The best chefs from the entire East Blue have gathered here and will fight for the first prize!" He announced.

The crowd went wild. I clapped enthusiastically and followed suit.

"What a surprise, huh, Dan!" Usopp said, elbowing my shoulder lightly. "And I thought a writer like you liked quiet places…"

"Yeah, I do, but that's for writing!" I replied, screaming more than I probably intended. "Tell me, how I wasn't supposed to get excited here! I'm a big fan of contests… I like seeing people giving their best to win the first place!"

While we talked, the announcer continued riling up the crowd. There was still quite a while until the competition's scheduled start time and the chefs were getting ready.

"The top prize of this year's contest is a blue-finned elephant tuna! The Jewel of the Seas! The Miraculous Ingredient! The talented man or woman that will come out on top will take this marvellous fish home and will be acclaimed as the best chef in the whole East Blue! But this begs the question… who will win?!"

"Guys, guys! Let's go to the front! Let's go! I wanna see the athle… I mean, the participants!" Maybe I shouldn't be this bubbly over a cooking contest, but for some reason I just was. There's something special about this, I'm sure.

"Guess there's no other choice… Let's go!" Nami sighed and decided to tag along.

"Now you got me interested in this too… let's go!" Usopp was more interested and happily followed too.

We made our way through the crowd up until the front, so we could have a better view of the contest place. The chefs participating sure looked competent! Some dressed traditionally… others looked sharp enough to have prepared themselves specifically for this moment… even in their clothing. There was a couple of them dressed a little too extravagantly.

Nevertheless, this competition's going to be promising!

I glanced over at the board to see the entrant list. Two… four… eight… sixteen… twenty-four! Twenty-four participants. Three places in the podium. One prize. Who will win! I'm so pumped up!

"Hey, hold a second… Look over there!"…huh?

"What is it?" Usopp called and Nami turned her head to him.

"That one over there is Sanji, right?"

Usopp then pointed to a distinctly blonde-haired blip in the preparation tents. Donning blue shirt and black pants, it's unmistakable.

"Ah… You're right! It's Sanji-san! But… who are those with him?" I asked.

It was hard to listen to their conversations, but we just looked at Sanji being knocked away from a red-haired woman with a long crimson dress by two… uh, bodyguards? I didn't know… they're too weird… and dressed too whimsically for my standards.

"I dunno…" Nami replied.

"Hey, let's get closer and call him!" Usopp suggested.

Again moving through the crowd, we got as near the preparation tents as we could stand, still behind the barriers separating the audience from the contestants.

"Oi! Oi! I-chi-ji! Ni~ji! San~ji!"

"Sanji-kun!" We screamed.

"Huh?" He looked up from his rehearsal table at us and immediately smiled when he saw his dear dame.

"Nami-sa~~~n! You came to cheer me on?" Sanji when he saw us… well, I mean… when he saw Nami amongst us.

"Not really…" She replied normally. "I was just passing by and decided to stop here and see what was going on."

"But why are you in this competition?" Usopp asked.

"You don't want to go to the Grand Line before being considered the best cook in the East Blue, huh?" I said, playfully.

"Oh, Usopp, Dan, you're here too?" Only then he notices us? Talk about slow…

"WE CALLED YOU FIRST!" We shouted angrily.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen! The time to start the competition has finally arrived!" The announcer bellowed. "The judges of the contest are already here… three renowned chefs of East Blue fame! But… today we will have a special fourth guest to our jury, a normal man we selected to be the audience surrogate: Sam-san! Please step forward!"

With this, the announcer called the first batch of contestants to their respective tables.

"Oi, Sanji, come on, do you really care about this stuff of being the best in the East Blue?" Usopp asked, with a hint of concern.

"Idiot… you got it all wrong." Sanji said, folding his sleeves. "What I really want is the first prize. That huge-ass fish there."

"That blue one? It's really a very unusual fish…" Nami noted.

"Hmmm… that blue… blue… blue-something elephant… or whatever it's called that's over there? Ooooo… it's so huge! It might last for a full month of fish in the lunch and dinner!" I said, staring at the opposite side of the field, where the prize stood, adorned with decorations suited to the winner of the contest.

"Oh yeah. I bet that getting my hands in any secret that fish may have won't be easy." Sanji said, with unwavering determination. "Now it's time for me to go to my place. Cheer me on." He said in normal tone. "Especially you, Nami-swaaan!" Only to swiftly switch to his lovey mode when he talked to her.

"Ok, Sanji-kun! Have fun out there!" She replied cutely, waving at him. That was probably the right kind of energy he needed to prepare to the contest.

He then left, still smiling at her and putting himself together with the other contestants.

"Oh, yes, Sanji-kun! Good luck!" Usopp mock-cheered him, probably imitating Nami's voice.

For that, he received another one of Nami's trademark fists to the head.

"O-hey, Usopp-kun… you better stop the mocking… or are you after that famous collection of bumps in the head, only achievable through Nami's unique style of punch?"

"Ow…" He just grunted, focusing on tending to his ailment.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, the rules!" The announcer explained, flamboyantly drawing out a piece of paper from his pocket. "In this first stage, the participants will compete against each other in groups of three. The judges will then taste the dishes and choose the most outstanding chef from each group! The winner will advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament. From then on, it's straight-on one-on-one showdowns!"

Sounds exciting!

"The contestant that can pass all the stages and win the finals will be elected the best cook in all the East Blue!"

The crowd cheered once more.

"Consistency is the key to win all rounds! Now, enough talking already because I'm hungry! And so are you too, right?!"

Again, the crowd never fails to keep up with the announcer's enthusiasm. Quite the surprise!

"So~~~… let's go to the first match! In the first group: he came to this competition hailing from the Far East: The Chef Fire Shadow Shuutai!" He stepped forward, waving to the cheering crowd.

"He~~~ will battle Loguetown's representative, Ekkuri!" Said man also stepped forward and waved.

"A~~~nd to complete the group, this person traveled all the way from the South Blue specifically to be here in this tournament! Now that he got some rest from his trip, let's give him a roaring welcome! Olive~~r the Great!" The crowd responded accordingly.

"Chefs, assume your positions!"

The three quickly grabbed their tools and shouted "Ready!"

"Alright! Set! GO!"

Thus the first batch of competitors started working in their meals.

Their speed was astounding. Truly worthy of a collection of great chefs! The ten minutes allotted to each group were a bit much, because the sheer velocity with which the chefs handled and prepared the materials readied the meals with plenty of time to spare!

"Ready!" The three shouted almost next to each other, with 5 seconds of interval, tops.

"Wow, those dishes sure look tasty!" The announcer commented. "However, it's up to the judges to give out the scores!"

A closely matched first group. Ekkuri was the winner and advanced directly to the quarter-finals.

Like this, the next seven groups each performed their cooking battles, all inside the pretty lenient ten-minute time limit. Needless to say, Sanji easily won his group, scoring 117 points, the second-highest marks out of the entire field, as shown by the qualification tally posted beside the one with the knockout slots.

The chef with the top marks, with almost-perfect 118 points, was a woman named Carmen.

Time flew by, as the field of eight was quickly reduced to the two finalists! And, guess what! Our cook is one of them!

Despite almost running out of time in the quarter-finals and winning the semi-final by a meager 1 point over his opponent, our Sanji managed to climb all the way to the final duel!

However, the other contestant that caught my eye was that redhead lady with whom Sanji flirted. Throughout all three rounds, she cooked in a very flamboyant style, twisting and twirling the pans around in the contest table. Her excentricities would be rewarded with easy wins both in the quarter and semi-finals, thus earning her a place in the final.

I went through so many fits of nervousness awaiting the results of the judges… even in matches that had nothing to do with Sanji's participation. There were some very surprising turn-arounds and comebacks… it might be because I love sports!

Wait, cooking's not really a sport… well, not in the classic sense anyway, but it's a competition anyway!

"A~~lright, ladies, gentlemen and all those in-between, we're moments away from the final match!"

The crowd went wild with the moment we all waited for! The final match!

"Yahoooo!" Going along with the excitement, I jumped in my place. "The final duel! Go, Sanji-san!"

"Wow… everyone's still pumped up after all this? Stunning!" Usopp looked around, surprised.

"Indeed!" Nami agreed.

"How are they not supposed to be? This is the final match! The moment where everything comes to a decision! Aaahh… how I love sports!" I said, still excitedly.

"No~~w let's meet the two finalists facing each other in this decisive round!" The announcer screamed at the mic. "One is a man of honed senses and very outstanding skills that made his way in this tournament, overcoming all of his obstacles without wavering! San~~ji!"

The crowd screamed once again, pumping up the atmosphere even more.

"The other: his opponent and the top scorer of the first round! A woman of flamboyance and style. Simply fascinating dance and technique… She marched through all rounds, defeating her opponents in this competition with near perfect marks from the judges! Ca~~rrrrmen!"

Again, to heat things up, the crowd screamed.

"A~~lright, chefs: this final round will put your speed and precision to the ultimate test! To earn a score from the judges, you must absolutely have the meal ready and presentable in… _five minutes_!"

The entire crowd gasped and the agitation quieted. Disbelieving cries of 'five minutes?!' coursed through the people, among whispers of 'they can't possibly make it' and 'are they crazy?!' and the sort. And yet, the two finalists didn't seem too affected by the tightened time limit.

"Sanji… go for it!" I whispered. Usopp and Nami only stared intently at the 'battleground'.

"Ok, ladies and gentlemen, before this final, we ask you to please turn down the volume for a few moments and give our contestants a bit of silence so they can concentrate."

With the continued 'shhh's of the announcer, the crowd eventually quieted.

"Alright, chefs, whenever you're ready."

Both chefs positioned themselves in front of their respective tables and shouted in unison

"Ready!"

"Alright! Set! GO!"

Start the clock!

Immediately the two cooks started mixing and matching their available ingredients. Carmen, extravagantly as always, but with double the speed she showed in the previous rounds!

"And there they go! At first glance, her cooking methods really stand out even when she's doing elementary procedures! And those two in the front are trying to catch attention and distract the opponent! How competitor Sanji will fare against their meddling?"

Then we turned attentions to Sanji. He tuned them out completely. Entirely focused on his dish, his movements perfectly synched.

"Wow, he's fearless! Doesn't waver for a single instant and is combining smartness with skill! Working relentlessly on his silent pace, he keeps going on! This is competitor Sanji!"

And then suddenly… the crowd somehow quieted a little. Everyone surely was apprehensive about what was going to happen now.

The working methods of the two finalists were so contrasting that nobody even dared to make any guesses.

Sanji and his calm, collected and focused work, despite the speed required…

Carmen with her gracious and exhuberant style, more fitting for a fast-paced final.

"Sanji will win this one, I'm sure…" I whispered again.

"How you're so sure about that?" Usopp asked.

"I'm not…" I replied. "I just have this funny feeling inside… this will be the turn-around for the victory."

"Three minutes left!"

"Is your empty stomach saying that?" Nami asked.

"No… that's because I trust my comrade!" Only to be betrayed by my rumbling belly. I tried to wave it off, smiling sheepishly. "Ah… ahahah… when was the last time I ate again… Ok, I give up, I'm hungry!"

That was to wave off the tension. The clock doesn't stop and both contestants sped up their paces even more.

"Now, thirty seconds left and Carmen is almost done! Laying out the food is the only thing left! The climax is approaching real fast! Only one will take the blue-finned elephant tuna home! But whose hands will do it?"

The tension suddenly built up, because time was running out and Sanji was just done laying the prepared ingredients in the plates while Carmen already laid down hers.

"Countdown! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! TIME UP!"

Time over. Fortunately, both finalists readied their dishes on time!

Cue crowd going wild again!

"Here competitor Sanji is done! Over there, competitor Carmen is also done! Now, the time has come! Who will come out as the winner?!"

Now the crowd went silent again, awaiting the judges' evaluation. They tasted both dishes and wrote down in their scorecards to reach the final decision. Both competitors also tasted each others dishes, as a symbol of fair play to each other.

"So~~, ladies and gentlemen, the results are in! The judges have given their verdict. Thus, the winner of this year's Cooking Festival is…"

"Hold it!" We turned to see Carmen wiping off her mouth with a handkerchief. She then stood up and walked to Sanji, frowning deeply.

"Unforgivable… I… I will never forgive you!"

Huh?

"I always wished to duel you… And that's why I gave everything of myself… I worked desperately to hone my skills… I wanted to share the same title as you…"

Why's she saying all of this all of a sudden? What's going on with her?

"Since that day… ten years ago… your dream never changed! I couldn't defeat… I couldn't surpass that, no matter how hard I tried! I can't forgive myself for being so arrogant!"

She then smiled and said, steering away from her normal loud tone.

"No need for scorecards there. I lost… I just feel it. Your food… was delicious. The best cook in the whole of this East Blue… is you."

Sanji stood up, serious as all get out.

"Ah… For Carmen-san to say such gentle things as these… I must be in Heaven right now!"

Only to melt right there in loving praise. She's pretty good-looking after all, with fiery red hair to boot!

"DON'T YOU DARE!" One of Carmen's outrageously-dressed assistants smacked a frying pan in Sanji's face…

"WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING, YOU SHRIMP!" Or tried to. Only to be kicked right far away…

"I'll accept my defeat this time…" Carmen continued. "But next time we meet, you better be prepared! I will not lose to you!"

"Fine. If it's a challenge coming from Carmen-san, I will gladly accept it at anytime." Quickly dropping his lovey-dovey act, Sanji acknowledged her as a worthy opponent.

"So~~~, ladies and gentlemen, contestant Carmen has conceded the match! And the judges apparently agree with the result!"

The three of us smiled before hearing the final announcement:

"And look at this! With 119 points against Carmen's 118… our winner is: CONTESTANT SANJI!"

The crowd went crazy and we followed right along!

Sanji won!

And we'll have a huge tuna out of this! To eat for a month!

…

…

"Ah… that was really fun! For some reason… definitely, our day was all duels!" Nami said. Amongst all her bags, I discovered my books were indeed safe in her hands. Just as she did, watching the pile of clothes intact, slung over my back.

As the crowd dispersed and the workers began dismantling the competition stage, we finally calmed down and reveled in the happiness of victory.

"That's for sure! That contest was thrilling from start to end! But… there weren't any duels for me…" I said, with a tinge of jealousy.

"Fool!" Nami elbowed me lightly. "That's because you were busier with other things… And why the hell would you wish for a duel? I, for one, thank all that is holy that someone didn't jump out of the bushes to challenge me at something."

"Look who's talking…" I sneered jokingly. "Who told you to buy all this stuff and ask me to carry it? Delicate woman, huh?"

Meanwhile, Usopp had bigger problems to deal with. Literally.

"Hey, why I must carry the heavier end, eh? Dan can carry this one effortlessly! He's stronger than me!" He was left with carrying the head of the tuna while Sanji grabbed the tail. "Ugh… so much fish oil… Dan! Help me!"

This coming from someone who carried an enormously bloated backpack for the entire day.

"Aw, shut up, Usopp-kun! I have my share of weight to carry already! It's plenty for today!"

"Hah, look who's talking!" Usopp continued. "It isn't you who has to carry three-hundred pounds of fish in your back and a bag full of gadgets to add to the record!"

"Well, who told you to buy this much! Aw, quit complaining and let's get back to the ship, ok? Come on!"

"Aww…" Usopp whined.

"Guys…" Nami interrupted us. I ended bumping into her because she was stopped and I wasn't looking forward.

"What's up, Nami? Don't stop like this!" I pouted.

"What's the problem, Nami?" Usopp asked.

"The air changed…" Nami said, just above a whisper.

"The air?"

"It'll rain very soon." She replied.

I looked up, only to find a bright blue sky.

"Rain? Even with the sky being this clear?" I asked, confused.

"I'm feeling it. I'm sure! We have to hurry!"

All of a sudden, she sped her pace. When it's about the weather, she's not someone who tosses jokes around. When it's serious, _it is serious_. And judging by her words, it sure will look serious in a while if we don't do something!

* * *

**Now that Sanji won his duel, became the best cook of the East Blue (and earned one month worth of lunch and dinner), it's time to pack things up and get running 'cause a storm is brewing! However, an old rival is determined to lock the Straw Hats in Loguetown!**

**Don't miss the next chapter!**


	28. Luffy's head is up for grabs! Literally!

**28** - Buggy's revenge! The man who laughs at the execution platform!

* * *

Nami predicted rain coming in a few minutes, despite the clearest sky I've seen in a while. Then she asked us to hurry, walking in a bit faster pace herself… Better not doubt her. When it's about the weather, she's not someone to toss jokes like it was nothing. When it's serious, _it is serious_.

We hurried to get the others and leave as fast as possible. We tried to run, but the fish and all those bags we were carrying were a great hindrance…

Moments later, I too felt a faint smell of rain in the air, although I didn't pay much attention to that…

"Guys, do you feel this smell?" I asked.

"What smell?" Usopp asked back.

"It smells like rain… maybe Nami is right! I can't say it's going to be a storm, but it might definitely rain in a few minutes!" I said.

"Did you have any doubts?!" Sanji joined in. "When Nami-san's sure about something, don't question her!"

Moments later, I flinched for an instant when we started hearing thunder repeatedly roaring on the background. Then, as we rushed to get back to the shore, clouds started appearing out of nowhere. My nervousness only increased with every thunderclap as Nami's weather prediction is turning out to be completely accurate.

Upon the sound of the thunder, Nami pulled an atmospheric pressure reader out of her pocket. After a quick inspection of the readings, she couldn't help but go white and frown.

"Oh crap…" She groused. "The pressure is falling… but I never saw it fall so quickly…"

"Now that you've mentioned that…" Sanji replied, ruffling his hair and frowning. "This is really a strange breeze…"

I looked at the skies, only to see the clouds gathering and circling around themselves. At each passing moment, the clouds slowly darkened.

"A storm… A storm is coming to this island!" Nami firmly announced.

"A storm?" Usopp asked, not entirely sure yet.

"Yeah." Nami confirmed. "And if we don't get back to our ship this instant, we might get very screwed…"

"Is the storm that big?"

"It is huge, indeed… our only option is to get the heck out of here as soon as possible… maybe this storm might put our lives at stake!"

Usopp swallowed hard and immediately stopped the questionnaire. If he didn't have enough assurance of the trouble we're in if we stay here. I only say I felt a chill going down my spine…

Wait, Zoro and Luffy aren't here yet! We can't go without them! But where are they?

"Oi, Nami!" I called. "What about Zoro and Luffy? Isn't it better for one of us to separate and search them?"

"No!" She sternly replied. "There's all possibilities of them being far from each other. If someone's going to get them, he might end up getting lost as well and things will get worse for us. And I feel that something really, really bad is going to happen soon…"

"But…"

"Dan!" Sanji called, behind me. "Don't doubt Nami-san's word! That moss head and Luffy are going to escape somehow. What we must do is wait for them."

Luffy… Zoro… I hope you're alright.

"Oi!" Hm?

How lucky was it that Zoro appeared immediately after we talked about him. Speak of the devil… The concern was written in his face when he sprinted to meet us.

"Hey guys, did you run into him already?" Zoro talked whilst scratching his head and looking away.

Meanwhile, the dark clouds approached the city even faster!

"Are you talking about Luffy?" Usopp asked.

"What happened with him? Were you together?" I asked.

"Yeah, but we ended separating." He looked around. "And I have this bad feeling… I feel that something… Something really big is going to happen very, very soon…"

It wasn't only Nami who felt it then. What is this big thing that is going to happen then? I'm certain that even if I asked, nobody would come up with a conclusive answer.

Still, I feel the trip wouldn't be complete without those moments where the statu quo is abruptly broken by some sort of bad feeling… where I fear for my own life. A bit more of action to fill the day! And I finally might have my duel… I hope.

As the dark clouds encircled the city… we heard scattered shouts left and right nearby.

"PIRATES! PIRATES! RUN AWAY! PIRATES!"

We turned around and spotted a crowd running from somewhere… towards us.

"IT'S BUGGY, THE CLOWN!" Cries abounded through the crowd.

"Did I hear what I think I heard?" Nami asked, not entirely sure.

"Buggy, the Clown?" Zoro asked.

"Do you mean that Buggy you told me about?" My turn to ask him.

"Yeah. But what the hell is he doing around here?"

I swallowed hard, immediately directing my thoughts to Luffy's safety.

"An execution! They're going to hold an execution!" Another cry echoed through the street.

Execution? Buggy… Does that mean this Buggy guy was caught and he's gonna be executed?

"Buggy, the Clown is going to execute Straw Hat Luffy!" Oh, that's more specific… WHAT?

It's the other way around!

"Execute Luffy?!" Usopp asked.

"Luffy! Oh, shit!" I growled.

"That asshole…" Nami hissed.

"We have to save him! Let's go!" Zoro immediately ran away.

"Guard this fish for me!" Sanji left his fish in Usopp's hands and followed on his trail.

"Nami… I'm sorry, I have to go with them!" I dropped the bag and rushed to catch up with them. "Take care of our clothes!"

"Hey, Dan-kun!" Nami shouted. "How am I supposed to carry all of this?!"

"I'm really sorry, Nami-san! Please, do something about it! Just hurry and get the stuff onboard the ship!" I said as I ran away from her.

"O-o-o-oh-he-hey! S-S-S-Sa-Sanji! Wait!" Usopp still tried to stop us.

"Treat this fish like a lady, got it?" I heard Sanji shouting to Usopp as I caught up with them.

"Zoro-san! Sanji-san! Hold it!"

"Dan? What you're doing here?" Zoro asked.

"I came to lend my strength too. Three heads think better than two! Things are bound to heat up from now on, so… I'm here to get my part of the action!" I said while cracking my knuckles.

"Remember, saving Luffy's butt is our main priority here." Sanji recalled.

"Wait… isn't that Buggy guy going to cut Luffy's_ head_?"

"Quit joking! You get it, don't you?"

"Ok, I do! Just kidding, alright? Geez…"

Good is that we're rushing to save our captain, but one question immediately popped in my mind.

"Umm… guys, where do we go? Do you know where the execution platform is?"

We skidded to a halt and after a brief pause…

"No?"

"What?! Craptacular… we're only going to run in circles! I've been at the square earlier but I can't remember for the life of me how to get there from here!" I said, hitting my forehead.

"Then we just have to find it with our instincts!" Zoro declared.

"We'll be lost forever if we trust your instincts, though, moss ball!" Sanji teased.

"Say what?!" What immediately angered the green-haired swordsman. "Do you have any better ideas, shitty cook?!"

"Huh?! Wanna fight?!" Two inches from his face, Sanji threatened.

"Come on guys, of all times to start a fight, why now?! Remember? Captain is in danger, damned huge storm coming close, we have no time to waste here!" I turned around and muttered: "So stupid…"

"SAY WHAT?!" Both of them shouted.

"I said nothing! Cut it out!" I snapped.

"So, what we're supposed to do?" Sanji asked, irritated.

"Surely there will be gunshots and fighting or shouting noises. If that happens, we just have to head towards the center of the commotion, ok? If we spot people running, we just run in the opposite direction! That might lead us to the square!"

"I'm not sure I understand… that's sure a weird idea." Zoro mused.

"Well, do you have anything better?" I stared at him confidently. "Trust me, that's better than simply relying in our instincts!"

"Alright, alright…" Zoro gave up. "Let's just find our captain and get running."

Fortunately, it didn't take long for us to hear screaming and firearms shooting.

"Over there!" I tried to trace the direction of those sounds, speeding up our pace… Is it a battle taking place? Are we late? Is it too late?! Luffy!

"I'M THE MAN WHO'S GONNA BE KING OF PIRATES!" No, it isn't! Luffy's still alive!

"That's Luffy! He's alive!" I called. "Guys! Did you hear that?! That's close nearby! Let's hurry!"

"Right!" Both of them replied.

"Don't fall back, curly brows!" Zoro teased.

"What'd you say, moss head?!" Sanji replied.

"Alright, guys! We're here!" I pointed.

At last, there's the execution platform square. Thing is, it was very crowded! There weren't only pirates, but thousands of frightened civilians as well.

"Look! Up there!"

We immediately spotted the distinctive straw hat of our captain atop the several stories high wooden platform. Completely defenseless, imprisoned, ready to be beheaded. Standing next to him was a pirate dressed in colorful clothes… he can only be the infamous Buggy.

"So… it's the perfect time to end this once and for all! Hehehehehehe…" I heard Buggy's declaration from atop the platform. He gripped a sword, standing ready to chop Luffy's head off!

Time for our intervention! We were standing, with Sanji to my left, and as Zoro quickly took his bandanna off his arm and tied it in his head, I pulled my pencil out.

"Enpitsu Bou." I whispered and my pencil immediately took the form of a staff.

Zoro called the general attention. "THIS EXECUTION…"

"IS CANCELLED!" We shouted in unison.

Immediately, everyone's eyes turned to us three.

"Zoro! Sanji! Dan!" Including Luffy's. He happily exclaimed, from atop the platform.

Zoro struck a battle stance, ready to unsheath his swords: "You really know how to start a ruckus… Don't you think this joke has to have its limits, Luffy?" He warned, grinning.

"If it's time of a little show, guess it's a good idea that I show up as well… So this is only a matter of zipping past these shitty pirates, right?" Sanji prepared as well.

"It seems so, Sanji-san…" I struck my battle stance. "It's time to mop the ground with their asses!"

"That… that's P-Pirate Hunter… Z-Zoro!" Somebody from the crowd shouted.

"Haha… having a pirate that is known around here sure helps!" I hollered.

"ZORO! DAN! SANJI!" Luffy shouted, still strangely cheerful with our presence. Does he not realize he's about to be beheaded?

_"…I remember that he, even on the verge of dying, always kept a smile… and his last words can't leave my head…"_

Hold on… is he…

He can't possibly be fully aware that he's about to die – that is, if we don't do something about it. Only Roger himself faced his own demise with a smile!

_"My treasures? If you want them, I'll give them to you. Search'em! I left there everything I had!"_

Roger's last words… ringing in my mind.

Flashes of the day that gentleman told us the story of 22 years ago…

The execution of the Pirate King…

"King of Pirates…" I could hear myself muttering…

"Dan? What's up?" Sanji asked me, snapping me back to reality.

"Huh? What?" Looking left and right, I recomposed myself. "No, nothing! Nothing…"

"Let's go already!" Zoro bellowed, facing the platform and running out of patience.

"O… ok!"

Zoro: "We're running out of time!"

Sanji: "The platform!"

Me: "Let's destroy it!"

As the crowd gave way to us…

"Go, my dears, get them!"

After the order of a female voice, a bunch of pirates lunged at us… Ah, that's great… we have a Luffy to save and here come the mooks to get in our way?!

"Aaaaaahhh! Get out of my face!" I screamed, leaping forward to the center of the rather large group, raising my staff high. I landed in an empty space inside the group and hit the bandits closest to me, circling around myself and hitting them at the same time.

"You bastard!" One screamed before taking a chance and trying to slash me with his sword.

"I don't have time to be fooling around with you! Move!" I said as I ducked out of the way of his slash and hit him right away with my staff.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! No matter how much you try, you're not going to stop me! Your captain fell in my clutches… and now he will be a goner!"

Buggy? Yeah, it's him!

I looked up for an instant, only to snarl… he was still holding his sword, savoring the moment. Thank goodness he's still gloating about how he'll take our captain's head…

Which is better when he finds out he will not!

"Damned scum!" I heard Sanji's shout as he tried to get past the mass of pirates.

It is really a mass of pirates! They're countless and another group is running towards me! Get out of the way! I don't have the time to deal with small fry!

"You can't even hold your own for five seconds against us, but you still have the guts to fight? I will reward your resilience. Enpitsu Yari!"

Way to go, Dan… keep fighting them and Luffy's going to come out of this without a head!

"From anywhere, bring it on! I'm ready!" I said as I ran to attack them.

As I slashed them with my lance, flinging them left and right, I could hear Buggy's evil laughter… that made me even more angry! I do not have time for this! Luffy needs us!

"Zoro! Sanji! Usopp! Nami! Dan!"

Luffy?

"Sorry, guys… I'm sort of…"

No…

"…gonna die here!"

…

…

As Luffy's shout echoed what probably will be his final words, literally everyone in the square but the guys at the platform stopped and looked up. The commotion ground to a frightening halt.

"Enough of your bullshit!" Sanji yelled, staring slack-jawed at the scene before him.

As the sword came down Luffy's neck, everything seemed to slow down for some unfathomable reason. The blurry image of Gold Roger's smile at the time of his execution passed through my head…

Flashes of the image of that cheerful and playful Luffy with whom I live zipped in my head… all this together with the terror that I was about to witness.

As I saw that the captain…

The man that made me break my shell…

The man who opened my horizons… was about to die!

"LUFFYYYY!"

I could do nothing but scream…

I tried to run to the platform but my legs wouldn't respond…

…

…

Completely out of the blue, a bright blue lightning hit the execution platform.

The ground rumbled…

The sky circled in a twirling cauldron of wrath.

The sound of thunder continued making itself be heard.

Suddenly… the platform was consumed by a blue supernatural flame. The metal bars slowly weakened until the entire platform collapsed in a burning heap. The tension was such that I lost my footing. I fell on my knees… my voice was stuck in my throat… everything got increasingly confusing.

Moments later, the rumble of the thunder ceased as small raindrops started falling. Stronger and stronger, slowly dousing the fire of the collapsed platform.

As soon as the supernatural spectacle was over, the reality started knocking on my head. I regained my focus, only to spot Buggy fainted on the ground, completely covered with burn marks. Looks like _he_ was the unfortunate receiver of a divine bolt to the head…

"Hahahaha! Wow, that was close! O-hey, guys! I'm alive! And fine!"

I lost any kind of sanity I still had upon spotting a familiar figure walking out of the rubble that was once a platform. Holding his straw hat, laughing like a total idiot, practically – and miraculously – unscathed after all that confusion. It finally hit me…

Luffy! He survived!

The entire square was hit by a wave of stunned silence. Everyone, and I mean everyone present had the very same reaction: slack-jawed shock. Yet, the man himself only kept laughing as if nothing had happened at all.

"Oi… do you believe in God?" Sanji, still shaken by what he just saw.

"Fool, this is not the most appropriate time to ask such stuff…" Zoro, who sheathed his swords back, was more composed. Maybe his hardened resolve prevented him from having a greater shock…

"Ah… what a relief! I really thought this was it! Hahahaha!" Luffy simply approached us, dusting himself off…

That does it.

"YOU JERK!" I rushed, without thinking, and hit him hard on the head. Apparently the punch was so strong, he flew three feet away.

"Dan? What's going on?" Sanji asked, baffled.

"Ow…" Luffy tended to his cheek, standing back up. "Hey! What's up? Are you nuts?!"

"THAT'S TOTALLY MY FUCKING LINE!" I replied, seething with rage born of worry. "CARE TO TELL ME WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT?!"

"Sorry! There was nothing I could do up there! You didn't need to hit me like that!" He replied.

I panted, as if that punch and my yelling completely exhausted all my energy. I took a few deep breaths and I calmed down…

"Sorry… that… that just worried me sick, man! Don't you _ever_ scare us like that again, ok? EVER!"

"Ok, ok, I got it." He replied, pouting. "But you didn't need to take it out on me!"

"Yes, I did. That was very necessary. You're at fault here!"

"Hey, can you two cut the chit-chat?"

"Huh?" I turned and stared to Zoro.

"We need to get away from this city. The danger's not over yet."

"NOW! TAKE THE OPENING AND SURROUND THE PIRATES!" It's not over, indeed…

Shortly after we heard these words, hundreds of marines arrived in the square, from all entrances available, and surrounded us.

"Ah… we barely escape from a trap and there's another right around the corner? I can't believe this. Looks like I have to get my hands dirty again." I said, gripping my lance and again transforming it back into a staff.

Deflecting the unconscious pirates being thrown our way, I tried to think a way to go through the mess and escape the square.

"That's not needed." Zoro said.

"Oooo! Cool! Cool! What a huge fight! Cool, very cool!" Luffy said, excited as all get out.

"Your motivations are too obvious, captain…" I sweatdropped.

This guy wants to get himself in that ruckus…

"Hey, Luffy!" Zoro grabbed his shoulder.

"Zoro!" Luffy stared back at him.

"Don't act like we have the time to watch this! We have to run away!"

"Aww…"

"Captain…" I joined in. "There are unnecessary battles we can avoid. This is one of them."

"If we don't hurry and get back to safety, we won't be able to leave this island on time! This way, we're not going to enter the Grand Line!" Sanji called.

"What? That's a big problem! We gotta go!"

Luffy finally understood the graveness of our situation and ordered us to leave immediately. Following his lead, we tried to make our path out of the square.

"The Straw Hat crew is running away! Stop them! Go after them!" Oh lord, not now!

The marine commander screamed as soon as he spotted us. Moments later we had an entire squad forming a barrier in front of us, right in the exit of the square…

"Aw, come on!" I grumbled.

Fortunately, it was quite easy to break their barrier.

A combination of a couple of rubber punches, swift and elegant kicks, nifty sword slashes and flashy staff whacks was enough to fling the soldiers away and open a way out.

"Goodbye Marine idiots!" I screamed, waving back.

"Come on, guys! We have to hurry!" Zoro called.

"Alright!"

Let's leave this island… and head to the Grand Line!

* * *

**Luffy... even when faced with certain death, he won't let his smiley face fade away... The gods have given him their blessing, saving him from a terrible fate. Now, the Straw Hat crew has a golden chance to escape from Loguetown and start their journey through the Grand Line. But there's a little Captain Smoker in their way! **

**Don't miss the next chapter!**


	29. Leave Loguetown, it's time to go!

**29** - The legend finally starts! Destination: Grand Line!

* * *

"We have to leave this island as fast as possible!" Zoro said as we were running.

"Let's hurry! I want to enter the Grand Line!" Luffy said, running cheerfully.

Still…

I couldn't stop thinking… just how on earth was he able to smile, despite knowing death was knocking on his door? Did he already know he was bound to be saved? Did he accept he was going to die? More importantly… this smile was exactly like Gold Roger's smile when he was executed!

Is it… is it a sign? Is the next conqueror of the seas right beside me all along? Am I seeing the next Pirate King right before my eyes?!

No, that's a pointless question! It's far away from being answered yet! I decided I would help Luffy become the King of Pirates… why am I doubting him?!

_"Gold Roger was always a fearless pirate… He fought on par with this world's strongest men, my son!"_

"_Really, daddy?! Amazing!"_

_"Exactly! He was the best among the best! I didn't have the luck to meet him personally… I only heard stories about his execution…"_

In an instant… a small fragment of the memories of my father's stories had just flashed through my mind and left a whole spectrum of questions in it.

"What the hell is with this storm?!"…huh?

"If we don't hurry, we'll end up losing our chance to get away from here! Nami-san wasn't kidding when she said that we should get back to our ship as quickly as possible!" Sanji's shout snapped me back to reality.

That's it. It's getting pretty serious. I _definitely _have to stop randomly spacing out like this. Now is NOT the time to keep thinking about that! We have a mission… leave this town and get to the Grand Line!

"Hey, Sanji-san… you mean you too didn't believe Nami-san when she warned us?" I said, teasing him.

"That's not it! It's just…" He tripped in his words.

"You doubted her…" I said, smiling menacingly. He didn't reply.

"Run, run, run!" Luffy bellowed.

"Guys, something's off. The marines surrounded us pretty quickly back at the square. If they're stationed here…" I reasoned.

"…and they saw everything that happened at the platform…" Zoro continued.

"Then our ship is in danger too!" Sanji concluded. "They'll definitely send out the infantry to sink the Merry and stop us from leaving!"

Fudgemuffins! At that moment I prayed for Sanji's assessment to be horribly inaccurate.

"Nami… Usopp-kun! We must hurry!" I screamed.

"Wait for me, Nami-san! Anyone who dares to lay a finger on you will pay with his life!" Sanji bellowed to the heavens.

"Anyone knows where are the docks?" Zoro asked.

Oh no, not again! Are we going to run in circles again?!

"They must be straight ahead! Nami-san must be readying the ship right now." Sanji mused.

"She'd better be doing so…" I hoped. "It seems the marines aren't going to leave us alone!" I only threw this out there at random, but once I turned my head back, I groaned at myself. "Aw hell no!"

"There they are!" Shouted a single voice among the dozens of marines chasing us.

"These guys sure are persistent!" Zoro glanced behind.

"Isn't it better for one of us to stay behind and try to halt them?" I suggested.

"No!" Sanji retorted forcefully. "We're out of time to keep distracting-huh? WHO'S THAT BEAUTIFUL LADY AHEAD OF US?!" He shouted with hearts in his eyes.

"Hold on… it's Tashigi-san! What is she doing here?!"

"Tashigi? That's her name?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah, she's a lady Zoro and I met at the arms store." I replied. "For some reason, Zoro doesn't want to talk to her properly…"

"Hey!" Zoro called.

Strangely, Tashigi wasn't in the mood to greet us. Instead, she held her sword tight in her hands and looked pretty angry.

"So you're a pirate… Roronoa Zoro! You… you tricked me, didn't you?"

We skidded to a halt about three feet from her.

"WHAT?! WHAT IN THE EARTH DID YOU DO TO THIS LADY?!" Sanji immediately shouted at a confused Zoro.

"Sanji-san, calm down! He didn't do anything wrong!" I tried to cool his head.

"You…!" Sanji growled, still intent on breaking Zoro in pieces…

"Sanji-san! Calm down! I mean it!"

Zoro walked a couple steps ahead and talked to her. "You never asked my name in the first place. There's no way I'd trick you!"

"See? Besides, this would happen sooner or later anyway." I said. Sanji still sported a deep frown, but calmed down. A little.

"A piece of scum like you wielding such a magnificent sword… I will never forgive you! Your famous sword, the Wadou Ichimonji… I will confiscate it!" She shouted, striking a battle stance.

Her sudden change of attitude annoyed me enough to make me lash out at her. It was my turn to step forward.

"Piece of scum?! Listen, lady! I won't tolerate anyone who calls a comrade of mine a piece of scuml! Whether it's a girl or not!" I screamed.

Who is she to jump out and call Zoro names all of a sudden? It's like he seriously hurt her or something! Which he most certainly didn't!

"If you hurt this lady in any way I'll…!"

"Sanji-san!" I shouted, glancing back at him. "Be quiet, please! Can you tolerate seeing someone insult your comrade without reason? Because I am certainly not going to!"

"Dan…" Zoro, still in control of his nerves, put a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down. You too stay out of this. This is an issue between me and her."

"But…"

"No buts. Just go with Sanji and Luffy and get to the ship. I will meet up with you guys as soon as I'm finished here."

I paused to think about the issue for a few seconds, ultimately conceding.

"Ok. Just don't hurt her much…"

"I won't promise anything." Zoro said. Then he turned to her. "You really want to take my sword, don't you?"

Slowly, he unsheathed his precious Wadou Ichimonji and launched the challenge.

"Bring it."

It didn't take too long until Tashigi unsheathed her sword and attacked Zoro. He defended with his sword. They kept static for moments, testing their strengths for a good while until separating. Soon, they were exchanging blows, stopped only by each other's swords…

"How you dare to fight a lady like this?!" Sanji, still angry.

"Don't interfere, please! This is an issue between Roronoa and me! Leave us alone!" Tashigi shouted.

"You heard the girl, right? Go ahead! I'll go later!" Zoro grunted, blocking another attack.

"Ok! Be careful, Zoro-san!" I nodded. "Sanji-san, Captain… let's go!"

"Ah… alright." Sanji said.

"Let's go!" Luffy agreed.

We sped past the duel, but not without Sanji still trying to make his stance known.

"Oi, Zoro! If you hurt her you're dead me-"

"Come on, Sanji! He knows what he's doing!" I interrupted him, practically dragging him out so Zoro and Tashigi could settle their issue.

Another stretch of desperate running later…

"The end of the street! The docks must be right ahead!" Sanji called.

"Hold on, guys… who's that man?"

Right ahead of us, in the middle of a crossing, I spotted a man with white and gray hair standing in front of a large quadricycle. He only wore a white, furry jacket with nothing underneath, showing his six-pack. Strapped to his back was a type of baton. The most striking thing was that he was smoking two cigars at the same time…

Honestly… when it comes to smoking, there're people even worse than Sanji!

"Finally… you're here. Straw Hat Luffy." The man said.

_"That's right. I'm a really close friend of this city's Marine base Captain… the smoky uncle."_

Smoky uncle… well, to smoke two cigars at once, he must be very smoky. Wait, smoky? Could he be…

"Captain Smoker?!" I said, surprised.

"Exactly." He heard me, replying accordingly.

"Smoker?" Sanji asked. "You know him?"

"Yes… or rather, not really. I was told about him by an old lady from a clothing store back when Nami and I went shopping. She said he's a monster that has Devil Fruit powers. No pirate ever escaped his clutches since he started working at Loguetown!"

"Eeeeeeh?!" Luffy, shocked.

"Boy… I'm surprised you know this much about me." Then he talked to Luffy. "Straw Hat… remember what I told you. If you can't defeat me, you'll never be able to enter the Grand Line."

Did they meet before?

"Ah! Now that you've mentioned it… I forgot about that!" Luffy said rather bluntly…

"You like to play the fool with me…" Smoker said.

"Oi, Luffy…" Sanji groaned.

"Now, what are we gonna do?" I asked.

"Sanji. Dan. Go ahead. I will take care of him. Don't worry, I'll meet up with you in a moment." Another one left behind…

"If I were you, I wouldn't be so sure of that. You don't know who you're dealing with." Smoker walked to us. "This will be the place where your story ends."

Is it me or there are too many people trying to defeat Luffy and end our trip once and for all?

"Go!" Luffy ordered.

"Be careful… we're waiting you at the Going Merry, Captain!" I said.

With this, Sanji and I were the only ones left to run back to the ship. Fortunately, it didn't take too long for us to arrive at the shore. We spotted the ship sailing away and tens of Marine shooters in hot pursuit.

"NAMI-SAN! WE'RE BACK!" Sanji shouted.

"Nami! Usopp-kun!" I shouted.

"Sanji-kun! Dan-kun!" Nami screamed back.

"Luffy and Zoro? Where are they?" Usopp asked.

"Let them take care of themselves!" Sanji replied.

"They're kinda busy now! Somehow, they will get here!" I explained.

"Sanji-kun! Dan-kun!"

"BEHIND YOU!"

We turned our heads, spotting the dozens of Marines chasing us…

"Again?!"

"Dan, go ahead! I'll try to stall them!" Sanji said, stopping and turning back to kick the marines one by one.

"Right!" I said, going ahead.

"Sanji-kun!"

Problem was: the ship was moving further away from the shore… this way, we'll end up being left behind!

I stopped running. Now I was left with two options. One: jump in the water and try to swim back to the ship. Not very likely, because the sea waves are too strong. The other: turn back and help Sanji get rid of the intruding marines… Did I mention that the ship is moving away from the shore? I have too little time to come up with a plan to get us back in!

I was completely lost right there. I scratched my head…

"What should I do?! WHAT SHOULD I DO?!"

"I'll cover Sanji! Dan, get onboard!" Usopp shouted back from the ship.

"It's impossible! The waves are too strong!"

"Do you have any better ideas?!"

It's too dangerous to risk trying to swim back to the ship. It's tough, but I have to risk it!

"Stay in the ship! I will help Sanji-san get rid of the marines! Don't worry, guys, we'll be there in a moment!"

"We're counting on you!" Nami quickly shouted. There was no time to mull it over.

"Enpitsu Bou!" I screamed.

My pencil quickly transformed into a staff.

"There's no end for this!" I heard Sanji, as I arrived at the scene.

I decided to jump to the marines and just hit them as hard as I could.

"Piss off! You're on our way!"

Some of them attacked me with their swords, I simply blocked them with my staff. Others tried to sneak behind me and catch me off guard. One of them almost cut me, I was lucky to have the slash only tear my jacket…

"Ah goddamnit! My jacket!" I kicked backwards as I tried to rid myself of those attacking by the front.

"You tore my jacket! It's my favorite!" That did upset me.

"You should thank him for not tearing your skin!" Good point there, Sanji…

I was about to unleash my angry retribution when…

"What's happening?!"

A green-tinted whirlwind came out of nowhere. Very powerful gusts of wind coursing through the harbor. Powerful enough to lift us from the ground and fling us far, far away. I crashed against the wall of a house at the shore… and then I felt something very heavy falling on me.

When I noticed it, I was trapped under a brick wall.

I tried to lift it up… punch it… but it was too heavy for me to do anything about it. Only my head was free.

"Anyone! Help me! I'm trapped under a concrete block! Is anyone there? Somebody help me!" I shouted.

"Dan? Is it you?" Sanji? Are you there?

"San… Sanji-san? Please, help me! I'm stuck down here!" I shouted.

Not long after that, I heard the sound of stones cracking. Sanji must have kicked the block from above and broke it in pieces! The force was such that it hurt even me…

After Sanji broke the wall, I cleaned the dust and the little stones off me and stood back up.

"Thanks, Sanji-san…" I said. "I seriously thought that brick wall was going to turn me into a bloody pancake!"

"Phew, it's a miracle it didn't! How come you're fine?"

"Don't ask me… I couldn't lift that thing!"

"You need to get stronger! If you want to survive in the Grand Line, being strong enough to break stone is the basic of the basic!"

As absurd as that sounds, he's got a point. I've trained enough to attain a level of strength above that of a normal human, but if I want to overcome the Grand Line, I have to enter the realm of the super-human!

What kind of crazy people and crazy powers might be hiding there?

"You have a point… but…" I said, looking at the sky. "What was that whirlwind? It was all so fast…"

"If I knew anything about it I would tell you…"

We saw another block lifting up… or rather being lifted.

"Zoro-san!" I saw Zoro recovering from the shock. He just grunted and took a few deep breaths.

"Ah… ow, ow… what the hell just happened?" I turned and saw Luffy lying over a pile of rubble…

"Luffy! LUFFY!" This voice… Nami!

"LUFFY! GUYS! GET HERE QUICK!" Usopp!

"Nami! Usopp-kun! Ah… what are we going to do?!" I shouted, verging on the desperation… How are we going to reach them?! They're already far away from the shore!

"We have to get to them, somehow! Or else, the ship will be swept away by the waves!" Sanji said.

"Aaand we'll be left behind!" I completed.

I spotted Luffy running around, then grabbing a sturdy handrail. "Gomu Gomu no~~~~…" Without any kind of warning, he started to stretch backwards, like the elastic band of a slingshot.

Sanji, Zoro and I looked at him in utter confusion… what is he going to… hold on, a slingshot?!

"Say he's not going to…!" Sanji…

"I think he is…" Zoro…

"Luffy! What yo-", me…

"ROCKET!" We tried to run but Luffy self-propelled himself and hit us dead on. The impact transferred his energy, propelling us far away from Loguetown's shore… to land right in our ship! Luckily, though, we landed hitting the back sail… and the crash was, I mean… wasn't nearly as painful as it could've been.

"Guys! You made it!" I heard Nami say.

I could only give her a thumbs up, resting on the top of a pile of bodies crashed down in the lower deck. I tried to stand back up, not without a bit of a struggle… but I did it. The other three were quickly back up in their feet too.

I went to the railing to see Loguetown's shore moving further and further away and I couldn't stop thinking about what happened. What was with all that mysterious whirlwind? Who caused it?

"I guess these questions will never be answered…" I thought to myself.

Two events which can be attributed to divine intervention _in the same afternoon_… First, the bolt that came out of nowhere at the exact time to save Luffy's head… and then, the holy wind that protected us from the Marine onslaught…

"Dan…"

Huh?

I turned to see Sanji next to me.

"What's with you? Fazing out like this…" He asked.

Another question still rang in my mind.

"Why…"

"Huh?"

"Why do you think Luffy would face death with a grin?"

Sanji silently processed the question for a few moments.

"I don't know. Maybe he simply accepted the fate that, miraculously, didn't fall on his head. He's ready to make his dream come true… or die trying. I can only explain that like this."

I couldn't find the proper words to reply. He faced his own demise just like Gold Roger did it…

"Guys! Come see this!" Huh?

"Dan, let's go." Sanji said. "Nami-swaaan! What's up?"

"Look at that light! It's the island's lighthouse!" We heard her call as we got back to the front deck.

"The island's lighthouse?" Usopp asked, still tugged to the main mast.

"It's our guiding light. The light that points to the entrance of the Grand Line!" Nami watched from the railing, near the sheep figurehead, pointing to the lighthouse a few hundred feet away.

"This light… beyond it is the Grand Line?" Luffy asked, sitting on the handrail.

"It is. What are your plans, Captain?" Nami asked with a grin.

"But… Luffy, are you really willing to go now? In the middle of this storm?" Usopp questioned.

Words weren't needed to answer this question. Readiness and determination are written in our faces. Each one of us has a dream. And it's beyond that lighthouse!

"Right, guys… now, to mark this milestone in our trip, how about a little ceremonial?" Sanji immediately brought a barrel to the front deck.

"Good idea! Guys, are you in?" I happily agreed.

"Alright! That's cool!" Luffy too.

"Let's do it!" Then Nami.

With everyone's acceptance, Sanji then put his foot on a barrel and asked the poignant question:

"Why are we going to the Grand Line?"

Then, he replied…

"Well… I'm sailing to find the All Blue!"

"I'm gonna be the King of Pirates!"

"I will be the best swordsman in the world!"

"I will draw a world map!"

"I, uh… I-I-I will b-become the bravest warrior of the seas!"

"And I… I will live the Ultimate Adventure!"

With a final shout, Luffy then led the honors.

"LET'S HEAD… TO THE GRAND LINE!"

We lifted our legs…

"O~~~U!"

…and shattered the barrel.

Finally… the true adventure's about to start! We're heading to the legendary ocean!

THE GRAND LINE!

* * *

**Success! The great escape from Loguetown will mark the start of the journey through Grand Line for our heroes! But there's still a long way to go... and in the meantime, Dan will discover a few things about himself. Through it all, a mysterious character will appear, being the crew's "guest" for the time being. Who is she? **

**Check out in the next chapter!**


	30. Sorry, that's really embarrassing!

**30** - A small misunderstanding and adrift guests

* * *

"LET'S HEAD… TO THE GRAND LINE!"

A strong shout to the skies before our true journey begins. With six swift kicks, we destroyed the barrel and commemorated this important milestone in our trip.

Out of Loguetown towards the great ocean! Towards our dreams!

…

…

…

The city of the beginning and the end was far gone from our horizon. The Going Merry has been sailing for two days since.

Two ve~ry boring days.

Being surrounded by nothing but blue sea sure doesn't leave much to do. Well, the best thing about it was that the storm we caught on our way out of Loguetown at last calmed down and we got to enjoy some hours of peaceful sunlight.

As for me, back from the hustle and bustle to the routine around the ship.

Helping with the chores… Checking on Nami's tangerine trees every once in a while… Sketching how I would record our time in the city… and that's pretty much it.

Ah! There was a Sea King who tried to eat us but we knocked it out pretty easily.

Speaking of which… I sure shouldn't be talking about the scariest animals there is in the sea so casually, should I? It's not like anyone can knock one out and ninety percent of those who try end up dying horribly…

Oh well.

Anyway, after the commotion was over, I jogged downstairs to the room, took off my jacket and took a good long look at the tear. There was a huge hole across its lower back, not cutting it in two parts by a handful of threads.

"Ah… my jacket… my poor white jacket…" Mumbling to myself with said jacket in hand, I drowsily walked back upstairs and retreated to sulk in a corner of the room.

"Um, guys, Dan's more depressed than normal…" Sanji talked as he washed the dishes.

"He is? Why? Something happened?" Usopp arrived in the room.

"You're all mopey just because they tore your jacket?" Nami walked towards me. "What if they actually slashed your back?"

"Well, thank you for reminding me of that!" I told her while turning my head. "Alright, I know, I'm lucky not to have a huge scar across my back, but still… I've had this jacket for a few years. It's my only one. Can't I like it? It's like a second treasure for me."

I mean, I'm not the kind of guy that's so shallow to the point of caring more about clothes than people, but this one in particular is special.

It was the last birthday gift my friends gave me before we eventually went our separate ways. Despite us knowing that we would have to grow up and live on our own, while possibly chasing our own dreams in our own ways, the gifts we exchanged would serve as a reminder that our friendship still goes strong.

I don't know, this world is huge, but somehow it can be surprisingly small. I might find them in my journey! It would be awesome if that ever happened…

Anyway, back to the real world, Dan…

"Second treasure?" Luffy immediately perked up at the mention of the word 'treasure'.

"Yeah." I said, standing back up. "It's a memento my friends left me when we separated. That's why it's so precious to me."

Luffy spared a quick, but stern glance at Nami. Without exchanging a single word, Luffy tried to make some sort of point with his stare.

"Alright…" Nami ultimately gave in. "Come on, give it to me. I'll sew it back."

"Really?!" I asked, a bit more excited than the occasion would merit.

"I mean it. I was the one who fixed Luffy's hat when that clown Buggy trashed it. That's peanuts for me." She replied.

Wow, that's surprising. She sure doesn't have the profile of someone that's proficient with needles or strings…

Anyway.

"Thank you! Thank you very much, Nami-chan!" Almost instinctively, I made a big leap to hug her… when it hit me that two soft mounds of flesh were touching my chest…

"Oh no…"

That was enough to make me feel something coming out of my nose. Next thing I knew my nostrils sent a quick spurt of blood to the floor.

In which I was now lying, fainted.

…

…

…

"Hey… he~~y! Are you there! Wake up, Sleeping Beauty! Earth calling Dan, over! Wake up!"

As I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a pair of eyes wide open staring me with a broad, creepy smile, an inch or two away from my face. I immediately yelped and crawled back, only then noticing I was lying in the room's bed.

Luffy, meanwhile, just laughed at me.

"You scared me! Luffy! Don't surprise me like this!" I said as I took a couple of deep breaths.

"He's awake!" Grinning, he said.

Everyone looked at me, probably weirded out by my behavior. Well, everyone except Sanji, who kept washing dishes at the sink, with a very visible dark violet aura enveloping him…

And Zoro, who lazily sat in a corner, half-sleeping, half-staring at the scene. (If that's even possible.)

"Alright, what was that all about, huh?" Somewhat exasperated, Nami asked. "You hug me out of the blue and then you pass out? What's up with you?"

"Ah? That? Yeah… it's… um… eh? What did I do?" Tripping in my own words, I couldn't help but feel a blush coming.

Meanwhile, Usopp noticeably struggled to cover a chuckle.

"Usopp-kun?"

"Don't tell me… Is this what I'm thinking it is?" He said.

"What is what? What are you thinking?" I asked.

"I think our little friend has a slight crush on Nami!"

"Buh?! N-n-n-no! Th-this is… this is just… uh… just a misunderstanding! Do you really think just because I hugged her it means I'm attracted to her? Don't get me wrong, she is pretty and this is true, but the only things she likes are tangerines, treasures and money! She told us that, didn't she? I-I-I'd never… I'd never…"

I was probably better off shutting up at that point.

"Seriously… I'm never going to understand this guy…" Nami walked off, confused as all get out.

"Hahahahaha! You're lucky, you! C'mon, don't get so worked up. Besides…" He then whispered in my ear. "A small advice: Don't get too intimate with her… you'll end up with a black eye."

"Something the matter?" Nami, behind him.

How sharp are her ears?!

"Nothing, nothing at all!" Usopp hurriedly waved it off.

"Enough, guys… I want to take a little air."

I stood up and walked towards the door.

"You lucky bastard… hugging Nami…"

I could've sworn I heard Sanji mumbling something in the sink. The dark aura was still there, but I was too distraught to care about it.

I just wanted to get things clear with myself. I am very bashful when it comes to women and being intimate.

I just want friendships with women. That's all. I never really wished to go further because I'm _terribly_ shy. I never truly fell in love or wanted to have a girlfriend but… whenever a girl does something nice to me, whatever it may be, I just feel like hugging them, then I fall on the ground with a bleeding nose.

And a series of questions to face once I'm awake.

"Do you still want me to sew your jacket?" I heard Nami's voice as I turned my head. She stood at the lower end of the stairs.

"Ah… yes, please." I replied. "Sorry about that… I was imprudent."

"Oh, don't mind that. I have to say, though, you're cute when you're sleeping." She said, chuckling lightly.

"Na~mi~~!" I pouted, shrinking in place and feeling the blush coming back…

I let out a long sigh. "I bet you're still wondering why I acted that way."

"Hm? Well, not that I really care, but if you want to tell me, I'll listen."

"I'm terrible when it's about being intimate with women. Not to the point of not even trying to talk to one - which I'm doing now - but I am too afraid to try and go beyond friendship. Love… lust… they're too dangerous feelings. I don't have the attributes to be called a good boyfriend…"

"And what all of that has to do with the nosebleeds?"

"Nothing, really. Whenever a girl does something nice to me, I just leave my thoughts behind and hug. It's stronger than me. Only then it finally hits me and I realize I'm hugging a woman, blood shots out of my nose and I pass out. It's like my defense mechanism against any funny looks…"

"Seriously…" She breathed out. "You're still worrying yourself to death over pointless stuff? Cut it out!"

"What?"

She then kissed her fingers and slapped my forehead.

"Ow! Why'd you do that?" I asked, recoiling and putting a hand on my forehead.

"Because you deserved it. Stop being worried about everything. We're already friends and if that's alright to you, that's alright to me and we can leave it as it is! Friends hug each other when they're happy, don't they?"

"…" I was out of words. For a writer, that spells trouble.

"You're cute. I'm sure you're going to find a nice girlfriend someday. Not me, though, I'm pretty much out of your league!" She said.

"I know…" I smiled. "You only tangerines, treasures and money. And being friends with us. Right?" I said, extending a hand.

"Yeah."

She extended her hand, holding mine for a few moments.

She's right. I don't need to worry about romance. That can wait until the trip is over. I'm still young, I have plenty of time to settle down and find my true love. For now, there's a whole journey to go!

"Hey, Nami!" Speaking of which… "How much do we have to wait to get in the Grand Line?" Luffy said as he left the room. Zoro and the other guys soon followed him.

"We left Loguetown only two days. It'll take a few more days before we get there. Be patient and wait."

"Okie dokie!" He replied, with a warm smile.

"Ah… What a nice day. It's just like there wasn't any storm to begin with…" Sanji stood in the upper floor, leaning on the handrails. Apparently 'purified' from his dark aura.

"You… you're right…" I timidly tried to approach him.

"What's up?" He spared a glance back at me.

"Ah… are you… you looked a bit mad at me before… Or was it just me?"

Sanji tried to light a cigarette. "I wasn't mad. That was envy."

He gave up and put the lighter in his pocket.

I could only sweatdrop at that…

"Hey guys! I'm seeing a large flock of birds over on starboard!" Already on the crow's nest, Usopp called.

"Birds?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah! And floating in the water I'm seeing a small… uh… I don't know, it's too far away… what do you think?"

"Fish?"

"Possibly. I heard that when birds group together, it's because there's a cluster of fish nearby."

"Fish?!" Luffy repeated.

"Give it a shot… you might catch our lunch."

"Alright! Leave it to me!" Jumping at the chance of free fish lunch, Luffy stretched his arms. "Gomu Gomu no~~~ Amidori!" (Gum Gum Fishnet)

"Oooo… that's what I call stretching!" Usopp said.

"And we don't even need fishing rods…" Sanji said. "Hold a second… What are you doing?!" His eyes would soon bug out when he spotted Luffy's arm beginning to come back, bringing something heavy with him.

"Dan, get down!" He called.

We quickly ducked, watching Luffy's arm swing by. Unfortunately, Zoro was in the middle of his nap as he was hit and thrown out to sea.

"NUMBSKULL!" Screaming in vain all the way.

Thank goodness he didn't eat a Devil Fruit…

"Someday… I… will… cut him… in shreds!" I heard him mutter as I helped pull him back onboard the ship.

"Look! This isn't a fish!" Sanji said.

"It's a little girl!" Nami said…

Wait.

As soon as I was done bringing Zoro back onboard, I went to see what was going on.

"What, what? Excuse me. Ah! A little girl!"

Pushing the others aside, I saw a small boat. In it was a little girl. Dressed in a dark yellow dress and wearing a weird hat, both with matching patterns, she was unconscious. Turns out she was the thing catching the attention of that group of birds…

"Hmmm… but this is weird…" I said, after checking her vitals.

"Weird because?" Nami asked.

"She attracted that flock of birds. Only dead bodies attract birds… but she's alive."

"Maybe it's because she's a mermaid… but where are her fins?" Luffy arrived at the scene.

"Give me a break!" Usopp yelled. "Why did you figure out that she's a mermaid?"

"Well, how else would she be in that little boat, drifting away?" Nami asked.

"G-guys… you're missing the point here!" I sweatdropped.

Why would a mermaid go through the trouble of drifting in a boat when she can just jump back in the water?!

Anyway.

We decided to take her to our room and wait until she wakes up.

…

…

…

As Sanji prepared our lunch, we rested sitting around the table. To make time go a little faster, I decided to go back to practicing my drawing skills. A few minutes into it, I stopped to check on the little girl's condition.

I walked to the bed, all the while feeling the smell of Sanji's food beginning to course through the room. Apparently she felt it too, because I heard a few sniffing sounds until her head suddenly swung forward…

"O~~~~UCH!"

And hit mine. Not the best way to wake up but, there, she's up.

"Owowow… what the… eh? Good morning! Are you alright?" I said, still tending to my head.

"Oh good, you're finally awake. And you're livelier than I thought… Anything broken?" Nami said, sitting at the table.

"I bet you're hungry, right? I'm making a soup right away." Sanji said as I saw her quickly swinging her head left and right.

"Lucky!" She muttered under her breath.

"What happened out there? Wreckage? You were in a pretty big pinch… What is your name?"

"Before asking someone's name, give yours first." The girl said.

"Good point." I said, only to earn a stare from her.

Nami simply chuckled. "Alright then. My name is Nami. The one making soup over there in the kitchen is Sanji. The one sitting in the ground, with a waistbelt and a permanent frown is Zoro."

"Be quiet…" He mumbled.

"And the guy victim of your headbutt is Dan."

"Nice to meetcha!" I said.

"Those sitting here with me are Luffy and Usopp."

"Yo!" Usopp greeted.

"Hello! I'm Luffy! I'm captain of this pirate ship."

A little pause later…

"PIRATES?!" She screamed.

"Yeah! We're heading to the Grand Line right now."

Her jaw almost dropped to the floor at the mention of that word. She froze in place for a few seconds.

"Hm? Little girl?" I waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Is anyone there?" I poked her forehead a couple of times… no reaction.

"What's up with her?" Nami asked.

"She's not moving…" Luffy mused.

"What are you gonna do with this girl?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah… good one… what am I supposed to do?" Luffy thought for a few seconds, then gave up. "Oh well, I'll decide tomorrow!"

"Hm, good idea… let's give a little time to decide what to do with her." Nami said.

"Yeah. She woke up just now, it wouldn't be nice to throw her out. Unless she turns out to be a little naughty, spoiled brat!"

I sent a glare at the girl, scaring her out of her trance.

"Hey! Kidding, just kidding. You look like a nice girl, right? Besides, you get to spend the night with us and eat everything you want! I'm sure you'll understand we're not the kind of pirates you're thinking about. Right?" I grinned and patted her head.

"You really need help when it's about caring for kids, Dan…" Usopp sighed.

"Why?"

"Does she look relaxed to you?"

"Umm… she doesn't! But whatever! You come here and try to calm her down, then."

"Chill out, you two…" Nami interrupted. "She's just afraid of us. Let's let her rest for now."

After the lunch, which the girl repeatedly refused to eat, Nami decided to set up a relay in which one of us would always keep an eye on the girl until the next day, when we'd decide what to do about her. When it was my turn, it was late in the night, after our dinner. Which she also refused to eat.

Dressed in the yellow shirt and jeans boardshorts with which I left Loguetown, I went to the upper room to check on her condition. She was huddled in a corner.

I tried to act as discreetly as possible so as to not disturb her… only to fail. Once she saw me coming to the room, she moved her head to follow my every step.

"It's alright! Just relax!" I said. "I'm not gonna bite you!"

I sat at the table, spreading out my drawing materials. "You didn't have lunch, you didn't want our dinner… are you really alright? You don't want anything?"

She simply nodded negatively without even trying to speak.

"Hm. That's not good. Little girls like you should eat properly and grow up to be pretty women in the future!"

"…" No response.

"I know, you're still wondering where you ended up, aren't you? We aren't dangerous, you can be sure of that. I'd rather hurt myself instead of an innocent girl like you!" Despite all my efforts, it seemed as if I was talking to myself.

"Don't worry. You'll like our boat." After a pause, I continued. "Alright, it's getting late. Get some sleep and recover. Tomorrow we have lots of things to talk about."

She followed my advice and lay in the bed, albeit still on high alert and with her eyes open. I decided to let her be and resume my drawings.

* * *

**A little girl sailing adrift got rescued by the crew and now they'll get to know a little about her. Who is her? Where does she come from? What was she doing in the middle of the sea all by herself?**

**Check out the next chapter!**


	31. Instead of food, it's a little girl

**Chapter 31**

**"The scent of a new adventure! The mysterious girl, Apis"

* * *

**

Nothing really noteworthy in the night… I spent the whole time drawing a portrait of the little girl… she was too shy to do anything. I asked her if she wanted to hear a bedtime story but she refused. She said that she was already sleepy and wanted to take a nap. Then I bundled her under a bed sheet and righted her pillow. I gave her good night and went back to my room.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!", suddenly, hours later, I heard people screaming… That immediately woke me up.

"Ow… ow…", another voice… sounded like Luffy's…

"Is it you again? Luffy… how many times do I have to tell you this? Learn and pay attention at least once!"…this one was Sanji's.

I decided to get up, since all that mess up there kept me awake. Then I went up to the upper floor room and I saw the scene. Sanji awake, Luffy caught in a mousetrap of sorts and the girl covered under her sheet, looking scared to death.

"Let me guess… Luffy is hungry?", I said, from the room door.

"Bullseye.", Sanji replied… then he asked the girl: "Are you ok?"

She tried to sketch an answer but she was too scared to do so. Then, Sanji took both of them to the table and gave a chunk of meat to Luffy.

"Yummy!", he said while chewing on it.

"I prepared it… now stop roaming and getting food on your own…", Sanji said.

"But… I was hungry!", Luffy replied.

We heard a stomach rumbling… then the girl blushed.

Sanji: "What's up? Aren't you eating?"…she simply turned her head on the opposite direction, looking away. "You also didn't have lunch, right? What are you so scared of?", she turned her head back, but did so in order to take a look at the food. "I didn't put anything poisonous in the food! Come on."

She still refused, though.

"I think it's normal… she's still afraid of us…", I said. Now talking to the girl: "Little girl… it's better that you eat… and quick, or else, there's people waiting to eat in your place…"…I said, referring to and pointing to Luffy.

"If you don't want, I'll gladly accept it!", Luffy said while stretching his hands to catch the little girl's soup.

She finally succumbed to her hunger, was faster, grabbed the soup dish and took it all in some couple of gulps. "Delicious!", then she exclaimed.

Luffy: "You betcha! I thoroughly chose Sanji for our team!"

Me: "The food he prepares is the best in the world. Just wait until you have another taste of what he's capable of!"

"It's the first time I eat something so delicious!", the girl said.

"Finally you're smiling, eh?"…are? I turned to see Nami, Usopp and Zoro standing at the room door.

Me: "Guys! Did you wake up as well?"

Sanji: "Nami-san!"

Nami: "Luffy… you're still eating?"

Luffy: "I didn't eat enough back in the lunch!"

Usopp: "You ate two full dishes!"

Luffy: "You sure?"

Me, to Usopp: "Rubber stomach, remember?"

Then Nami and Usopp approached the little girl while Zoro kept leaning against the door.

"You got scared as soon as you heard that we are pirates, right?", Nami asked.

"That's…", the girl tried to reply.

Nami: "In this age, having this kind of reaction is common."

Me: "But despair not! Rest assured that we're not gonna hurt you!"

The girl: "You're not gonna sell me either?"

Usopp: "Like we'd do that!"

Zoro, from the door: "Everyone must look so scary, don'tcha think?"

Usopp then went to where Zoro was and pulled his cheek, saying: "Look who's talking… with a face like yours…"

Then both unleashed a full-out brawl, trying to punch each other comically…

Nami: "Can you stop bickering already?"

I stood up from the table and said, cracking my knuckles: "Zoro-san… Usopp-kun… forgive me."

And then I hit them both. They stopped and put their hands in the bumps they had in their heads.

"Why did you do that?", Zoro said.

"Do you really need me to answer?", I replied then I whispered: "We men are so stupid…"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?", Zoro and Usopp.

"Nothing!", I said, smiling.

When the commotion was over, I saw Luffy laughing at that all and the girl, a bit but, more relaxed around us… I grinned as I saw that, after all that, she's starting to understand that we're not a traditional pirate bunch.

Some hours later, with the sun already starting to rise, Nami ordered us to prepare the ship as we would resume our travel. Luffy and I pulled the anchor, Zoro put it up in place, Sanji and Usopp hoisted the sails. In the midst of it all, we heard an explosion coming from the room.

"What… the…?"

I left the anchor room and went to check on what happened. And I saw smoke coming outta the room… and the girl with dirty clothing and kinda disoriented…

"What's happening over there?"

The girl: "Guys! The breakfast is ready!"

Luffy: "Yosh! Food!"

Zoro: "What kind of food?"

We went to the upper room to eat the… the… breakfast… although it doesn't came even close of having the looks of a proper breakfast… it was beyond burnt…

Nami: "Did… did you do this?"

Usopp: "It's kinda aphrodisiac…"

Me: "It looks like a pile of…"…Nami was fast and shut my mouth… kinda violently…

Nami, whispering: "Be quiet!"

Luffy, supposedly, unaffected by all of this: "Itadakimasu! (Thank you for the meal)"

The girl: "Apart from having saved me, you're feeding me… From now on, everything you're needing help with, I'm at your service!"

Nami, stuttering: "That helps us a lot! Thank you…"

Zoro: "Is this even edible?"

Then I heard him screaming in pain… "Stay quiet and eat!"…then Nami took advantage that he was with his mouth open, put what was on her plate for him to eat and forced his jaw shut…

Usopp, sitting next to me: "You're really sure this isn't gonna do anything funny to me?"

I stomped his foot and did the same as Nami, saying: "If you don't taste it, you'll never know! Come on, don't be shy and eat it up!"

Luffy said while chewing on the food: "You sure? This is yummy!"…which made the girl's eyes shine with joy…

Sanji: "That's right! I'm sure the taste is better than it looks…"

Me: "Probably… I hope so…", while taking a bite and tasting the… uh… delicacy… hoping to come back alive…

And when that went inside my mouth… it seemed like I ate coal mixed with rubber and other spicy minerals added for good measure! It's terrible! I had to drink all my water in a single gulp to make it go down my throat… and take off the burning feel that remained in my tongue! Usopp, Zoro and Nami did the same… and Sanji tried to restrain himself, swallowing it down his throat on his own.

"Is it this bad?"…then she took a bit of… it… and tasted: "Aaaaahhhh! How terrible! What's wrong with this! I must have mistaken the spices!"

Sanji: "E-everyone makes mistakes, right… It's only a matter of paying attention on the next time."…and now to all of us… "Hey, she had this much trouble to make us this food… don't leave any remains!"…eeeeeeeehh?… "Shut up! You're going to hurt her feelings… her… her… That's it… we forgot to ask your name!"

"Apis! My name is Apis!", she said.

Sanji: "Apis's feelings come in first place! I won't forgive those that leave any remains on your plates!"…to Nami now: "I will cook something else to you later, Nami-san."

Nami: "Thank you, Sanji-kun."

He's right… she did all of this as a way of returning our favor… we can't leave anything on our plates!

"Sorry… I'm not that good in cooking… but I'm available to do anything!"

Nami: "You don't have to! Just by knowing that you're comfortable, it helps us a lot."

Sanji: "When it's about cooking, just leave it to me."

Me, smiling: "By the way, there's a lot of other tasks in which we need your help!"

Luffy, while chewing: "You sure? This thing's delicious!"

"You…"…everyone sweatdropped at that…

Then, miraculously, we finished eating… it… and Sanji went to wash the dishes. I asked if he needed my help and he accepted. Meanwhile, Nami and the others remained sitting at the table to hear more about the little girl.

"Why you were in a little boat in the middle of the ocean?", Nami asked.

"Because I was running away from a Marine ship…", Apis answered.

Usopp: "A Marine ship?"

Apis: "In the night of that storm… Three days ago."

Me: "In the middle of that storm you escaped in a small boat like that one? You're really lucky for being here, huh?"

Zoro: "But tell us… what did you do? Having to escape like this, you weren't in that ship as a guest, were you? And the Marine doesn't afford the luxury of wasting their time with everything."

"Well… I…", she tried to answer.

"So… you're a criminal?", Luffy blurted out.

Apis, angry: "No way! Do you think a little girl like me would do such things?"

Me: "Luffy, have more respect!"

We were done with the dishes, then.

"I did nothing wrong… but… I can't tell you my reasons…", she said.

Usopp: "But why not?… come on!"

Sanji: "Leave her alone! She has her reasons."

Me: "That's right. If she doesn't want to say, there's no point in asking over and over. With time… she may gain the courage to tell us."…I smiled to her: "Right?"

She faintly smiled back.

Nami: "Guess you have a point… But…"…now talking to the girl: "Can you tell us where you came from?"

Apis: "Eh?… Ah, yes… I came from Warship Island."

Nami: "Warship Island?"

Usopp: "Do you know it?"

"No… I'm gonna check about it."…Nami said while looking for her map.

Luffy: "Why is it called like this?"

"Because its silhouette looks exactly like a warship…", she said.

"Amazing!", Luffy said.

"Ah, it's here!", Nami discovered and pinpointed the location.

It's a small island very near the Grand Line.

"We're around here right now… therefore, it must be near.", Nami said. Now talking to Apis: "What do you plan on doing?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want to go back to Warship Island? We were planning to keep on this route so we could enter the Grand Line, but…", Nami said.

"I, y'know… Although I made you bother about saving me… and caused such trouble around here… I'm sorry… I know it's selfish of mine… but if you can, please leave me in any ship you may find on your route that I can get around it somehow…", Apis said, trying to excuse herself.

Nami: "You're right… you're really a burden… A pirate ship like ours can't afford to approach other ships without being noticed…"

Me: "Oi! Nami!", she turned and winked at me. Now I get it…

The girl, low-spirited: "Guess you're right…"

"Yeah… we have our commitments… we have to go to the Grand Line! But that doesn't mean we can't make a slight detour on our route. Nami said this island isn't that far from where we are now… and we're not hurrying to start our journey on the Grand Line anyway… therefore… I guess there's no other choice… and it's fine for me! Right, Nami-chan!", I said, smiling.

"Eh?"

Nami: "Right. As for me, it's fine. But what about you, Captain?"

Luffy: "I'm fine with it!"

Usopp: "Besides, we won't take too long before we reach the Grand Line!"

Luffy, to Apis: "So… you told us your island is shaped like a warship?"

Sanji: "That's it."

"You mean it? I mean, are you really going to take me to Warship Island?", she jumped outta her chair, asking, anxious for the answer.

"Yeah!", Luffy answered.

"Yay! Thank you very much! Yay! I did it!", she jumped in joy…

I felt very comforted and happy inside… I'm so lucky to have met such well-intentioned and solidary people like them…

"…this world isn't all about evil people after all, Kenny-chan!"…this quote came to my mind… maybe because she resembles my little brother Kenny… how's he doing right now?

"I'm so happy that, as a form of thanks, I will make breakfast from now on!"…huh?

"No, thanks…", everyone said… I sighed in relief. To eat coal once is more than enough!

Luffy: "Why not?"

We then left the room, except for Nami, that decided to stay. Usopp went immediately back to the crow's nest and I was leaning against the railing. Moments later… with Nami already out of the room…

"Oi! There's a fleet of ships behind us!", I heard Usopp screaming from the crow's nest.

"What?"

"Ah… how great! They're Marine ships!", Usopp screamed.

"Marine?", I and Nami screamed back.

Usopp: "And they're not only one or two common ships, get it?"

So we went to the side of the ship and, surely, there were at least five ships on our sights.

Nami: "You're right…"

Me: "But what the hell a fleet this big is doing around here?"

Luffy and Apis came to the railing. He asked: "What, what? What's happening around here?… Did they come here for my head?"

Nami: "Even if they did, why would they send so many ships at once?"

Luffy: "They may already have an idea of how strong I am! I'm really amazing!"

Nami: "Why are you so nonchalant?"

And I saw Apis backing away, scared…

"What's up?", I asked.

Apis: "Those… those are the 8th division ships! They're exactly the ones I escaped from!"

Me, scratching my head: "Are… what a coincidence… or not?"

"What I'm gonna do?", the girl asked herself… we looked at each other…

Me: "Well… guess we don't have much of a choice, right?"

Our conversation was abruptly interrupted by cannons firing.

"Aaaah! They started opening fire!", huh?

The ship rocked as soon as the cannonballs hit the water.

"Hold it tight!", Sanji said while protecting Apis.

"Attention, pirate ship! Stop where you are immediately! These were warning shots. The next ones will be for real!"…this voice came from the fleet's flagship.

"Like we're gonna stop now!", Usopp said, hanging in the railing.

Zoro: "What will we do now, Luffy? If it's to fight, then let's go!"

Luffy: "Ok! Let's fight, then!"

Me, wielding my pencil: "Guess there's no other choice, right?"

Usopp, coming in a hurry: "N-Not so fast! Why is it that we always end up doing this? How are you planning on defeating the entire fleet?"

Zoro, normally: "Let's attack them."

"Attacking them will do us any good?", Usopp shouted.

"I don't know, but do you have any better ideas, Usopp-kun?", I said.

"What do you think about running away?", he said.

"But this plan isn't fun at all!", Luffy said. I only nodded, agreeing.

"You need help…", Usopp said.

"We didn't even mean to ask your help right now! You can stay here and counter their attacks with our cannons!", Zoro said.

Usopp: "So can I stay in the ship? Ok, then leave it to me!"

Me: "You…"

"A wind's coming…", I could hear Apis saying.

I left Usopp, Zoro and Luffy to come close to the little girl.

"A wind, you say?", I asked.

"A very strong gust…", she replied.

Nami: "Zoro! Put the sails pointing south! Usopp, Sanji-kun, Dan-kun! Put the helm on starboard! Hurry!"

"Right!", the three of us said and went to the helm. We steered it to starboard and moments later… we felt the ship gaining speed quickly… I had to get a hold of myself in order to not be dragged by the gravitational pull…

We went outside, to the railing, to see the results of that all. And the Marine ships were being left behind!

Luffy, holding his hat: "What a wind! Cool!"

Usopp: "Look at this! The Marine ships are being left behind! Haha! Try to catch us now!"

Me: "Haha! That's what we get by having such an awesome navigator like Nami in our crew!"

Moments later, the ship sailed on… but… was it my body getting used to it, or the ship was gradually decreasing speed?

"Hahahahaha! The Marine ships aren't capable of holding a chase against us! It's another great victory to Captain Usopp's crew!", Usopp, boasting.

Luffy: "Awesome! That's my navigator!"

Sanji: "Nami-san's really wonderful! Being able to predict winds like this…"

Nami: "It's a matter of instinct!"

Sanji: "Ah, you're so cute being humble like this!"

"Guys!", I shouted.

"Nami's women instincts might have saved us from peril but…"

Nami: "But?"

"Don't you think our surroundings are too strange for normal standards?", I said.

Zoro, from the room's railing: "I've also noted that… It's just like the ship's not moved an inch since a while ago…"

Nami, looking at the sails: "Now that you mentioned it… the sails aren't catching any winds…"…a pause… then, she realized something: "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Luffy: "Nami, what's it!"

Nami, gawking: "Oh crap… WE'VE ENTERED THE CALM BELT!"

* * *

**Oh no! Marines' ships are making a hot pursuit on our crew and they want Apis back! But... the escape was a success! Meanwhile... the wind brought them to the Calm Belt where they are trapped and at lady Luck's mercy! And now? What will happen to the Straw Hat pirates? Will they be able to get back to the normal route heading to Warship Island? Check out in the next chapter!**


	32. Whew! Finally, Warship Island

**Chapter 32**

**"Escape from the Calm Belt and disembark on Warship Island"

* * *

**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!", Nami suddenly screamed…

"What's up, Nami?", Luffy said.

"Oh shit… WE ENTERED THE CALM BELT!", Nami screamed desperately.

Usopp: "Charm Belt?"

Nami: "It's the Calm Belt! It's a region of calm waters!"

Luffy: "And what does that mean?"

Nami: "That absolutely no winds blow around here! We're perfectly standing still and stranded here!"

Luffy: "Is this… a mysterious region, isn't it?"

Nami: "Idiot!"

Me: "Calm down, Nami… I think this is his way to understand things…", I told her. Then I talked to Luffy: "Yes, Luffy. This is a very mysterious region."

Moments later, the ship started rocking violently…

Usopp, me, Luffy, Apis and Sanji were on the lower deck and Nami and Zoro still were standing at the upper room railing.

"What's this? An earthquake?", Luffy asked.

Zoro replied: "Earthquake? In the middle of the ocean?"

Me, taken aback because they were adressing this issue so nonchalantly: "Guys… all this shaking isn't a good signal and it also means we cannot afford to keep standing here and fooling around! Does this ship, by any chance, have paddles?"

Nami: "Yes, it does! And I need you to hurry up, deploy it and start paddling now! We have to get back to where we were!"

"Yes! Nami-san!", Sanji replied cheerfully.

Zoro: "Why in the world are you so nervous? This ship has sails, you don't need to paddle."

Usopp: "Yeah, he's right! And, besides, why should we turn around if we've barely escaped being caught by Marine's ships?"

Me: "Firstly, to answer Zoro, because the ship's sails need wind to operate properly! Since there's absolutely no wind around here, we need the paddles! And now, to you Usopp, although it's true that we're being targeted by the Marines, staying here is a lot worse! We have to go back!"

Nami: "Quit fooling around and listen to me! We're having a really serious problem on our hands right now!"

Luffy: "But the sea's this calm…"

Usopp nodded, agreeing.

"It's exactly because the sea's calm that it's dangerous! Who knows what kind of dangerous and evil creatures may be lurking under all this slack!", I said, panicking.

Nami: "Dan-kun may be right, but I still need to explain it all to you! Just listen and see if you can understand, ok? We tried to escape the Marine's ships in such a hurry, that we ended up getting misplaced and going much farther to the south than intended!"

Luffy: "Does it mean we're already in the Grand Line?"

Usopp jumped in joy… They're so stupid! I was already trying to restrain myself in order to not punch them in the heads… but that does it!

"YOU MORONS!", I hit both of them.

They sat down and put their hands on their heads.

"Why did you do that?", they asked at the same time.

"Because you're both numbskulls!", I snapped… "If it were that easy to enter the Grand Line, why do you think Nami told us that the only entrance to it, is that Reverse Mountain?"

Nami: "You still remember me saying that?"

Me, to Nami: "Yes, I do!"…and now to the two douchebags… "If you want us to get outta this trap, then you better listen to Nami's explanation and see if it can pass through your thick heads! Got it?"

Then Nami left the room and went downstairs to give them the explanation. I sat down in order to listen as well. She then took a map outta her pocket, opened it and pointed to the Grand Line.

"Now listen and see this! Our destination, the Grand Line, is located between two oceanic strips, right? Both regions are called Calm Belts. No one knows why, but these regions have absolutely no wind currents nor sea currents whatsoever. They're permanently calm regions. For ships that depend on the wind to travel, they're extremely dangerous regions! Luffy, did you get it all?"

Luffy: "Yup. Only the part that we're really screwed."

Nami: "Ah… that's alright… you understood more than I expected!"

Sanji: "So this is what the old geezer was talking about when he told it was dangerous…"

Me: "This name, the Calm Belt, is very contradicting…"

Zoro: "Ah… so this is the reason why there were no wind right now…"

Usopp: "Since the ship's not moving, there isn't much that we can do, is it?"

"It's a matter of waiting for the wind to blow again!", Luffy said… he's so stupid!

"THE WIND DOESN'T BLOW HERE! NO MATTER HOW LONG WE WAIT!", Nami and I snapped.

Nami continued: "Besides, there's another reason for these regions to be so dangerous!"

I completed: "These regions are dangerous because…"…I mean… I would complete if we didn't realize the ship was rocking again.

"W-What's happening?"

Apis said: "Something's coming here!"

Suddenly… I felt like I was being crushed by the gravity… Is it me or the ship has just gained altitude?

Then something left the water and it had two huge eyes…

I, trying not to scream in fear, with my heart pounding so much that it'd jump outta my mouth in a whim: "Ah… guys… Do you remember that we said this sea is dangerous?"

Luffy: "Yeah? Why?"

Me: "BECAUSE THAT'S WHY! SEA KINGS!"

Fish of all shapes and colors possible and imaginable surrounded us from all sides… we looked like a grain of sand before their hugeness! Our ship was resting right over the nose of one of them…

"Ooooo! How huge, they're huge!"…Luffy said, cheerfully…

I went to the ship's railing to look down… and I don't know why the hell I did that! I was with vertigo, chills, everything you can imagine… I was about to pass out because of all of that…

Nami was grabbing the mast and said while crying: "The Calm Belt is home to Sea Kings of all sorts! And they're huge… The reason no one ever crossed the Belt is because of all these monsters!"

Me: "As if the fact that these seas don't have wind currents wasn't enough…here still are Sea Kings in order not to let anyone pass through… Oh no… we're done for!"

Sanji: "What can we possibly do in a situation like this?", said, still trying to believe his eyes…

Zoro: "Guys… don't make any sudden movements… The moment we get back in water… we're going to paddle like crazy and get the hell outta here!"

"WE'RE DEAD ME-", Usopp screamed… but Nami was fast and covered his mouth… I felt a chill going down my spine and dread possess me all of a sudden when I saw that one of the Sea Kings, a frog look-alike, moved his eyes and was staring straight at us…

"Shut up! Do you wanna catch the fish's eye?", Nami whispered.

Me: "Nami… I think it's too late…"

And it didn't take too long until one of the creatures, the frog look-alike, jumped to catch us!

"THE FROG'S COMING HERE!", Luffy screamed, terrified.

Everyone got a hold of themselves… but Apis ended being thrown outta the ship! And as the frog came near us, it opened its mouth in order to eat us! You may already have an idea of what's gonna happen now… I thought we were screwed for good… but, not so fast, Bucko!

"LOOK OUT!", Luffy said while stretching his arm to save her.

She closed her eyes and left everything to luck… Luffy then stretched his arm upwards… veeeeeeeeery upwards…

"His arm's stretching! Luffy! Did you eat a Devil's Fruit?", I heard Apis screaming from up there.

"Yeah… I did.", Luffy replied calmly while sending her high up.

"Luffy! Send me down once again!", Apis shouted.

"Oi, Luffy! What are you gonna do?", Usopp screamed.

Luffy replied: "I dunno…"

Luffy then sent his outstretched arm downwards… apparently, to the creature's nose where our ship's resting…

"APIS!", Nami…

"LOOK OUT!", Usopp…

"APIS-CHAN!", me…

A pulling sound was heard… and she immediately got back…

"What the hell did she do down there!", Zoro asked… worriedly…

Luffy, calmly: "She pulled a hair from this creature's nose."

Me: "That definitely can't be good!"

We felt the ship swaying… oh, shit!

Nami: "Hold a second…"

Usopp: "If you do that…"

Sanji: "THIS THING'S GONNA SNEEZE!"

Double shit!

She came back and crash-landed on the ship… in Zoro's lap… and only gave us a thumbs up while the giant nosehair flew past us…

"What a huge nosehair!", Luffy said… "Yosh! We're going outta here!"

"Oh…", I tried to shout but…

The creature sneezed and sent us far away!

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!", I shouted anyway…

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!", we all shouted shortly after.

The ship bounced a bit in the water just like a little pebble bounces when you throw it. Then we were flying… we lost physical contact with the ship… for seconds we were floating in midair!

Luffy, having fun: "Wohoo! It's just like we're flying! How fun!"

Usopp, panicking: "WE'RE REALLY FLYYIIIIIIIING!"…True, the ship was really flying!

Moments later the ship finally rested on water… we hit the ground back first… ow… but we left that freaking Calm Belt! Slowly, we stood back up, recovering from the shock.

Nami, standing up: "It looks like we're already back to normal currents!"

Zoro: "And no signal of Marine ships whatsoever."

Me, taking deep breaths, panting: "Phew… Honestly… I really thought we were done for back there! Nice, Apis-chan!", I gave her a thumbs up.

She replied doing the same.

Luffy: "Not bad, girl! Yosh! Full speed ahead!"

Nami: "Our next stop?"

Luffy: "Of course it is… Warship Island!"

Minutes later, we started approaching a really dense fog zone… the fog's just as dense as the one we went through back in Baratie… you can't see an inch beyond your nose! I really hate fog… the person sees an endless white… and nothing else… it's just like we're white blind…

Usopp: "I can't see a thiiiiiiiiiing…"

Luffy: "You can see the fog ahead of you!"

Me, deciding to lie on the ground in order to relieve all the tension: "But beyond it we can see nothing! Ah… but after what we went through to escape that bloody Calm Belt… I don't give a damn for this fog!"

Sanji: "Hey, Apis! Are you really sure the island's in this direction?"

Apis, calmly: "I don't!"

Usopp: "Just how you don't?"

Me: "Usopp-kun… she has the right not to know! She's not an animal that automatically knows his way home… this world is damn huge!"…now to Apis… "Apis-chan… do you know how to navigate?"

Apis, smiling: "Nope!"

Me, to Usopp: "See? So, leave it to Nami and her navigational skills because she knows what she's dealing with."

"It must be somewhere around here…", Nami said.

"There!", Apis pointed to the horizon…

Some moments later and surely, something with a silhouette exactly like a warship came into our view!

"That's huuuuuuuuge!", Luffy said.

Sanji: "You, eh…"

Zoro: "Is there anything that you don't call huge?"

Luffy: "So I'm supposed to say it's super stupidly huge?"

Nami: "No!"

Me, standing back up and going to the railing: "Could it be… it's Warship Island?"

Apis, turning to me: "Yes! Because it has the shape of a warship, it's called like this!"

"That's interesting!", Luffy said, hanging, guess where? In the sheep figurehead.

Our ship, gradually, approached the coast of Warship Island. And as it was coming near the shore, I asked myself… will we be well-received?

"Just where do you think you're going?"…this quote went through my head… I remembered the day this very same flag landed at Brush Island… at my home… and my welcoming wasn't the most friendly… in fact, it wasn't friendly at all! And taking the fact that we're pirates in account, our flag already's giving the islanders a hint of who they're dealing with.

"Guys…", I said. Everyone stared at me.

"Try to be as polite as possible. As you witnessed with Apis, her fellows might not be very receptive of pirates. Therefore you must be careful with what you're doing, right? Remember the time you landed in my island."

Sanji: "What happened?"

Me: "Hmm… let's just say that my reception wasn't very… heartwarming. I'll tell more about it later."

Nami: "Guys, check it out!"

We went to a side of the ship, as it came near the shore. And I was right… they awaited us with spears and sharpened pitchforks, ready to attack us.

Me: "Guys… looks like I'm right… they're already armed and eager to attack us."

Nami then proposed the following: "Now gather here that we're going to do this, and it's very simple. Before we land, we'll let Apis disembark first. We'll do so in order to make the villagers drop their weapons and see that their fellow is alright. Understood?"…although it sounded like we were villains plotting to make our move on an enemy caught off-guard, that was the best we could plan right now.

Everyone agreed.

"Then, after, we disembark and introduce ourselves, got it?"

Zoro: "What a pain… why I should align with plans like this?"

Nami: "Don't you tell me it's coming through your head the idea of fighting people you barely know?"

Me: "Zoro-san… you really need to stop thinking about brawling the entire time!"

Sanji, smiling: "Fighting is the only thing this moss head can do, after all!"

Zoro, angry: "What did you say, you shitty cook?"

Nami: "Can you two quit bickering already?"

Sanji: "I'll stop right now, Nami-san!"…ah… Sanji… when you're near women you're just hopeless…

Nami: "Guys, just do what I'm telling you! We're coming to the shore!"

Luffy: "Let's ask them if they have meat around here!"

Nami: "Moron!"

Me: "Ah! Nami-chan, another thingie!"

Nami: "What's it now?"

"Um… my… my jacket… is it ready yet?", I timidly asked.

Silence…

Nami, with a vein popping on her head and speaking slowly: "How brave of you to ask me this question without caring about your surroundings! Now shut up and duck!"

"Ok… fine! Geez… shutting down out of context questions lever!", then I drew a lever on my head and shut it down.

Usopp, discreetly, lowered the stairs.

* * *

**Luck was once again on the side of the Straw Hats... they were able to escape alive from the monsters and sea creatures that lurk under the eternally calm waters of the Calm Belt and now they sail towards Warship Island! But the reception, as you may already know, will not be friendly. Will the adventurers win the hearts of the villagers? Just wait and check out in the next chapter! **


	33. A secret and an island, now do the math

**Chapter 33**

**"The miraculous beast! Apis's secret and the legendary island"

* * *

**

"I'm back!", Apis shouted… and was welcomed by her fellows.

Nami, whispering: "She's already there. Let's go now?"

We all agreed and landed, one by one.

"Please… tell me…", Luffy… "Do you have any grilled meat around here?"…

I had to restrain myself not to laugh at that…

"Hai?"

"Who are these guys?"

Apis: "They're pirates… but they're nice people!"

"Is there anything like nice pirates?"

Me, going ahead of the group and trying to be polite: "Ano… I also didn't have high expectations of them when I first met them… but rest assured that my fellows here won't try any suspicious moves or stuff like that.", I turned to the group: "Right, guys?"

"But, Apis… weren't you taken by the Marines?"

Apis: "Yes… but I escaped. Then Luffy and his friends saved me… right?", she turned to Luffy.

"Yeah!", Luffy said.

"Apis… what did you do this time?", a citizen said.

"I don't know why but the Marine is crazy looking for you. You shouldn't have come back here… they're still here."

Apis: "But what I'm gonna do?"

"We're willing to help but… These guys are pirates, aren't they?"

Apis: "Oh dear…"

Usopp: "But didn't Dan tell you that we're nice pirates?"

"Apis!"…huh? A voice came from behind the crowd. "Come here right now."

"Who's there?", Nami asked.

"Beats me.", Luffy replied.

"Bokuden-jiichan!", the crowd made way and Apis ran to hug an old man that looked like the village's elder.

"I'm very grateful to you all for taking care of Apis. I'd like to offer you the hospitality of being hosted at my home… right?", he said.

Luffy: "Do you have any grilled meat?"

"He doesn't have grilled meat… but he makes the best pork buns in the island!", Apis said.

"Cool! Let's go!", Luffy, cheerful.

"Yeah… let's go, then?", Zoro.

Luffy gets even more upbeat when there's meat involved… well… this is our captain! We were introduced by Apis to grandpa Bokuden. He's really the island's elder… and Apis's grandfather. He escorted us to his house, in a small village located inside one of the island's forests. There he started preparing us pork buns.

"There it goes… everything is already set up. We only have to wait.", he said.

"Awesome!", Luffy replied.

Sanji: "This is really rustic… gramps… how long does it take?"

Bokuden: "Let me think… it's about four or five hours… in average…"

Usopp: "Are we going to wait this much?"

Luffy: "Eh? But I'm already very hungry!"

Me: "Guess there's no other option but to wait… but how are we supposed to pass the time?"

Nami: "How about this… Grandpa! Could you tell us a bit more about your little granddaughter?"

"Ah, yes."…then we sat down at a table to pass the time while we waited for the food… with Luffy complaining every once in a while that he's hungry…

"Bokuden-san… Why Apis was caught and is being targeted by the Marines? Do you have any idea of the reason?", Nami asked.

"Apis, my dear… do you have any idea?", Grandpa Bokuden asked.

"None.", she replied.

Me: "But back then you told us you had reasons but didn't want to tell, didn't you?"

Apis, calmly: "Ah! That was a little lie!"

Bokuden: "In fact, we have an idea."

Usopp: "But you just said you had none!"

Bokuden: "Our island might not have much to offer… but of what we have… the principal is our ancient legend."

Legend? Usually, I am fond of legends, thus I paid more attention to the story. Then he started by explaining that the people of this island are all descendants of the inhabitants of Lost Island, that sank thousands of years ago. This Lost Island is a nest to the Millennium Dragons, Sennenryuu, and that their bones are called the Elixir of Eternal Youth.

Sanji: "I see… but a simple legend isn't any justification for an intervention by the Marines…"

Everyone of us were left wondering what the Marines had to do with all of this.

Then he started talking about a story that starts with the first inhabitants of this island… and their descendants… and their descendants' descendants as well… and so on. I saw Apis trying to discreetly escape the room… She must be fed up with all his tales… poor girl.

A loooooooooooong time later… Luffy and Zoro were already fast asleep… and I was about to fall as well… Ok… I may like stories, but there's gotta have a limit! I couldn't hold anymore and ended up falling asleep. I just kept wondering how Nami, Usopp and Sanji could still go on hearing his story… but I can't!

"Sorry there, guys… Wake me up when the story's over…"…That's what I said just before letting myself fall on Morpheus's arms. I slept for quite a while… until my bladder started bothering… I had to pee… I woke up and sneakily crawled, not without noticing that Luffy had already left.

Whispering, and still yawning, I asked: "Usopp-kun! Luffy, where did he go?"

"He said he's goin' to the toilet. What are you doing?", he said.

"I'm gonna check how's he doing… and I also need to relieve it! See ya.", I then crawled out.

Soon after I left the room: "Ah… that story is gonna take forever!"…I walked to a nearby bush… and relieved it. Then I heard someone snoring… I went to see who was it and it was Luffy… with a pork bun on his face…

"Oi, Luffy, wake up!"…I shook him… making the pork bun fall outta his face. He, instinctively, bit it and chewed while waking up. "Eeeeeh? The pork buns! They're gone!"…there was nothing left!

Luffy, waking up: "Hmmm! Yummy!"

"Hey, Luffy! Pork buns! Where are they? How are we gonna survive that old man's story without any pork buns to eat?… huh?"…I noticed that the ground was marked…

"What's all the fuss in there?"…Nami came at the scene.

Me: "Ah… That's…"

"Ah! The pork buns are gone!"…Nami noticed it too and proceeded to smack Luffy's head: "Luffy! What do you have to say in your defense now that you ate our buns, eh?"

Me: "Nami-chan… more importantly… check this out!"…I pointed to the marks in the ground. And we noticed that it was a trail.

We asked each other, wondering where would it lead to and after that, we decided to follow its tracks. We walked until finding an obstacle. The trail went through some bushes and apparently ended in a mountain.

"End of the line?", Luffy asked. Then he found something and went in the bushes. "Hole.", he said. We then also went in to take a look and we found out that the trail went inside the hole. Beyond the hole… what awaited us was a quite long road… left by the trail. We stopped upon seeing a river… with no bridge… and the fall's quite tall…

Nami: "It looks like that anyone who's left this trail somehow went through here."

I, slightly trembling: "Na-Nami… a-are we really going to have to go through here?"

Nami: "Yeah. Don't worry! It's not gonna take long… Luffy."

Luffy: "Ok. Gomu Gomu no… Tsuribashi. (Gum Gum Suspended Bridge)"

Nami went through balancing herself. It was my turn…

"Dan-kun, quick!", Nami said…

Me: "Even if you tell me that… ok, here goes nothing!", I passed on a rush, with my eyes closed in order not to look down… it's an addiction of mine to look down just to get scared! I went through and took some deep breaths.

"You need to overcome your fear of heights, Dan-kun!", Nami said.

Me: "I just can't… it's stronger than me! It can't be helped."

Luffy: "Let's go ahead?"

We then went forward and through another forest.

"Are we in the backside of the mountain?", Nami asked.

"Where the hell are we going?", Luffy also asked.

"Don't ask me… I have no idea…", I answered.

We passed through some bushes and were standing right before the entrance to a cave. We decided to go in and see what would happen. Moments later, we heard a… familiar… voice.

"Yes, it's alright. I was rescued by a bunch of strange pirates I met… No, no! They're not dangerous… I bet you're starving, right? I brought with me some of Bokuden-jiichan's pork buns! Here!… Hey, don't eat it all at once!… Sorry… I strived to get any information, any hints but I got nothing so far."

We approached discreetly and realized it was Apis… but who was she talking with?

Nami: "Apis… who is she talking to?"

Me: "I don't… Luffy?"

"Yo, Apis! Who are you talking to?", Luffy… simpleton as ever.

Me and Nami: "Don't go yelling on your own!"

Apis: "Don't! Don't come here!"…to no avail. Luffy approached her, anyway, curious.

Nami, approaching as well, also curious: "Luffy… what are you… eh?"

I, following behind: "Nami-chan… what's up… What the…?"

And the three of us ended up seeing what Apis was so desperate to hide… A creature, green furred, and huge… laying in the cave… we were jaw-dropped at that! It looked like… a dragon…

"Cool, cool, this is just amazing!", Luffy said while taking a closer look at the creature… with Apis trying to stop him.

"Luffy… wait!", Nami, still impressed. And she meant it! With such a huge creature right before us!

"It's real! And it's alive!", Luffy said while caressing the creature.

"Is this… a… a… a dragon?"…impossible! Dragons only exist in legends and tales! It's the first time I see a real dragon… with these very eyes! I even rubbed them to check if it wasn't just a hallucination of mine…

"Nami-chan… pinch me.", I said… she did so: "Ouch! You didn't have to pinch this hard!"

Nami, regaining herself: "Huh? Ah… sorry… I wasn't paying attention…"

Luffy, talking to the dragon: "Incredible! Where did you come from, man!"…there was a pause… and then Luffy said: "I see… you wanna return to your homeland, eh?"…as if replying to whatever the dragon might have told him.

"Ryuuji's saying that there's no problems in being friends with you, Luffy… He told me that he knows that you're a good person."…Apis said… but how?

Me: "Um… Apis-chan… can you talk to him?"

She: "Yeah… but…"

Nami: "But… more importantly… Luffy! How on the earth you can understand it?"

Luffy: "Dunno… I just can!", while grinning and putting a hand in his hat.

Apis: "You just can?"

Luffy: "But you can understand him as well, can't you?"

Apis: "That's…"

Nami then came up with this hypothesis: "Don't tell me… it's because of a Devil's Fruit?"

"Huh?"

Me: "So she talks to him because she's a Devil's Fruit user?"

Apis: "That's it. I ate the fruit called Hiso Hiso no Mi. (Whisper Whisper Fruit) With it, I came to understand the feelings of all animal beings."

Me, snapping my fingers: "Now I understand!"

Nami: "What?"

Me: "The fact that she was unconscious in the day we rescued her! Apart from having to face that horrendous storm, she risked drowning because Devil's Fruit users are just like hammers when submerged in water!"

Nami, also snapping her fingers: "Now I remembered something too! So it's the reason why you knew that strong wind was coming in advance, wasn't it, Apis?"

Me, once again snapping my fingers: "You knew because you spoke to the seagulls that rested on our ship! Now I get it!"

Apis nodded to both answers and also added: "It was also thanks to Hiso Hiso no Mi that I could meet Ryuuji!"

She then told us a story of a day she was in a flower field and suddenly heard a voice… a very sad voice… that she heard for the first time. She ran trying to help whoever was whispering this "melody" pleading for help… and it came from this very same cave. Then she found this dragon.

"Ryuuji had lost all of its vital force and had been separated from his peers… He was trying to find on his own the location of the Dragon's Nest… Lost Island."

Nami: "Lost Island? That island said to have sunk thousands of years ago?"

"Ryuuji always says this island will resurface someday. He says the time of the ressurrection is already close… but that he can't remember exactly where this island will be… He lost all of his strength… he can't fly anymore, but keeps persisting: 'I want to go back, I want to go back!'…I'm willing to do anything to help him, but I don't have the slightest idea of where this island is! That old legend gives no hints… that's why I asked some marines that passed nearby this island. But I was deeply mistaken… they're looking for the Ryuukotsu, the Dragon Bones!"

Me: "Ryuukotsu?"

Nami: "The bones of eternal youth? They kidnapped you to have these bones, Apis?"

Me: "It had to be Marine's dirty plan… those guys just don't learn!"

Apis: "Yes… they told me that I had to tell everything I knew… that's why they kidnapped me. This is due, probably, to me using the pendant Ryuuji gave me some time ago."

Nami: "That's why you escaped in the middle of that storm… that's too reckless!"

Apis: "I know… it's exactly why I'm keeping this a secret from everyone in the village… even from my grandpa Bokuden… I can't let them worry about me all the time."…now talking to the dragon while petting him: "But I want, at all costs, to return Ryuuji to the nest where he belongs! Ryuuji… you always told me… that, if you returned to the Dragon's Nest… you would recover and get full of energy again, didn't you? No matter how long it may take… no matter what might happen… I will find this place and take you there!"

Somehow… that story touched me so deeply… that I felt a really strong desire, and growing, to help this girl return the dragon to its natural habitat.

Luffy expressed my desire, that was also his: "Yosh! Then, let me help! I'll take you there!"

Nami, uneasy: "Luffy! Didn't you hear? Lost Island sunk very long ago!"

Luffy: "But it was the legendary Sennenryuu that told us, right? I'm sure this island is somewhere near here!"

Nami: "An island that's not found in any maps?"

Me, patting Nami's shoulder: "Nami-chan… life's most astonishing things… aren't found in maps… or in books… you must look for them and see them with your own eyes!"…now talking to Apis: "Apis-chan! You can rest because we will help you take this dragon back home!", then I winked to the girl. "Right, Nami-chan?", I turned and asked Nami.

"An island outta the maps… Guess there's no choice… let's go!", she gave up and tagged along with us, snapping her fingers.

Luffy: "Yosh!"

Apis: "Really? You mean it? Thanks a lot!"

Luffy: "Now that this is settled, eat some more of this!", he took a pork bun outta his pocket…

Apis: "Ah! Luffy, I forgot to tell you that…"…and the dragon ate the pork bun with Luffy toppings… "Ryuuji's a bit too senile…"

I couldn't hold myself and ended up laughing at that…

And here we are heading for yet another adventure! To return this dragon to its group!

* * *

**Hey, guys? What do you think about Sennenryuu? Kinda cute, eh?**

**Luffy: "It's really huuuuuuuge! Cool! Amazing!"**

**Nami: "To meet legendary dragons... It never went through my head in my life!"**

**Dan: "I totally agree!"**

**But not so fast, Bucko! The pirates, in the next chapter, will have a tough mission... how will this dragon return to the Lost Island without catching Marine's attention?**

**All of them: "Yeah... just how?"**

**The answer, you, reader, will find out in Chapter 34!**


	34. Are a thousand years really worth it?

**Chapter 34**

**"Meet Sennenryuu! The fallen dragon and the escape plan"

* * *

**

"Hey, guys, you gotta listen to this!", Luffy said happily.

"But… what the heck happened here?", Nami said.

We arrived back at the little house and found everyone – the grandpa Bokuden included – fast asleep.

"Hahaha… I guess they ended up falling asleep in the middle of the story… even the one who's supposed to tell it!", I said while laughing at that and pointing to the old man.

"And… then… in the thousand two-hundred first generation…"…we could hear the old man muttering while sleeping.

Nami: "Amazing… he's talking asleep…"

Me: "That doesn't surprise me anymore… I'm already getting used to, once in a while, get up in the middle of the night and leave my room because of their snoring…"…it's not like that. When I really fall asleep, it's very deep and I hear absolutely nothing from the outside. But when it doesn't happen, my night of sleep goes down the drain because of the others' snoring and asleep mumblings…

Nami: "Honestly… I already lost some nights of sleep because of you all!"

Me: "'You all' who? I don't talk while I'm sleeping!"

Nami: "Oh, you do! I hear your asleep talking once in a while!"

Me: "Ha! No way, I don't believe it!"

Nami's lucky… or not… because she has a room all for herself.

"Hey, you gotta listen to me!", Luffy said while popping the bubble that was coming out of Usopp's nose. He instantly woke up, caught off guard: "Aaaaahhh! I'm up! I never slept for a second!"

"You liar!", I came near him and hit his head.

"What? Is it morning already?", Zoro said, also waking up.

Sanji, that was laid in the floor, also sat back up: "Ah… the old man's story is so long that I ended up falling asleep…"…he then stretched.

Me: "It wasn't only you… everyone here slept as well, including grandpa Bokuden. Now wake up! Get up because it's morning already!"

The three of them: "We're awake!"

Moments later, someone barged in shouting: "We have problems! Bokuden-san! Apis! Where did Apis go?"

Nami: "What happened?"

"You're a pirate, right? It's because there's a Marine fleet anchored at our shore!"

Me: "Could it be…"

Nami: "…did they come to capture Apis?"

Usopp, still a bit dizzy: "What's all the fuss about that girl?"

"Hey, people, just follow me!", Nami said.

"Yes, Nami-san!", Sanji instantly stood up, obeying Nami's orders.

Zoro: "And what about the old man, what are we gonna do?"

Me: "He's deeply asleep… let's just leave him as he is."

Nami, to the citizen: "When Bokuden-san wakes up, tell him that we're gonna protect Apis. Got it?"

"Y-Yeah.", the citizen replied, still stuttering a bit.

Usopp: "Where are you gonna take us?"

Me: "We, last night, ended up meeting a very special creature."

Luffy: "He's freaking huge! You better see to believe!"

Usopp: "Special creature? Huge?", he said, starting to get scared.

"There's no reason to be scared now. Just shut up and follow us and you'll see what we're talking about. Let's go now?", Nami said.

"YES, NAMI-SAN!", Sanji shouted, hearts in his eyes.

Zoro: "Ah… be quiet, cook! All this shouting early in the morning is giving me a headache!"

"Say what, moss head? Say that again and I'll kill you!", Sanji replied.

Nami had to drag them by their shirt's collar.

We then walked through the path that was still marked on the ground, in order to get to the cave and see the dragon.

While we were walking, Usopp asked: "Oi, Dan! What the heck did you mean with 'a very special creature'? And… and… and huge?"

Me, smiling: "Ah… that's because the creature's a dragon."

"Ah… phew… I thought it was… was… DID YOU JUST SAY DRAGON?", Usopp suddenly shouted…

"Yeah… a dragon… a huge dragon that breathes fire, can fly, is very mean and it's gonna eat us!", I joked… using a very malicious tone just to scare the hell outta him. He went pale!

Me: "Hahahaha! Just kidding! Don't weep on your pants already, come on!"

Usopp: "DON'T YOU EVER SCARE ME LIKE THIS! EVER!"

"If you don't wanna go, just tell us!", I said, smiling.

"And you want me to stay alone? It's even worse!", Usopp said.

We kept walking, then… we had to pass through that river with no bridge… again! It's the third time! Frankly… well, I'm already getting used to it, though… and there's a lot of things much scarier than this!

Usopp might take the dragon as an example… when we arrived at the cave… his jaw dropped all the way down, almost hitting the ground!

He, Sanji and Zoro were guffawing, just like us last night, when they saw the giant green dragon lying down inside the cave.

"Hey, guys!", Apis came from behind the dragon.

Me: "Good morning, Apis-chan! Guys… this is the legendary Sennenryuu!"

No one spoke a word… the three still staring in awe at the dragon.

"Oi? Guys? Hello…", I went to the three… poked them… waved a hand in front of their faces… but got no response… they stood like they were frozen solid. But Zoro and Sanji quickly woke up… after I lightly slapped their faces.

"What the hell are you doing?", Zoro…

"Korosu zo, temee! (Gonna kill you, bastard!)", Sanji…

I replied: "No need to get so angry! Do you realize who's lying before you?"

Nami: "Just like grandpa Bokuden said, this is a Millennium Dragon. Sennenryuu."

Luffy, excited: "So? It's cool, isn't it?"

"Don't treat it like it's _your _pet!", Nami said.

Zoro: "So it means when you come close to the Grand Line… you can meet up with stuff like this?"

Me: "And I'm sure that in the Grand Line, there are much more fantastic stuff."

Sanji: "We've already met Sea Kings… but this one surely isn't one of them…"

Usopp… still gawking: "Y-You… you're… you're sure this dragon's not gonna eat me?"

Immediately… the dragon licked Usopp's face…

"Ah! Ryuuji's a bit too senile… so if he mistakes you as food, be careful not to be swallowed!", Apis told him, sitting on the dragon.

"IT'S TOO LATE!", Usopp said while trying to take his head off the dragon's mouth.

I couldn't help but laugh at that…

"Anyway, it doesn't hurt, huh?", Luffy said and chuckled at that. "You're just like a trout for this dragon!"

Usopp: "Don't just stand there and help me!", trying to set his head free.

Zoro: "Stay there and get eaten already!"

"ZORO!", Usopp whined, still trying to set himself free…

Luffy merely laughed…

Sanji: "It's better that the poor thing doesn't eat him, or it'll get an indigestion!"

Usopp: "Say what, you love-cook?"

I sighed and went to help Usopp set his head free. As soon as he could move, he quickly rushed to hide behind a boulder, afraid.

"What a coward, huh? It's not gonna eat you!", I said.

Usopp: "AH, SHUT UP! WHAT DO YOU THINK IT DID TO ME RIGHT NOW?"

"I think it's the little dragon's way to identify you. Don't you think it's cute, although Ryuuji's a millennium old…", I said, while smiling. Usopp only got even more scared: "This isn't helping at all! And what's little about this dragon again?", he said.

Nami: "This dragon, the Sennenryuu… is the one the Marines are looking for. After some thinking, the three of us decided to take him back to Lost Island."

Usopp, from behind the boulder, screaming: "You gotta be kidding me! The Marine's coming near here! If we had such a hard way to escape from them, imagine what it'll be with an animal this huge!"

Me: "No need to scream, we're listening!"…then I got near the dragon, petting it: "This poor dragon already lost its vital strength… lost his friends…"

Usopp: "Can you understand him?"

Me: "No. Apis explained us his situation. And even if she didn't do so, the dragon's expressions can tell everything… these are the eyes of someone who's homesick. I also… sometimes feel like this.", I said, almost whispering.

And it's true. Although I feel comfortable around my friends… I am really homesick. There were only a few weeks since I left my home island… but it looks like it's been months! Mommy… Keni-chan… how are they doing?

"Ryuuji… Ryuuji really wants to go back home!", Apis said… lowering her head.

Usopp: "I'm so sure Luffy said something like 'Yosh! We're gonna help you take him back' or stupid stuff like that!"

Luffy, sitting in a boulder, simply stated: "Yeah! We promised we'd help her!"

Usopp merely snarled and said: "But we don't have the slightest idea of where the hell this island is! How are we going to get there?"

Luffy: "We'll do it somehow!"

Luffy… always with the "somehow" idea… but under these circumstances, this is the best thing we have!

Usopp: "Right. How?"

"Ryuuji always told me that if he could return to his home and his friends… he could get better…", Apis said, head lowered, while petting the dragon.

"The animals have instincts. Maybe Sennenryuu might tell us something.", Nami said.

Me: "Maybe, in any part of his memory, the recollections of his time at the Lost Island are hidden. If we, humans, tend to forget most of what we do until something or some event kickstarts a specific remembering… and we don't even come to live a hundred years… You can imagine a thousand-year old dragon! He must have done so much in this life, don't you think?"

Luffy: "Yeah! And he might end up helping us find the Lost Island!"

"But…", Usopp, still untrustful.

Zoro, sitting against a pillar: "Well… somehow, this is gonna end well."

"ZORO!", Usopp…

Sanji, lighting a cigarette: "Yeah, but what are we supposed to do with him? If we take him down there from here at the mountain, we're gonna just caught unwanted attention."

Nami: "I got an idea. Let's build, before all else, a vehicle. A vehicle big enough in order to fit Ryuuji in. Guys, you all go collect wood for the car. Usopp… you'll be assigned to construct it."

Usopp: "And what _you_'re gonna do?"

"Do you really think I can help with anything? I'm weak! Besides, women can't do hard work under any chance! Isn't for this that you men are for?", Nami said.

Usopp slapped his forehead, seeing his point of view going down the drain. I tried to confort him, by coming near him and patting his shoulder: "Don't worry, Usopp-kun! Nami has a point. We can never let women get on the tough work… and we also can't simply abandon Ryuuji here just because we don't know where he lives."

Usopp simply lowered his head.

I continued, smiling: "And… if we were sure about everything, our adventure wouldn't be nearly as fun as it is!"

Usopp: "But if were sure about everything, it'd become easier! And we'd know what we should do! And we'd be careful not to get in stupid stuff! And… and…"

Me: "It's all rubbish! You're no fun!"

Usopp: "All this mess here is what's no fun…"

And then we left heading to the forest to collect the needed wood. It didn't take too long for the job to be done. Luffy used a Gum Gum Gatling and took several trees down. Sanji only needed some kicks to take some others down. Zoro rushed, giving some strikes and chopping several trees down too. I needed only to use my lance and give the final touches, taking down some more trees and equaling the logs' length.

Me: "Yosh! These are enough for you?"

Nami: "Alright! But… did you really need to chop down the radishes?"

Me: "Yes, I needed. I wanted to equal the logs' length in order not to get irked."

Nami sighed and said: "Ah… holy patience of mine…"

Usopp sighed afterwards and said, still with little to no intentions to help: "Ah… I guess there's no choice but to give a hand as well…"…now to Nami… "…you stingy!"

Nami: "Stingy to me is fine! Now go there because your turn's right now!"

Usopp: "Yosh! Now, Apis, prepare to be surprised with the great car project that the Captain…"…Nami interrupted him, pushing him near the wood logs… "Yeah, yeah! We get it, now get to the work!"

With our help in the part of carrying the wood and shaping the four wheels, he only needed to fix the logs in place and the wheels… and voilà! The giant car's ready to action!

"It's perfect to Ryuuji!", Apis said, happy and jumping happily because the car's done!

Sanji: "But… the Marines are still anchored down in the shore… what will we do?"

Luffy: "We'll work around them, somehow!"

Sanji: "No chance!"

Me: "Zoro, before you ask, fight them will be impossible. If we do so, we're doing no more than putting Ryuuji in unnecessary danger."

Zoro: "I wasn't going to say anything right now…"

Nami: "Let me think of some way to transport him up here… but the Going Merry's still anchored in the shore, obviously…"

Usopp, in a confident pose: "Yosh! This is the precious ship Kaya gave us… so, leave it with Usopp here!… Howeeeeeever… Zoro's coming as well!"

"Why me?", Zoro asked.

Nami: "We're counting on you."

Usopp: "Now that everything's already set… why don't we wait until nightfall?"

"No!", Nami replied.

"Do you really think the Marines will wait until it gets dark to attack?", I said.

Zoro completed: "Besides, if we were going to escape at night, it'd get even harder to locate the Marines… and we may get caught off guard. They might use the night in their favour."

Sanji: "So let's run now!"

Usopp: "But what about the ship? I can take care of it, but what I'm supposed to do?"

"Hmmm… let me think…"…Nami thought a bit… and then snapped her fingers, getting an idea.

* * *

**Hmmm... what in the world Nami's thinking right now? How the Straw Hats will get the dragon out of the island?... And the marines get ever closer to them! Will Sennenryuu escape unscathed from Warship Island? But a strange and undesired character will get in their way!**

**Don't miss the Chapter 35!**


	35. An effeminate enemy! Kinda unsettling

**Chapter 35**

**"Erik's raid! The great escape from Warship Island!"

* * *

**

Nami then pointed to the distance… to a cape in the tip of the island: "Usopp, I need you to bring the ship to until that cape that looks just like your nose."

Luffy, crouched, looking afar: "Oooo… it's true! It really looks like your nose, Usopp!"

Usopp, still concerned: "But even if I bring the ship to that cape…"

Nami: "Don't worry. I don't think they're gonna find us so easily. Now, just hurry!"

Me: "It's better that you go right now! Although the Marines might not be capable of finding us, they already may have found out our ship!"…then Usopp and Zoro left.

Nami: "Sanji-kun, Dan-kun, Luffy, bring Ryuuji over here to the car."

"Ou!", Luffy…

"Pronto! Nami-san!", Sanji…

"Aye aye, Captain!", me…

Luffy: "Hey, I'm the captain!"

"Ah, sorry.", I said.

And then the three of us went to bring Ryuuji… The dragon's freaking huge… but our tag team struggle is greater. We brought him and put him on the car.

"Phew… my arms are getting weary…", I said, stretching. Some time went by and then I remembered that I said the ship might already have been discovered by the Marine… and in this thought trail… wait a second! The trail! If the Marines can discover the trail too, they can get here in an instant!

"Nami…", I wanted to warn her but I couldn't…

"There they are!"…huh? I turned my head and, truly, I saw a very little Going Merry appearing near the horizon. I relieved a bit because Usopp and Zoro successfully escaped the shore and, possibly, the Marine's watch guards.

Moments later a seagull came and said something… that left Apis panicking.

"Oh no! The Marines are climbing up the mountain!"…for some reason I already predicted this would happen…

Nami: "Hmmm… they came earlier than I expected…"

Me: "I knew it."

"Huh?"

Me, continuing: "I already kinda thought the Marines would come here… they certainly used that route with which we arrived here!"

Apis, desperate: "What are we gonna do?"

Nami, confident: "Calm down. These three are here exactly because of this."…this time I felt confident as well… because I know I have someone that trusts me!

"When the ship's aligned with the 'Usopp's Nose' cape, we're getting the hell outta here!"

Some calm moments… well, not calm, because we have a squad of marines right under our feet… rather, tense moments… and, suddenly we heard the sound of guns being readied…

"No! Don't shoot Ryuuji!"…huh?

Nami: "Apis!"

Apis tried to put herself ahead of us to protect the dragon from the shooters… but the dragon quickly intervened putting a wing ahead of her. It then raised its neck, trying to look imposing and frighten the marines.

"Now! Fire!"…what?

"STOP!"…Apis! No!

Nami: "Apis!"

Me: "Apis-chan!"

Instantly, Luffy put himself ahead! When I stared more calmly, I saw his skin with some weird spikes growing out…

"It… doesn't… work!"…now I got it! He stopped the bullets and sent them back! It's one of these times when it's good to be made of rubber…

"So… you're a Devil's Fruit user?"…asked a man dressed in a grey suit and pants, wearing some stylish sunglasses and with a very effeminate hair, to my standards…

Luffy replied: "Yeah! I'm a rubber-man!"

Then the lavender-haired man ordered to his soldiers: "Use your swords! Bullets are useless against rubber!"

Guess what? The hoarde of soldiers grabbed their swords and rushed to attack us!

"Sanji-kun! Dan-kun!", Nami… you don't need to ask!

"UNDERSTOOD, NAMI-SAN!", we shouted at the same time. As they were normal marines, I didn't even bother to pull out my pencil. Sanji just kicked them around… and I decided to let my fists and kicks do the talking and Luffy used a Gum Gum Gatling to leave the rest of them in the ground.

"So… this is what they call Marine?… Honestly… you're nothing more than a bunch of weaklings with no usefulness to me!"…the suit guy said while walking on our direction. We noticed that one of the marines stood back up, although stumbling… he tried to walk in the opposite direction… but then, with a simple swing of hand from the suit guy… the marine fell down again!

"What was that?", Luffy asked.

Sanji: "A knife?"

After the suit guy, somehow, managed to knock out (or even kill) the already stumbling marine, he kept walking towards us… but with his hands free.

Me: "It's not a knife for sure… is it because of… sharp nails?"

"Exactly. My name is Erik, the Whirlwind. A mercenary at the service of Commodore Nelson Royale."…Nelson? Who's this one?… "I don't care about pirates."

Me: "Then can you let us go? Because we're busy."

Erik: "I also can't let you go as well. Because you have something I want… and it's the Sennenryuu. If you don't get outta my way, you'll taste a bit of the powers of the Kama Kama no Mi (Sickle Sickle Fruit)…"

Luffy: "Did he just say Kama Kama?"

Sanji: "Okama? (Transvestite)"

Me: "Okama? So is he gay?"…seeing his hair, face and voice tone… he looks like a gay…

Luffy, turning to Nami: "Oi, Nami, do we still have to wait?"

"Yeah!", she said… oh dang… Usopp, Zoro, hurry!

"Even seeing the faraway sea… Nami-san's even more elegant!"…Sanji… he takes every opportunity he can to praise Nami!

"Oi, Sanji-san! This is no time to be praising her!", I hissed to him.

"It's always time to praise a woman!", he replied.

Me: "But aren't you seeing that we have an en-"

"HEY! YOU BASTARDS! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME OR NOT?"…huh?

We turned our attentions back to Erik, the Gay… and he was angry red.

"Oi… he's angry. Maybe we let him mad in any way?", I asked.

Sanji: "Possibly."

Luffy: "Hey, you're Erik, the Transvestite, right? We were listening to you!"

Erik: "NO! I'm Erik, the Whirlwind! (KAMAitachi) Where did you take that I'm a transvestite? (OKAMA)"

Luffy, teasing: "So you admit you're gay? Hahahahaha!"

Me, mocking him: "Look at me! Erik, the Gay!"

"It's better that you don't regret it now, because you've just made me furious."…Erik said slowly and then… "Kama Kama no… Tsumujikaze! (Sickle Sickle Whirlwind)"

The laughter stopped when we felt a very harsh breeze coming towards us… and make cuts in our arms! I flinched when the pain started making itself be felt… I had to tug my arm in order to try to stop the blood from leaking out.

"What?", Luffy…

Sanji, also clutching his arm: "So this is… what he means with whirlwind!"

"Bastard…", I said.

Erik chuckled a bit before stating: "The winds I create are capable of cutting as much as any famous sword. With these hands, I can dismember my enemies in a matter of seconds."

I, then, pulled out my pencil still trying to endure the bugging pain in my arms… which were exposed because my jacket's still on the ship, since it isn't ready yet (Although that doesn't matter too much anyway because it has short sleeves). And here comes this guy and tops it off by ripping through more of my clothing and also through my skin!

Erik: "Now… get out of my way. And hand this Sennenryuu over to me."

Luffy: "Never!"

Me: "Ha! Fat chance, pal! It's still 100 years too early for you to get past us and catch this dragon!"

Erik: "My Sickle Sickle Whirlwind… do you wanna taste it again?"

"Enpitsu…"…I prepared to transform my pencil, but…

"Sanji-kun! Dan-kun! Luffy! We're leaving right now!"…huh? I had to keep it on and turn my pencil in staff… because if it goes awry…

Fortunately, it went smoothly this time. I could turn it back in a pencil and we went uphill to board the car.

"Yes, Nami-swan! We're coming back!", Sanji screamed happily… He went to the back of the car, put his hands on it and said: "Nami-swan! My love catapult is ready!"

Me: "Sanji-san, want my help?"

Sanji: "Just get on the car already! I can take care of this one!"…he said while kicking the boulder behind him. I quickly boarded the car… and tugged the dragon as hard as I could… because the trip's not gonna be very comfortable!

Like this… we started going down the mountain! I helped Sanji board the car and we tugged the dragon.

"You're not gonna escape!"…we heard a voice coming from below.

"Gomu Gomu no…"…Luffy then stretched his right arm… "Pistol!"…and projected it against Erik, who still tried to stop us.

"Kama Kama no… Tsumujikaze!"…Erik launched another whirlwind, but Luffy skillfully deflected it with his outstretched arm.

We went downhill for some moments until…

"BOULDER IN THE WAY!", Apis yelled…

Me: "Captain!"

"Gomu Gomu no… Gatling!"…Luffy launched a barrage of quick punches that smashed the boulder. We still had to get rid of the boulder rubble that still headed towards us. And we even had a little help from the dragon!

Me, tugging the dragon: "T-T-T-This is kinda fun!"

Luffy: "It sure is!"

Apis, panicking: "TREE!"

Luffy screamed when his head got stuck in a branch of the tree and his whole body stretched! He was gonna be left behind…

"Luffy!"…I screamed…

If the savior tail of the dragon didn't come in time to the rescue and dragged him back to the car.

"Iiihh… Thanks a lot…", he said, still kinda dizzily.

The trip continued for a few moments… until, finally, the 'Usopp's Nose' cape came into our view!

"Yosh! We'll jump this cape and get the hell outta here!", Luffy shouted.

"Guys… Marine ship! And this means that… we're gonna crash!", I happily shouted…

"THIS ISN'T A THING FOR YOU TO GET ALL UPBEAT!", I heard Nami snapping from where she was… well… I know that, but it's a lot better to get happy than to get terrified… Marine ship or not in our way, we were gonna crash anyway!

Below us rested the Marine ship… and one of the huge models. Guess what? We crashed and broke their main mast, but even this wasn't able to deter us. I grabbed the dragon as hard as possible… closed my eyes… I heard some splashing sounds… and felt that we finally came to a halt.

Apis: "Yosh! It all went smoothly!"

Luffy: "Hahahahaha! That's for sure! Hahahahaha!"

I, getting back up and kneeling while opening my eyes: "Are we alive? We're alive! Phew… that surely was fun! It was shaky as hell, but it was fun! I wonder when we're gonna do this again…"

Nami: "No way, Jose! Are you nuts?"

Me: "Huh? But you didn't speak a word during the whole trip and didn't even scream! Why are you snapping right now?"

Nami: "Once is more than enough… do you want me to hit you?"

Me: "Ah… no thanks."…and I muttered: "Women…"

"DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?"

Me: "Nothing, nothing!"…now, screaming back to the ship: "Oi! Usopp-kun! Zoro-san! Bring the ship over here and let's go!"

They took a bit to reply back… but the ship came to where we were… and we could board it back. It was just like I was going back home! Well… technically _this_ is my current home now.

Zoro, gawking: "So this was your plan?"

Me: "Well… yeah! Don't you think it's fun?"

Zoro must have thought something in the likes of: "I'm lucky because Usopp called me!"…or then… something like: "Dan must be totally nuts to think it's fun!"

Usopp then brought some ropes and tied the car to the ship. We were all standing at the railing of Going Merry's back deck.

Luffy: "That was awesome!"

Nami: "Apis… Are you alright?"

Apis simply nodded, smiling.

"Ok, it's all set, Luffy! We're only awaiting your orders to sail away from here!", Nami said, smiling.

Luffy: "Yosh! Now, full speed ahead… we're heading to the Lost Island!"

Usopp: "But… where is it?"

Luffy: "Hmmm… maybe… this way? Or… that way? Are, are, areeee?"

Zoro: "We're gonna have to choose a path anyway…"

Nami: "Since this island isn't in any map, right?", she then winked.

Sanji, melting in praises: "This smartness fits you like a glove, Nami-san!"

Me, looking to the sea: "Although this island isn't in any map… we will find it! I believe it!"

We then left the Sennenryuu resting in the car and we went to the front. We looked at the horizon and I thought for an instant in what happened up until now… We already found a millennium dragon, a girl who speaks to animals… and a man that creates whirlwinds and is gay!

And we're searching for a lost island!

What will we find there? What kind of fantastic adventures? More importantly… Who will pay for ripping my shirt? Well… I think I'll keep it as a battle recollection…

"OUR NEXT STOP: LOST ISLAND!"

"Hey… Nami, is my jacket ready yet?", I asked.

"Ah, stop bugging me with that!", she replied.

* * *

**Yaaayy! They escaped Warship Island... but what kind of fantastic adventures await them in the way to Lost Island?**

**Besides, I don't think the Marines will stop bugging them that easily... And will Ryuuji finally get any hint of where are his friends?**

**Wait for the Chapter 36! Don't miss it!**


	36. A mirror in the sea? WTF?

**Chapter 36**

**"He remembered! Full speed ahead to… a mirror in the sea?"

* * *

**

"Enpitsu… Dagger!"… "Enpitsu… Dagger!"…"Huh?"…"Yosh! This time's for sure! Enpitsu… Dagger!"

I was standing in the lower deck, separated from the rest of the group, practicing how to turn my pencil in a new weapon… but I was still struggling. Now I'm trying to convert it in a dagger of sorts. It might look easy, but looks are easy to fool you.

"Enpitsu… Dagger!"…I tried again, but my pencil only emitted a bright blue glow and stopped there, fading out again.

"Oooohh… man!"…I was already training for some time and was getting fed up because I got no progresses!

"Once again, here we go! Enpitsu…"

"Oi, Dan!"…are?

As soon as I turned my head to look who was calling me, I felt an explosion coming out of my hand… I was covered in smoke…

"OI! DON'T MESS MY FOCUS!"…I screamed still without seeing who was talking to me… "Huh?… Ah, sorry… Sanji-san…"

"Hey, Dan, can't you practice silently? I can't cook with all your shouting!"…he said while leaving to stand at the railing of the upper room.

I put a hand on my head and smiled sheepishly… then I said while cleaning the black dust off my body: "I think we hindered each other now… Want my help?"

Sanji: "No, thanks. I've already got help with me."…and he went back in. Whatever he was cooking inside there was already smelling… and it looked like it's yummy…

After we visited that weapons store back in Loguetown, I got some ideas of weapons to transform my pencil into and develop my skills further, but it's kinda hard to do it properly. Although I'm a writer, that doesn't come into play when it's about fighting with my pencil. To transform it, I needed to get an idea of the proper shape of the weapon and I'm not such an artist…

I thought for a while… then I snapped my fingers: "I got it!"

I went running to the men's quarters. I went downstairs and grabbed some blank paper sheets. I went back up and sit leaning against the railing to draw a bit. I took in account that the sea was calm, also to relieve the stress after having such a hassle to transform my pencil.

I drew a dagger whose grip is as long as its blade. As I drew on, I thought to myself: "I have to get stronger… In the Grand Line, apart from having to search the man who killed my father… I will surely find people much stronger than the pirates we defeated so far. If I really want to survive in order to keep writing my Ultimate Adventure and help Luffy become King of the Pirates, I must become stronger!"

And, kinda unknowingly, I finished my drawing sooner than expected.

Then, getting carried away, I started drawing more and more weapons. I drew a bow and arrow, a trident, a katana and a nunchaku as examples. As soon as I was done with it all, I went downstairs to the room once again and put away my drawings in the bookshelf. During these days to come, I decided to train constantly to perfect my weapons.

I went upstairs again to the main room.

"You're kinda lively today, huh, Dan?"

I wasn't really paying attention. I was about to leave the room when I heard Sanji say that. I turned my head to look at him.

"Sanji-san?"

"For you to keep walking from here to there like this.", he said.

"Ah… That's because I discovered new chances to develop my skills. I will need to get stronger in order to help Luffy become the King of Pirates and survive in the Grand Line.", I replied.

"Fool… you speak as if none of us were here to help you!", Sanji said.

Me: "I know you're here to help me! But… I want to help you back with whatever I can!"

"And what are you doing?", he asked.

"There's a place and a time for everything, Sanji-san. With time, you'll find out.", I replied, as if I was a wise man, went outta the room to get to the back of the ship… but not before sniffing a bit more on Sanji's food because it smelled really good.

I leaned against the railing and looked at the sea. The wind was good, the sea was calm with the waves rippling around us. I brushed my hair off my eyes and as I saw the blue endless sea, I stopped to refresh my mind and ward off any bad thoughts… or any thoughts altogether. It's at these times that life's little pleasures help relieve the tension out of my brain.

Moments later, a jumping cluster of fish came past us going on the opposite direction of our ship.

"Look… a cluster! And they're jumping in tandem! How beautiful!", I said.

"Lost Island… eh?", Nami…

"OI! ARE YOU LISTENING?", I said, angry… come on… can't anyone appreciate the small moments of life around here?

Zoro: "We heard you! You don't have to scream!"

"We have more important things to care about than a jumping cluster!", Nami said.

We, except for Sanji, were all standing at the railing of the back of the ship. Nami's holding a map. Luffy was down in the cart to check on how was the old dragon's doing. I wasn't paying much attention since that cluster of navy-blue jumping fish (I don't know a thing about species names whatsoever) went past us, but I couldn't help but notice that Apis wasn't between us.

Usopp: "Now we have to concentrate in finding the Lost Island, Dan."

Me: "Hmmm… and do you have any idea of where it is?"

Nami: "According to the maps… It seems that there's no islands in the vicinity of Warship Island!"

"Oi, old dragon, just where the heck are we supposed to go?", Usopp shouted.

Me: "Usopp-kun! The little dragon's sleeping… better not to bother him."

Usopp: "But he's our only clue to find this Lost Island… and stop calling him little dragon."

We saw that the dragon opened its eyes… but still kinda sluggishly. Moments later, Luffy went to talk with him, but the dragon refused to reply and went back to sleeping. Luffy then turned to us and said:

"The dragon's napping yet again."

I sighed and said: "Hmmm… looks like it's not gonna be easy to take any hints outta the dragon…"

"Sorry for being late, guys!"…we heard this voice… then we turned our attentions to Apis, that was wearing an apron and cooking gloves… I didn't knew she went to help Sanji… so she was what Sanji meant with "help"…

Zoro: "Did she made the meal again?"

Usopp: "No one could see that coming…"

Nami merely tried to sketch a smile…

Me: "W-Well… this time she wasn't by herself… therefore, the lunch might not be as bad as last time!"

The three of them: "Oi!"

Then Sanji and Apis came. Sanji was without his black suit jacket, only with his blue striped button-up shirt and carrying some ropes and a basket. Apis brought a bowl full with food.

"Ooo! Sanji! Ah, that's a relief! Did you make the food to-"…Usopp was interrupted because when Apis went past us, she stomped his foot… and mine! Giku… I think she also heard what I said a while ago…

Me: "Ittai… why did you do that?"

"Ryuuji!"… Apis said.

"ARE YOU LISTENING?", I said, snapping… she didn't notice at all.

"Ryuuji! It's lunch time!", Apis screamed while lifting the bowl with hot food for the dragon… hmmm… it still smelled yummy! And I got my stomach rumbling with that…

"Oooh! Food!", Luffy said, then, stretched his arms to grab the bowl… "AAAAAAAHHHHH! HOT! HOT!", Luffy let go of the bowl in midair…

"TEMEEEEE!", Sanji shouted… while the bowl fell right in the dragon's head with the food facing downwards… and there goes the poor dragon's lunch.

"Ryuuji!"…Apis jumped the railing and slid the rope all the way down to Ryuuji's cart to clean the food while Luffy used his sandals to take the bowl off the dragon's head… that got bright red with so much hot food spilled.

Me: "Luffy! What a waste… poor little dragon!"

Sanji: "Oh… dammit! All the food I've just done for the dragon was for naught…"

Usopp: "Can't you just make more?"

"What did I tell you about not wasting food back then, huh?", Sanji replied.

Me: "Well… accidents happen!"

Moments later, Apis stood and looked to the distance… Luffy approached her to check on what she was doing. There were silence for some moments… I got near the railing, leaning slowly in order to hear something… I leaned more… and, before I realized, I flipped over myself and was hanging in the railing.

"Ah, Dan, look out!"…Usopp said. Too late.

Me, looking upwards and smiling sheepishly: "Aaah… Sorry there, guys…"

Sanji: "You klutz…"…he said while extending a hand to me. I let one hand loose to grab his, then, he reeled me back in until I could get safe and sit on the railing.

"We did it!"…suddenly we heard Luffy say.

"Huh?"

Luffy: "The location of Lost Island, we now know it! It's east from Warship Island!"

Apis: "Ryuuji remembered and told us!"

"See? Sooner or later, the little dragon would end up remembering.", I said.

Usopp: "Ah… so that anvil wasn't needed after all…"

Me: "Anvil?"

"Usopp! I need some help here!", Nami said while running, leaving where we were.

"Right!", Usopp said, running after her.

Luffy, then, screamed: "Yosh! Let's go! Adjust the course to Lost Island at full speed!"

Sanji: "Hey, you! You better eat it all, right?"

"Ou! Leave it to me!", Luffy said.

After lunch, everything was peaceful again, now that our ship was with its course set to Lost Island. I admit I was veeeeery lazy to bring myself to write today… Frankly, I'm with no strength to pass my time writing anything today, I don't know why. Maybe it's better that I get a book to read… or that I do something else.

And I did so. I rushed to the room and grabbed a book to read while sitting in the railing of the ship's front deck. Meanwhile, I saw Luffy coming, sitting in his favorite seat and stretching. I stopped reading and tried to strike a conversation with him.

"Hehehe… Looks like we're finally going to return this dragon to where he belongs, right?", I said.

Luffy: "Yeah. We found out that the Lost Island is true… but what kind of place it is, huh?"

Me: "Beats me. This question will only get its answers when we get there and see it with our own eyes."

"That's for sure, right?", Luffy replied and chuckled a bit… to lie down and look upwards: "Oi! Usopp! Can you already see something?"…to talk to Usopp who were at the crow's nest.

Usopp: "Nope! I can't see any island nearby!"

"Yet?", Luffy asked.

I sighed and told him: "Luffy, you asked that ten minutes ago!"…and I looked afar, getting even more worried and disappointed at every minute we proceeded without finding any signal of land nearby. "Though… we went for so much in this direction and we found nothing more than sea so far… are you really sure it's around here?"

Luffy: "Dunno… But Ryuuji's the one who said it. He remembered, after all."

And I got back to looking to the ocean, my eyes were getting heavy, since I was getting even more distrustful that there's an island nearby. And suddenly, without acknowledging it, I stared at one point… and this point was getting darker… and darker… then I widened my eyes, rubbed them and saw that it wasn't my imagination.

Luffy: "What's that? Smoke?"

Me, already awake and looking at the strange gray smoke ahead of us: "Hmmm… dunno… is it? Smoke? In the middle of the ocean?"

Luffy: "Beats me… Well… Let's get close to it so we can find out."

I nodded to him and we kept staring at the smoke… and as we progressed, the "smoke" got bigger… and bigger… and took the shape of a ship.

Luffy: "Huh? A ship? But there's something weird about it…"

Me: "It has? Or is it… a ghost ship?"

Luffy then extended his foot forward… and I gasped when he did so because the air around his foot started rippling… and all of a sudden… I was looking at my reflex! The smoky ship soon turned in the reflex of our ship!

It was just like we were in front of a huge mirror!

And I saw that this mirror was gradually sucking Luffy inside! I was gawking and fell back-first in the front deck floor… I quickly sat down, trying to move away and understand what I was seeing.

Luffy: "Look at this! Nami, this is cool! Come here and see!"

And the ship, gradually was passing through the mirror, as if the reflex of the ship and the ship itself met each other and were cancelling each other out… I kept sitting down and gaping as the ship goes through and my body was disappearing, passing through the invisible "portal".

"Oooh! Where I'm going? Where I'm going?", Luffy said, laughing while he disappeared. I could still hear Nami and Usopp screaming before my body completely went through the "mirror".

And on the other side, we found a very dense fog…

"Oi! Any problems here?", I turned my head to see Sanji talking from the upper room railing while Zoro was still leaving and put himself at the room door.

"Sanji-san! Zoro-san! There's such a dense fog out here!", I said, while going to the upper floor. I also saw Apis leaving the back of the ship and putting herself between the room and the stairs.

"Yeah… but I thought that, due to Nami-san's screaming, it was something important…", he said while I went upstairs. I went down to the bedroom, put my book back in the shelf and got up back to the room. When I was leaving… I saw that the fog was already gone… the sky was cloudy… suddenly a downpour started… and the ship started rocking violently!

* * *

**Dan: "Hey, hey! Am I gonna gain a new weapon? Huh? Am I?"**

**Don't ask me! You're the one who's gonna make it. I only write what you do.**

**Let's go to the preview of the next chapter:**

**They are going to make an important discovery that will lead them to the true whereabouts of Lost Island. But... a known enemy of theirs will put himself in the way of the pirates! What will happen? Find out in Chapter 37!**


	37. We found the Lost Island! Pun ish me

**Chapter 37**

**"A solitary island in a distant sea! The legendary Lost Island"

* * *

**

I ended up losing my footing and being thrown straight to the mast and crashed my back against it before falling back on the ground…

"Ittai…", I whispered then I sat back and said to myself: "Ow… ow… What the hell's wrong with this ocean! Not long ago there was a damn huge fog and now hell's raining down on us!"

"Sanji-kun! Zoro! I'll take care of the helm, you have to loosen the ropes! Dan-kun! Take Apis to anywhere safe!"…I heard Nami shouting from the crow's nest.

"Understood!", I shouted back, stood back up, trying to balance my body, because the ship was swaying with the waves, and went to where Apis was. She, Sanji and Zoro were still on top of each other due to that first shake up. They quickly left, leaving Apis to me.

"Apis-chan! Let's get inside the room!", I said while holding her arm.

"No! I have to stay close of Ryuuji!", she said, yanking off from my grip and running to the back of the ship.

"Fool! You're not gonna do nothing standing close of Ryuuji and putting your life at risk! Come with me!", I said, going after her and trying not to slide off…

"Ryuuji's all alone there and can't do anything! I must stay close of him!"…she said while the ship leaned and she was desperately trying to run, but going nowhere and finally sliding off until hitting the opposite railing.

"Please, can you listen to me? We're gonna be in danger if we just stay here for any longer!"…I said while I, slowly, holding myself in the room railing, slid to where she was. But I ended up letting my hand slip up, hit the side of the ship where she was and I was almost thrown off the ship! The only thing that saved me were the ropes that hold the front sail in place…

"Dan-niichan!", Apis screamed.

"Ow… please, help me!", I screamed back, desperately.

The ship leaned again and she ended up sliding off to the other side and I could grab the ship and get back in. I slid again and bumped on Apis… but I tried to climb until I got a hold of a corner of the entrance to the room, I grabbed Apis and kept awaiting until the ship got right again.

It didn't take too long until the ship was straightened again, although still shaking a bit due to the strong waves.

"Phew… that was close!", I said, relieved and brushing the hair off my field of vision.

I flinched for a moment when a lightning struck the sea and created a visible shockwave in the water! When I got back to myself, I saw Luffy still standing at the front of the ship!

Me: "Luffy! Get here quick! It's dangerous to stay there!"

Luffy turned to me and said: "Hm? Dan… Apis, where's she?"

Me: "She's right he-…are? EEEEEHHH?"

And in this moment, I realized that Apis was gone, she ran away from me!

Oh, that's great… in the middle of a freaking storm I have to take care of a stubborn little brat!

I went to the back of the ship, walking carefully because the ship swayed violently.

"Ryuuji! Ryuuji! Don't you worry! This storm's not gonna sto-Aaaaahhh!", I could hear Apis saying and screaming when a wave hit the railing of the ship…

"Apis-chan!", I shouted… I saw the girl leaning against the railing… I tried to run to save her… but the ship rocked again, she fell on the ground and I saw the ropes loosening up!

"Oh no! The ropes!", I ran to try to pull them back… Apis did the same with the other rope… I turned my attentions back to the rope that slid off my hands… I tried to pull it with all my strength but the rope… won't… stop!

"Dan! Open way! Go to the other side!"…I heard this and turned… to see Zoro bringing the other rope to where I stood.

I nodded and we exchanged positions in order to stop the ropes from loosening up.

"Ryuuji! No! What are you talking about? We're gonna save you! Don't you give up on me now!", I heard Apis shouting… "Didn't we promise that we would find the Dragon's Nest?"

"GOMU GOMU NOOOO… NAGENAWA! (Gum Gum Lasso)"…and suddenly, I saw Luffy's arm stretching to catch one of the cart wheel's junctions and hold onto it.

Apis: "Luffy!"

Me: "Captain!"

"Leave it to me! I promised we'd take you to the Dragon's Nest, didn't I?", Luffy said.

"Yeah!", Apis replied.

"Yosh! Zoro! Dan! Hold these ropes the tightest you can!", he ordered.

Zoro: "Right!"

Me: "Your desire's an order, Captain!"

And we kept holding the ropes tightly… I was about to get a blister on my hands… they were getting hot due to the friction with the rope… and I also saw some dark stains… the rope was sliding slowly… until we finally saw the skies turning blue again, the rain finally stopped and the waves got calmer… we went through the storm!

"Ah… finally!", I said… while Zoro and I tied the ropes in the back mast again and Luffy's arm snapped back in place. I saw my hands and they were bright red with the irritation. I done some hand stretching and put them behind my head.

"Phew… that was pretty close!"…I said while walking to the lower deck. Nami, Usopp and Sanji stood in the front deck. We arrived where they were while seeing an island come into our views. The island in the middle of the storm…

Nami: "So… this island is surrounded by a stormy sea… how mysterious… it's just like some sort of obstacle put here in order to let no one get here… That may be why this island was never found before."

Me, leaning against the railing: "Wow! Is this the Lost Island?"

Luffy: "You know this? This island looks more like a castle in the middle of the sea than a proper island…"

Me: "Yeah… looking from this distance… it's just like a castle! It must be pretty interesting…"

It didn't take long until we docked at the island.

Usopp: "Look at that! Don't you think it looks just like a dragon? This explains it all! This is really the island where the Sennenryuu live!"

Luffy: "Haaaa… These dragons really are skilled!"

Sanji: "Aho! It's crystal clear that these buildings were made by humans!"

Me: "Is it that humans and dragons lived together here?"

Sanji: "It's kinda possible…"

The shore had stone buildings… or ruins that were already accumulating mosses. It makes the island look like it's abandoned since some time ago.

Zoro: "Independent of whether they lived together or not…"

Luffy completed: "…what matters is that we finally arrived… at the Lost Island!"

We anchored our ship and finally set foot in solid land… at the Lost Island.

"I'd like to know for how long no one set foot around here… It's like the jungle seized control of about everything around here…", Sanji said.

Me: "It must have been a long time… and sincerely, I think something happened… some sort of incident around here… because, look, this place's all ruins now… and the buildings were taken over by the greenery."

Nami: "You sure?"

Me: "It's just a kinda wild supposition…"

Nami: "Still about that… Do you have any idea of where the Dragon's Nest is?"

"Oi! Ryuuji! Ryu-uji! We already arrived at the island of the Dragon's Nest! Come on! Wake up!"…we heard Apis saying.

I came closer to the scene, leaning against the cart.

Me: "Apis-chan? What's wrong? What did he say?"

She turned to me and said: "He said that he doesn't know… Maybe here… maybe we're not at the Lost Island"…what?

Zoro: "What?"

Sanji: "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Me: "But… Luffy told me that Ryuuji told you that he remembered where Lost Island is! It can only be here!"

Usopp: "Besides… we've been through such a hardship to overcome that huge storm back then and come here!"

"Apis! Guys!"…huh?

Luffy: "Look at that top! If we go there, we'll be able to see the entire island!"

Nami, getting close to the car: "He's right… we won't get too far if we just stay here only thinking and doing nothing. Let's go?"

Me: "You have a point… Apis-chan, wanna take a look up there?"

Apis: "Yes!"

Then it was settled that we were going to the top of the island. Nami and Apis were walking ahead while the five of us were in charge of pushing the cart. I helped Sanji and Usopp push the cart while Luffy and Zoro stood at the front and pulled it.

"Man… that Nami… leaving all the work for us men to do! Why doesn't she help as well?", Usopp whined as he struggled to push the cart…

"Are you nuts? No matter how much you complain, you're already supposed to know that if we're available and at women's service to hard work, we must always do it!", I replied.

Nami: "You over there! Less chatting and more pushing!", Nami said from the front.

"Don't you get too cocky, you witch!", Usopp said.

Sanji: "Don't call her witch, you bastard!"…now talking about Nami… "Yes, my dear! I will stop the chit-chat and keep pushing because I'm at your service! Ah… Nami-san's just divine when she's all lively!"

Usopp: "Ah… just shut up!"

Me: "Can you stop complaining and keep pushing?"

Usopp merely grunted annoyedly. I then let out a sigh… I had nothing to complain about. Well, ok, I'm strong because of all my training from hell and pushing a huge cart carrying a dragon who weighs some tons isn't too hard.

"A village…"

We stopped the car to take a look. I was at the extreme back, right behind the dragon, thus, I had to leave my post and get in the front to actually see anything. And what I saw was a ruined city with trees and plants ingrained in the destroyed buildings.

I got back to the car and we walked while checking out the village.

Luffy: "Incredible… everything's all destroyed… It looks like there really were people who lived here…"

Zoro: "That's obvious, with so many houses around here…"

Usopp: "Then why there's no one else living here?"

Sanji: "Dunno… maybe they found somewhere else to live…"

Me: "…or, somehow, they got exterminated or stuff like this…"

Usopp and Sanji were giving me a funny look…

"What? It's just a hypothesis! Ok, it's more ominous, but still!", I said trying to excuse myself.

We went past a grassy field where Apis stopped. Then she returned with a bird in her shoulder and said: "Y'know? This bird have just told me something! There's a building with dragon marks in the top of the mountain!"

Me: "Really?"

And Apis ran after us. Nami didn't follow her, though, instead, she kept looking at the ruined buildings.

"Nami! Hurry! You'll be left behind!", I shouted.

"Wait!", she said while running after us.

We went up for a bit more until we stopped in front of a big gate with weird dragon-ish drawings marked on it.

"One, two!"…Luffy said and we gave the final push on the cart. Usopp sat on the ground, exhausted from working this much.

"Phew! We finally made it to the top… That was harsh!", I said while stretching my arms and shaking them to try to ward off the built strain. I went where the ladies stood and saw the green little bird leaving.

"Thank you for taking us up here!", Apis thanked… then talked to us: "Guys, thanks for the help and good job!"

Nami: "Good job, boys!"

Me: "You're welcome… that was piece o' cake!"

Sanji: "I'm always at your service, Nami-san!"

She then faced the wall: "This image… is it one of a Sennenryuu?"

Luffy: "Yeah… kinda looks like it."

Sanji: "Is this the building where is the Dragon's Nest?"

Usopp: "Here?"

Zoro: "Wait a second… the entrance… where is it?"

Me: "That's right… how are we supposed to get in?"

Luffy, pointing to the wall: "This is the entrance!"

Nami: "Fool… we got no keys or stuff to open it!"

I saw Apis approaching the gate… I then realized that on the painting marked on the gate, there was a small hole… a hole in place of one of the fingers of the dragon's paw.

Nami: "Apis… your pendant… is it…?"

Me: "The key to open the door to the Dragon's Nest?"

Sanji: "Seems so… the pendant and the hole seem to fit each other…"

Apis approached a bit more… but when she tried to fit the pendant in the hole…

"Ahh… I can't reach!"

Luffy: "Haha! You're too small for this, right, Apis?"

"Any problems?", she said, angry.

"Yosh! Leave this with me.", he said, took the pendant from Apis and went to the gate put it in place. Suddenly… "Are? Is it me or I'm getting smaller as well?", Luffy said…

Me: "No… I think it's the ground that's falling!"…and I meant it… the ground started rumbling and then it broke in pieces in a matter of seconds. We fell in a cave just below. After the impact on the ground, I sat back up, cleaned the dust off and took a look on our surroundings.

"We… we're alive, aren't we?", Usopp asked.

Zoro: "It seems so…"

Sanji: "Speaking about that… whose idea was to use the pendant as a key up there again?"

Apis smiled sheepishly… and received back her pendant from Luffy. We stood back up and cleaned the rest of the dust.

Sanji, while standing up: "Well… this doesn't matter right now… what really matters is that we're in."

Apis smiled and gave a thumbs up: "Everything's alright!"

"Oooooo… this tomb's really wide!"…I said while spinning and looking at the place that was also filled with plenty of logs and branches ingrained in its interior. This cave looked more like a room of a castle, since it had some weird inscriptions and markings on its walls.

Zoro: "But… what is this place?"

Luffy: "And… what do you think about this?"

"What's this?"

Suddenly, we found ourselves looking at the ceiling. The ceiling was significantly damaged, but there's still sort of a drawing marked in it.

* * *

**Dan: "Phew... all we got so far was to see an island with buildings and jungle mixed together and a drawing in the ceiling! What could it possibly mean?"**

**Wait for it! There will be more twists awaiting the pirates.**

**On the next chapter: They are going to make an important discovery that will lead them to the true whereabouts of Lost Island. But... a known enemy of theirs will put himself in the way of the pirates... again! What will happen?**

**Look forward for Chapter 38!  
**


	38. The whirlwind is back? We're so lucky

**Chapter 38**

**"Discovery! The true Lost Island and the return of the whirlwind!"

* * *

**

We all looked at some drawings painted on the ceiling. There was a big house… and dragons, for the little I could see.

Luffy: "Wow! That's huge! But what's that image?"

I asked: "What can it possibly mean?"

"It looks like a kind of map… ow! Ow!", Usopp said, while still standing up.

Sanji: "But… it's everything crumbling apart, we can't see it properly. By the way, what's all about this place? Shouldn't it be the Dragon's Nest?"

Me, still looking at the ceiling: "It should… but there are no dragons here… and this definitely doesn't look like a nest…"

Luffy: "What do you think, Apis?"

Apis, standing close to Ryuuji, said, looking worriedly: "I don't know… Ryuuji also told me that he doesn't know this place either…"

Usopp: "Frankly… yet again, there's the old dragon that doesn't help in nothing!"

"Say what?", Apis asked angrily.

Usopp: "Isn't it true?"

Apis: "And what about you, in what did you help so far?"

Usopp: "Me?"

"Hey, guys! Come here check this out! A chunk of the ceiling's fallen down here.", I blinked and turned when I heard Luffy saying this. And I saw him looking at a giant piece of rubble that had a dragon painted in it. I decided to take a closer look.

I heard Apis saying: "How big!"

I completed: "And it has a dragon painted."

Usopp, getting close of the rubble: "Ahhh… it looks like this place's gonna fall apart! If we don't hurry, we're going to be in danger! Let's get the hell outta here quick!"

Apis: "But we're possibly at the Dragon's Nest!"

Usopp: "Even if you say this, not counting Ryuuji, there's no dragon around here!"

"Wait a minute…"…I heard this and turned to Nami.

Sanji: "What's up, Nami-san?"

"This… might not be the Lost Island.", Nami said.

"See?", Usopp told to Apis.

Apis got annoyed and replied: "Don't behave like a wise man since you don't know anything!"

Luffy: "And how do you know this, Nami?"

"Look to the ceiling.", Nami said.

And we did so. As we looked the ceiling, Nami explained: "Look it closely. This is map that shows the location of Lost Island. That island that has a building in the shape of a dome… It represents this island… and this dome is where we are now."

Sanji: "It makes sense."

Nami continued: "So, these people surrounding the island must be the ones who first inhabited it a long time ago. Maybe they're Apis's ancestors or something like that."

Me: "Yeah… when you look closely… they dress just like Apis. You have a point."

"Our… ancestors?", Apis asked.

"Do you remember what grandpa Bokuden said?", Nami asked us.

Luffy, plainly: "No. I slept."

Nami: "Come on! Don't you remember he telling us that the inhabitants of Warship Island came originally from a different island?"

Luffy: "Hmmm… You sure?"

Me: "Hmmm… I think I remember that he said this… since this part was before I slept."

Usopp: "So does it mean that the royal court he told us about belonged to this island?"

Nami: "Probably."

Me: "That maybe explains why we saw so many statues and sculptures of dragons since we set foot on this island… Maybe humans and dragons lived together…"

Nami: "And that's not all. Maybe the humans of this island treated the dragons like gods, worshipping them. Long ago, the Sennenryuu might have flown freely around here."

Usopp: "I see… That makes the chances of the Dragon's Nest being here very low…"

Apis: "But… If it's like this, then where's the true Lost Island?"

Zoro, looking above: "Isn't it in that island that has a dragon painted next to it?"

Usopp, Apis and I looked above as well. Meanwhile, Nami explained: "Exactly. You can note that there's an island before the place where the people are praying, right? This may be the true Lost Island… and it also may be where the Dragon's Nest is!"…but while I looked at the painting, I couldn't help but notice something. The island Nami talked about had a very familiar shape… it took me some thinking… until I finally noticed!

"Hold on a second!", I said.

"What's up, Dan?", Usopp asked.

I was still looking above when I said: "This same island… the one before the people praying… don't you think it has a very familiar shape?"

Apis: "Wait… the shape of the island…"

Nami completed: "Yes… if you look closely to the shape in which this island was painted… you'd deduce that the Dragon's Nest is at Warship Island."

Usopp: "But… Nami! Didn't you tell us that there wasn't any Dragon's Nest at Warship Island?"

Nami: "But that's what's drawn on the map! Or do you think the ancestors drew all of this without any purpose?"

Me: "It looks to me that we ended up losing a trip, that's it! Ah… after all that toil, we're gonna get back to the start! So why didn't we stay there to begin with?"

Nami: "If we stayed there, how were we supposed to know?"

Sanji: "There's no way Nami-san can be wrong, guys! Probably, the Dragon's Nest is in some part of the island. If we get back there, we'll find it for sure!"

Nami: "But… I'm also considering the chance of this island already being sunk at the sea… Yes, that's perfectly possible that it was what happened."

Me: "It can also explain why no one has ever found it before."

Nami: "Yeah…"

I saw Apis running to the dragon… and begging him: "Ryuuji! Oi, Ryuuji! Please, you gotta remember, Ryuuji! Where's the Dragon's Nest? We thought we have found it here, but there's nothing! Only drawings… Ryuuji! Look at those paintings! Do you remember something? We have nowhere to go unless you remember! Please! Remember where it is, Ryuuji!"

There was some silence… when I was looking above, I noted a small group of green birds entering and flying around the ceiling… and then I saw Ryuuji widen his eyes.

"Oi! Ryuuji's eyes have changed… I think he remembered something!", I said.

Apis: "Ryuuji…"

There was a pause.

"Yosh… I think this Dragon's Nest is really at Warship Island.", Luffy said.

Apis turned to him and asked: "Huh? And how do you know that?"

Luffy: "Dunno. I just know and that's all."

Apis: "You're right… Ryuuji just told me he remembered!"

"See?", I said.

"East from the top, in a place which looks like a warship… there's where the Dragon's Nest is!", Apis said.

I sighed and said: "So we really need to get back to Warship Island…"

Usopp: "Well, well… We came all the way to here for what again?"

Me, trying to consolate him: "Maa, maa… I think it wasn't a complete waste of time… At least we got to know that we have to get back to Warship Island because there's where the Dragon's Nest is."

"Sorry…"…huh? It was Apis, saddened, her head lowered: "I knew that this island could have sunk in the sea long ago… and, still, I dragged you all here to search for it… I think it was a waste of time, after all…"

Usopp: "Don't say that… we still have a chance!"

Apis then turned to him.

"Who knows, maybe this Dragon's Nest is in some unusual place! But we don't have how to know if we don't search for it, right?"…Usopp continued.

"That's right! To get all depressed just because of that isn't anything normal of a girl like you, Apis."…Nami said.

Sanji: "Being so afraid of making mistakes leads a person not to want to do anything."

Zoro: "Learning with life isn't that bad after all."

"Guys…"

Me, while approaching her and crouching: "Yes, yes. And… besides, we already decided that we would help you find the Dragon's Nest, didn't we? Everyone makes mistakes, Apis. Nobody's perfect."…I then caressed the little girl's head while telling her, grinning: "And if we got everything right, our life wouldn't be nearly as fun as it is, right?"…I then stood back up and said: "Yosh! And now… let's go?"

Luffy: "Yeah! Ryuuji's not gonna get better if we keep here and do nothing, right?"

"Ou! Thanks!", Apis replied.

There was a silence and everyone grinned to each other… then Zoro readied his sword. I couldn't help but notice.

"Zoro-san?", I said.

Nami: "Something wrong, Zoro?"

"There's somebody else here."

Usopp: "Huh?"

"It's up there.", Zoro said.

I looked up to the great hole through which we fell and surely, there was someone standing there.

"Who's there?", I shouted.

"Heheheh… Thanks for the guidance. Now I know where to find the Dragon's Nest…"…this voice…

"You again?", Luffy said…

"The Erik who ate the Okama no Mi!", I said.

Usopp: "Okama no Mi?"

"IT'S KAMA KAMA NO MI!", Erik shouted… then calmed down and said: "Although it's already known where the Dragon's Nest is, it's worth nothing if it's underwater. Then I decided that I'm taking this Sennenryuu with me."

"What you say?", I whispered, while pulling out my pencil.

"No! We barely know if the Dragon's Nest is submerged or not!", Apis screamed.

Sanji: "What a pain… having to deal with weirdos like him…"

Zoro, walking and looking above: "Luffy… get Ryuuji and get back to the ship."

"Hm?"

"I'll go later.", he said, grinning.

Luffy grinned back. "Got it."

"Back to the ship, you say… but… I see no exit around here!"…Usopp said.

"If there's no exits available… let's just make one!", I said… "Enpitsu…"

"Wait!"…Luffy interrupted me.

"Huh?"…oh man! I hate being interrupted when I wanna do something and nobody lets me!

Luffy: "I'll take care of this!"…he then suddenly dashed… heading towards a wall…

"ORYAAAAAAAAA!"…he headbutted the wall… and fell in the ground.

"Oi, Luffy! What the hell was this?", I snapped.

"Huh? Are… I was sure I was gonna break the wall…"

Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi…

"You're really…"…I was about to finish the sentence when I saw, moments later… the part of the wall at Luffy's right crumbling and making a huge hole! "…AMAZING!"

Luffy, sitting: "Hehe! Look, it's done!"

"Ih… that's something out of a caveman…", Sanji said.

He then stood up and rushed to the car… "Yosh! It's alright, alright! Let's dash off!"

"You're not gonna escape!"…Erik… he jumped from where he stood and started attacking Zoro… moments later… they kept fighting… and Luffy spaced out…

"LUFFY, YOU DUMBO! QUIT FOOLING AROUND AND GET OUTTA HERE!", Zoro shouted.

"Ah, sorry.", Luffy replied… "Guys! Board the cart, quick!"…Luffy ordered us.

We all boarded the cart and tugged to the dragon. Luffy went to the front.

Nami: "Luffy… hold on… what are you gonna…?"

"We're going outta here!"…he said this and suddenly, he pulled the car and we started moving, going through the hole… and plunging into a fall several hundred feet tall!

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! We're gonna die, we're gonna diiiiee!", I screamed desperately when I saw that there was a very wide gap between the wheels of the car and the ground! That together with my irrational acrophobia… "I don't wanna look!"…then I closed my eyes, feeling strong bangs as we went forward.

Usopp: "I still don't believe how we manage to get our asses safe…"

Nami: "This is anything but safe, you jerk!"

"We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die…"

"STOP MUTTERING IT! WE'RE ON GROUND NOW! OPEN YOUR EYES!", Nami then hit me in the head… I opened my eyes… then looked behind… to see ground! We're on the ground!

"Yay! We didn't die!", I screamed

"AHO!"…Nami… "Luffy! Do something! If it stays like this, we're gonna turn into shreds before we get to the ship!"

Luffy: "It's alright, alright!"

Nami: "WHAT'S 'ALRIGHT'?"

We progressed for some while…

"Luffy! Is Zoro gonna be alright? His opponent is a Devil's Fruit user!", I could hear Apis asking.

"He's gonna be alright! Don't worry!", I heard Luffy replying.

Apis: "But no matter how strong Zoro is, he's not a match!"

Luffy: "Still, he's gonna be alright!"

"LUFFY! LOOK OUT!"

Me: "What's wrong?"

Apis turned to me and said: "There's an entrance and I think the car won't fit!"

Me: "NANI?"…and I thought: "Oh shit."

"I WANT MY MOMMYYYY!"…yet again, I desperately shouted… closed my eyes… and then I felt the cart jumping and hitting the ground again. I opened my eyes to finally realize that the cart kept in its path.

"Ah… another dead end! What do we do?", Apis shouted.

Luffy: "Dunno… let's crash it?"

Nami: "NO! As per I can remember, this is the same hill we passed by! If we do that, we're gonna plunge into a cliff and be dead meat!"

"I'm very grateful for all the moments I went through with you all…"…I said, already defeatist…

"STOP SA-"…Nami stopped midsentence when we realized that the car had just lost one of its wheels and was going outta control! We arrived at a downhill part… where there were walls! We went down a bit, then crashed into a wall… going down again and crashing again… all in a zigzag motion… and my body was thrown back and forth… we then spun, to keep going down, but with only three wheels and the car had already left debris on its way.

And the car came on "reverse" when we finally arrived at the shore where the Going Merry was anchored!

Nami: "It looks like we made it safely…"

Usopp: "I would keep it to myself, considering our luck today…"

And suddenly, the car hit something that stopped it immediately… and there was no strength that made us withstand the shock and be still on the car. We got thrown out and ended up flying to splash in the water… I mean, Sanji, Nami and Usopp fell on the water. I crashed on the ship to, then, fall on the water.

"We're here! Prepare the ship! We're going now!", Luffy said.

Nami: "No more of this, please…"

Sanji: "Bastard…"

Usopp: "I'm gonna kill you…"

"Ah… we're finally here… that was a hell of a ride…"…I said, still very dizzy due to the shock and passed out, floating in the water.

"Luffy! Luffy!"…huh?

I sit back when I heard this.

"The birds told me that Zoro's in trouble! What do we do? We gotta help him!", Apis said.

Me: "How are we gonna help him? We did all the way back to the ship! He's gonna have to handle it on his own!"

Luffy: "Hold it! I got an idea!"

Sanji: "I have sort of a bad feeling about this…"

Nami: "Let's board the ship?"

Me: "Yes. Let's go, Usopp?", I said, while making Usopp stand up.

Apis grabbed binoculars and searched for Zoro.

"There!"

"Hehe! ZORO!"…Luffy screamed while stretching an arm… "Ah… gotcha!"

"Sugoi!", Apis said.

Me: "Where did I see this scene again?"

Sanji: "My bad feeling's not over yet…"

Luffy: "Get back!"…he pulled his arm back, bringing Zoro with it. Then, he crashed into Luffy and both crashed in the main mast.

"Ah, sorry."…Luffy said while getting up again.

"I, someday… am gonna kill you, you…"…poor Zoro…

Nami: "Now hurry! We still have to face that storm again!"

Me: "What?"…I grunted annoyedly… but ended giving up. "Ahn… that's a pain…"

And we went through the same storm from when we came here. The ship swayed as hell… I was almost thrown out again… but to compensate, the ropes handled it and we could leave this sea through the "mirror".

"We're out!", Luffy said.

Sanji: "But it sure gives a weird feeling…"

Me: "Didn't you feel it when we got in?"

Nami: "We might have left this sea, but we're still gonna have to get around the Marine. Stay alert!"

All: "Right!"

Some minutes later, I went to the back of the ship to see a few Marine ships appearing on our horizons.

Me, while running back to the front of the room: "There's five Marine ships chasing us!"

Usopp, still looking back: "Oooo… it's true! They're coming after us!"

Nami: "Compared with that giant Marine ship, the Going Merry can be maneuvered more easily, but… Oi! What do you plan on doing when we get to Warship Island?"…she asked Luffy.

"It's alright!"…Luffy replied.

Nami: "BUT WHAT?"

Luffy: "It's only a matter of finding the Dragon's Nest first… and if we take Ryuuji there, he'll be healthy again, right?"

Sanji: "You talk as if everything's easy… Don't forget that the Dragon's Nest might've already sunk underwater, you see?"

Luffy: "Then, we search underwater!"

Me: "You, eh…"

Zoro: "A hammer like you doesn't have the right to say this."

Nami: "But for now… let's focus in getting outta here as quickly as possible! We can't waste time taking care of the marines!"

"Nami-san… looks like it's not gonna be possible.", Sanji said.

"Why?"

Me: "Look!"…I pointed to a ship coming in our direction. "It seems to me that it's their fleet's flagship."

Luffy: "COOL! It's like a sea gargoyle!"

Moments later… and in an instant… the ship revealed itself to be at the lead of a huge fleet of several ships!

Sanji: "That's impossible!"

Zoro: "Damn you, Marines… How many ships do they have?"

Me: "One, two, three, ten, twenty, uh… I lost it… Well, what matters is this: WE'RE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED!"

* * *

**Usopp: "Aaaaahhh! We're completely surrounded! This is it! What do we do? We're gonna sink here!"**

**Zoro: "Calm down, Usopp! We're gonna pass through it somehow."**

**Dan: "Although I'm unsure about it... Will we be alright?"**

**Luffy: "It's gonna be alright for sure! Guys, let's go!"**

**On the next chapter: Even though they successfully escaped Erik's whirlwinds, they are currently facing an even more dangerous threat! The Marine prepared a trap to surround the adventurers and put an end to their hopes of proceeding until Lost Island! Will they be able to overcome this apparently impenetrable obstacle? Will they overcome the attack of the Marine forces?**

**Don't miss Chapter 39!  
**


	39. Trapped with no way out!

**Chapter 39**

**"Luffy completely surrounded! The Marine fleet's secret plan"

* * *

**

"WE'RE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED!"

Sanji, from the front deck: "What… there are only ships… we can still get past them. It could get worse!"

When someone tells me something COULD get worse… it GETS worse… In a matter of moments, the ships started connecting each other with chains, in order to form an impenetrable barrier.

I gave a mean look to Sanji… he merely smiled.

Me: "It. Got. Worse. We're surrounded… WITH NO WAY OUT!"

Apis: "What are we gonna do?"

Usopp: "Heheh… what do you think we can do? Our only option is to raid the ships, kick out the tripulants and cut the chains!"

Apis: "Incredible! And you can really do all of that, Usopp?"

I merely cleaned my throat. "Ahem…"

Usopp: "GO! Luffy! Zoro! Sanji! Dan!"

Oi… "I knew it…"

I still was incredulous about that plan working.

Zoro: "It doesn't look like a bad idea…"

Apis: "Do you mean it? I mean, no matter how many lives you have, we're not gonna…"

"Apis… don't worry. We're gonna make it somehow!", Nami said while patting the little girl's shoulder.

Me: "Do I have to tag along as well?"

Nami: "Of course! Go!"…and she pushed me to get to the front deck.

"Geez…", I muttered.

While I was going up the stairs, she said: "And get to make quick work of them, right?"

Sanji: "Leave it to us, Nami-san!"

Luffy: "Right! Let's go!"

I sighed and said while pulling out my pencil: "Guess there's no other choice… shall we go, then?"

Moments later, the Marine ships started firing warning shots.

Zoro: "These marines… they can barely fire a cannon properly…"

Me: "That's obvious. Although they received the order to attack us, they can't do it because they may risk hurting the Sennenryuu, which is exactly what they don't want."

"Ah… Apis! It's dangerous out here! Get back inside!"…I heard, then turned my head to see Apis fallen on the ground.

"I can't… I have to stay close of Ryuuji!"…stubborn girl… even with the Marine firing against us, she keeps insisting on that…

I simply sighed.

Zoro: "Why are you sighing?"

"Hm?"

"Don't lose your focus. Our time to act will come very, very soon. And it's better that you're ready.", Zoro said.

"Right!", I replied. "Enpitsu Bou!"

After my pencil converted itself in a staff, I heard the noise of a cannon being fired… then the ship rocked violently. I had to get a hold of myself in the railing not to fall. I then heard a thump coming from below.

"Oooww! We were hit in the back!"

I turned to see Usopp with his hands on his head, panicking and running from a side to the other.

"Usopp-kun?"

"Oi, Sanji, Dan! We were hit! My word! Aah, it's all over! We're gonna sink!"

"Calm down, Usopp! They didn't hit us.", Sanji said, unaffected by the cannon shots.

Usopp, calming down: "Eh? Really?"

I completed: "Yeah! Like I said, they don't wanna hit us because they might risk hurting the Sennenryuu they're looking after instead."

Usopp, more relieved: "Ahh… we're safe…"…and then, ranting: "Who was it, huh? Who's the wise guy who thought of that ridiculous plan, eh?"

"It was you.", Zoro stated plainly.

"That's good! Very good! Go!", Luffy, excited, and crouching in the sheep figurehead.

"Ah… I can barely understand how he can have fun in the middle of all of this…", I said.

Luffy: "Oi! There's a cannonball coming over here."

I looked to my left and surely, there was one coming towards us.

Nami, from the cabin, steering the helm: "This is the most I can do around here! Do something yourself!"

"Leave it to me! Gomu Gomu no…"…Luffy said while running to the left side of the ship. "…FUUSEN! (Gum Gum Balloon)", he inhaled heavily, turning into a balloon…

…and sending the cannonball right back to strike one of the surrounding Marine ships!

"Haha! Bullseye!", I said, grinning.

Some moments went by, and then, on our right side, the flagship started preparing a big cannon, even greater than those of the formation ships.

"Oh crap… what the hell is that?", Nami said, from the room railing: "If we take a hit from that thing, the ship's gonna become dust!"

Luffy: "It's alright! I can send the shots back."

Me: "Luffy! How nonchalant, you…!"

Nami: "Don't be ridiculous! We have to change our direction, therefore, start turning the ship! Hurry!"

Then Luffy and Zoro dashed to the rear sail.

"Ah, wait!", I said while running after them to the rear deck of the ship. Luffy then adjusted the sail.

"It's an eye for an eye! I'll show them what I'm capable of. Take this!"…Usopp then shot the cannon… and the ball went straight inside the barrel of their cannon… that exploded instead of firing.

"Usopp-kun… your aiming skills surprise me even more!", I said.

Usopp then stood in a confident pose and with a fist over his chest, boasting and grinning.

"Hahaha! What do you think of this one, huh? That's what you get when Lord Usopp here gets serious!"

Sanji: "What… that was pure luck, I guess."

Zoro: "Possibly."

Usopp, angry: "What? I can do it again at any moment! See me to believe!"

"Usopp, awesome!", Apis said, from the car, and giving a thumbs up to Usopp, who replied doing the same.

I came to the railing: "Apis-chan! Come here! It's dangerous to stay there!", I had only seen Apis in the car about now.

"I have to stay with Ryuuji!", she replied.

"If a cannonball hits you, I won't be responsible, get it?", I said. But I was sure they wouldn't hit because the Sennenryuu was with her.

"It's alright. Don't worry. Remember, you also have to protect Apis, right?", Luffy said.

"Who are you talking to?", Usopp asked.

Luffy: "With Ryuuji."

"Eh?"

Nami arrived and said: "Now this is our chance. Let's attack quick and swiftly, break the chains while they're distracted and open our way to get outta here!"

"Right, Nami-san!", Sanji said, giving her a thumbs up.

"Heheh, leave it to us!", I said, grinning.

Zoro: "Luffy, it's your turn."

"Ok, let's go! Gomu Gomu no… Hashiwatashi! (Gum Gum Bridge)"…Luffy stretched his arm, connecting Merry with a Marine ship.

"Got it! Go!", Luffy said.

"Ou!", we replied.

We crossed the "bridge" to get to the ship. When we arrived there, we heard something coming near… and bump in Zoro. It was Luffy, joining us.

"Sorry, Zoro…"

"You…!"

They quickly stood back up and we headed to where the chains were.

"Steel chains.", Zoro said.

"Can you cut them?", Luffy asked.

Zoro: "There's nothing I cannot cut!"

Luffy: "Yeah? So take care of them."

Suddenly several doors opened at the same time and from them tens of marines came out wielding swords and surrounding us.

Me: "Ah, ah… we got surrounded again… But I don't know what's with these guys… They only come here to get their asses kicked!"

Sanji: "I'm already getting fed up of taking care of weaklings like these here."

Luffy: "I'll get the ones in the right."

Me: "The ones in the middle are mine."

Sanji: "Either way it's fine to me."

Zoro: "I'll leave the small fish to you."

The three of us: "Right!"

"Because you infuriated Admiral Nelson, we cannot let you pass through here!", one of the marines said. The following moment, the group dashed to attack us.

I grinned and said: "Yosh… Kakatte koi! (Come!) Guys, attack!", I said and snapped my fingers.

Luffy and Sanji: "Ou!"

Luffy: "Gomu Gomu no… Muchi! (Gum Gum Whip)"

Sanji: "Collier… Shoot! (Neck Shoot)"

Me: "Shouroku! (Summary)"

With these attacks, we left the first wave of marines down. Why the first? Because after we heard one of the chains falling on water, more marines coming from other ships crossed through the remaining chains to attack us.

Luffy: "Gomu Gomu no… Gatling Gun!"…he machine-gunned the marines with a barrage of quick punches. But it didn't take too long until yet another squad came to attack us.

"Geez… how persistent!", I said, annoyed.

Luffy: "Leave them with me."…then he ran to meet the group: "Hey, marines! I'm here! Come and get me if you can!"…with it, he caught the attention of the marines… there were roughly a hundred of them.

"Hahaha! They're coming, they're coming!", he said, happily as always. I noticed he was gradually stretching both arms and grouping the marines together.

"Gomu Gomu no… Pachinko! (Gum Gum Pinball)"…as the spring that launches the ball in the pinball, he launched himself, pushing the marines out of the ship.

"Done!", Luffy said, while flexing an arm.

Me, turning my staff back in a pencil and putting it back in my pocket: "Ah… how boring… That's not fair! Luffy, you managed to snatch all the fun!"

"Ah, sorry!", Luffy turned to apologize while putting a hand over his hat.

Meanwhile, yet another chain fell down in the water.

We noticed that there was still one chain left for us to break through the barrier. Nami and Usopp also, supposedly, noticed it as well, because they started moving the ship. But suddenly…

The water splashed strongly three times… and I felt a harsh breeze after that.

I ran to the front of the ship to take a look at the scene and I saw a small boat approaching Going Merry. And boarding it was Erik of the whirlwind, together with two rowers and a coxswain. They were approaching the car where the Sennenryuu and Apis were. We could only watch the scene, doing nothing.

Me: "Hey, guys, come here!"

"Hm?", Sanji and Zoro came.

Sanji, while coming: "What's up?"

Me: "Look… it's the Erik guy! He's boarding that boat!"

Luffy, coming later: "What's happening?"

Sanji: "It's that guy…"

Luffy: "And what's he doing?"

Zoro: "It looks like he's making Apis a hostage in order to capture the dragon."

"That's bad!", Luffy said, putting his hands on the railing, with intentions of going there and saving Apis.

Me: "Luffy, hold it!"

Zoro: "If you punch him, that guy is gonna use that whirlwind attack and kill Apis and the others!"

"Is that so? Understood." Luffy said, only to put a foot over the railing: "I'm gonna kick him, then!"

Zoro hit him in the head: "Pay attention to me!"

"Oh no! Guys! Apis-chan and the Sennenryuu are being taken away!", I said, pointing to the ship towing the cart and going away.

Moments later, the Marine ships started firing again… but this time, they shot aiming on the boat where Erik stood.

Zoro: "Look… what are they doing?"

Me: "They're shooting against Erik's boat… what's up with them?"

Sanji: "Do you remember what he said when we were at that island? This Erik told us that he's a mercenary at the service of some Commodore Nelson. I don't know who this guy is, but I guess Erik's betraying him to get the Ryuukotsu (dragon bones) to himself."

Me: "Marine bastards… How can they dare to use the good name of an organization, who's supposed to work at the service of the people, for such perverse goals!"

And this idea floated on my head… and I asked myself again: Why the hell the idea of enlisting myself in the Marines went through my head? It's true!

Now, short flashback time. Not long after the pirate attack that took the life of my father, I, still depressed, decided that I would enter the Marines with the simple goal of capturing all evil pirates, protect people and rid the world of evil.

But, as time went by, I came to realize, I don't know how, that the Marine also carries mean-spirited people covered by its blanket… apart from it having a system of blind obedience, grounded in the belief of the "Absolute Justice"… The way I got these informations was already lost in the dusts of time… I only know that I know.

"Look!"…huh?

I "awakened" from my inner flashback and turned my eyes back to the scene. And I saw that the Sennenryuu tried to stand in order to protect Apis and scare Erik away…

In the midst of the cannon fire… the old millennium dragon can still rise and fight back… fantastic! He then rose… spread his wings… and gave an imposing roar that thundered shaking the whole ocean! And hurt the ears of everyone present…

"My… ears!"…I screamed.

Luffy: "Ryuuji… he's roaring!"

Me: "Huh?"

After Ryuuji stopped roaring… it hit me. Ryuuji's finally moving! He's trying to protect Apis!

"Yes! Keep trying! Go, Ryuuji!"

Me: "Huh? Luffy?"

Luffy: "Ryuuji… with all his remaining strength… he's trying to fly!"

Me: "Impossible!"

I looked at the cart again… and the dragon was flapping his wings even more rapidly… until he… he started levitating!

"He… he's… he's flying! RYUUJI IS FLYING!", I shouted, smiling happily.

We all were witnessing something no short of a miracle! A dragon that lost almost all of his strength… a dragon that only lived to wait for his death… this dragon that lighted a small flame of hope when he met Apis… This dragon gained strength to rise back and it's flying!

But our joy was shortlived when… the Marine ships turned their shots to Ryuuji!

"No! Don't shoot! BASTARDS!", I screamed furiously.

Luffy, stretching an arm: "Stop it right now!"

He destroyed some of the cannons… we went to defeat the bunch of soldiers of the nearby ships, but although we were advancing… we couldn't stop all cannons… the shots came from all directions to hit the dragon!

"RYUUJI", I shouted.

This time, I realized how cruel an organization can be just to claim a single goal. And I was on the point of breaking down because I could do nothing to stop it!

But even though the marine ships shot, the dragon didn't flinch. He kept flying… and heading towards the flagship. Even being welcomed with a barrage of gunfire, he didn't stop, he roared to scare the marines and show his strength, instead.

The problem is… that one more barrage of cannon shots… was enough to bring the dragon down to the water.

"Ryuuji! He was taken down… I can't believe it… How can an organization like the Marine… DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"…I snapped, furious with the cruelty of the Marine.

"Unforgivable… Unforgivable! UNFORGIVABLE!"…I whispered, gradually raising my voice, until fully shouting out loud.

Luffy immediately stretched his arm to launch himself until the top of the ship and have a view from above. He went to where Ryuuji was fallen down…

I was kept asking myself what Luffy was talking with Ryuuji, but this question was absolutely dumbfounded. Because I already knew the answer.

Luffy wants to bring the old dragon back!

* * *

**Dan: "I... I can't believe it... how could they do something like this to poor Ryuuji!... I will not forgive them for this!"**

**The dragon was taken down... the situation looks desperate! Will the Straw Hats be able to find the strength to press forward? See on Chapter 40!**


	40. Miraculous gathering of the dragons!

**Chapter 40**

**"The one who flies in the sky! The millennium-old legend is reborn!"

* * *

**

"RYUUJI!", Apis screamed… poor girl…

Luffy was together with the dragon trying to convince him to rise back… but what happened was just the opposite. Ryuuji kept sinking slowly.

"Those heartless… Ryuuji's drowning!", I screamed.

Zoro: "That's really bad…"

Sanji: "At this rate, the dragon won't be able to swim back…"

"Ryuuji! Rise again!", I shouted… but I kept open-mouthed, trying to find any justifiable reason for the Marine to do this… but in the middle of my thinking, I heard the noise of a spear being launched… That snapped me back to my senses. I, then, noticed that a spear tied to a rope has just been fired from the Marine flagship aiming right at the dragon!

"Oh no!"…I said while the spear made its way…

The spear would pierce straight through the dragon… would, if it wasn't stopped in its tracks.

Zoro: "Luffy!"

Me: "He stopped the spear!"

"What are you doing?", I could hear Luffy muttering.

Then a voice echoed from the flagship saying: "You moron… you don't have the barest idea of the extent of the value that the thing under your feet possesses. The only thing I want in this world are this Millennium Dragon's bones. When I get my hands in these bones, I'll have an eternally young body!"…then the voice laughed evilly.

"YOU BASTARD!"…I was caught off guard by Luffy's yelling… he got angry… and threw the spear back to the ship with his bare hands! The throw was as powerful as the shot that preceded it and cracked a wall of the ship.

Luffy: "Ryuuji's not an object! He's our friend! We sailed together! He's a very important friend for us!"

"What a load of nonsense! If you think this way, why don't you sink together with your little friend? You're a nuisance… how you dare to throw a spear against me? Kill that boy as well!"…the voice said.

"These people have a heart of ice!", I said, while thinking with clenched teeth… "Grrr! Ryuuji is there suffering and I'm here with no way to help!"

Moments later, the sea started shaking. Shaking as if it was some sort of earthquake.

Sanji: "What's all about this shaking?"

"The whole ocean's shaking! But what the heck is happening?", I said.

I'd say no one here had the slightest idea of where came this shaking. In the midst of the quake, the marines got back to the shooting. But then, Ryuuji rose his head and roared again. The quake stopped and there was a pause.

Zoro asked: "Why did he roar?"

Me: "Dunno…"

Sanji: "Don't ask me either…"

Moments later, I noticed some tiny dots flying in the sky. These dots grew bigger and bigger and they were approaching where we were.

They were dragons! They're Ryuuji's comrades!

Sanji: "Amazing!"

Zoro: "Where did they come from?"

Me: "Now I get it! Ryuuji roared that way to call for his friends!"

Sanji: "If finding a single Sennenryuu was that astonishing… Imagine finding so many as these!"

The millenar dragons came past us, I also saw them going past where Luffy and Ryuuji were and threatening to attack the marine flagship, flying close to it then soaring high again.

Finally! The dragons came to protect their fellow! That means… we're close of the Lost Island!

I saw Ryuuji roaring again… but letting his neck fall again in the water. He must be very weak to keep fighting.

"Hehehehehehe…"…the voice from the ship laughed. And I saw that Ryuuji was lying dead in the water… sinking slowly, gradually… with no strength left to rise and fight.

"Gomu Gomu no… Rocket!", I saw Luffy stretching his arm and taking a ride in one of the Sennenryuu, going up high.

"Gomu Gomu no…"…Luffy then stretched his leg weeeeeeeell upwards… "…Ono! (Axe)"…to then bring it down… and chop the marine flagship in half! The sea rocked violently as Luffy's leg broke the ship in two equal halves… I was gawking.

"Luffy… cut the ship in half!", I said.

Zoro: "Unbelievable!"

"WHAT HAPPENED?"…was the standard reaction of the hundreds of marines that were still attacking us.

"That boy broke the ship in half?"

"He killed the Commodore!"

"He's a monster!"

Then the marines screamed and started running wildly, terrified, when they saw Luffy coming out of the shipwreck, power-walking absolutely unscathed.

"Oh, dear… These marines are quick to run with their tail between their legs as soon as they see that their boss is down… And the fools don't even bother to check on him.", Sanji said while lighting a cigar.

"Marine's a house of weaklings that get used and use each other for their own evil goals… You can expect nothing coming from them.", I said.

Zoro: "More importantly, let's dash outta here as well."

"Ok.", I said.

I was walking behind Zoro, but I noticed that Sanji didn't follow us. When I turned, I saw that he was looking at the sky.

"Oi, Sanji-san, what are you loo-Oooohh!"…I interrupted myself as soon as I looked above. I saw that the dragons were flying in concentric circles.

"They're flying in circles… but why?", Sanji asked.

"Dunno…", I said.

"Oi, let's go!", Zoro shouted.

"Sanji-san, let's go?", I said.

Sanji: "Ok."

After our little work, the formation got scrambled and we got a whole lot of open space we could use to escape. We could "borrow" a boat in order to get back to the ship.

Usopp: "Oooo! That was amazing!"

Me: "Hahah! Marine's not a match against us!"

"NAMI-SAN! I AM BACK!", Sanji said.

Nami: "But… what about Luffy?"

It didn't take too long until… "GOMU GOMU NO… ROCKET!"…Luffy launched himself again to the dragons… and then crashlanded in the ship. The shock whiplashed the ship, we lost our balance and ended up falling against each other, sitting down… or upside-down.

Luffy: "Yo!"

Nami: "DON'T 'YO' ME! Next time, be more gentle when you land! Or you wanna break _this _ship in two as well?"

Me: "At least warn us when you're gonna do that!"

"RYUUJI!", we heard Apis shouting.

"Apis-chan…", I muttered.

Moments later… the ocean started rocking again.

"Earthquake?", Sanji asked.

"Again?", Nami said.

"Ryuuji…"

I saw Luffy heading to where Apis was.

"The promise I made with Ryuuji… I couldn't keep it… I couldn't take him to the Dragon's Nest!"…Apis lamented.

Luffy approached her and said: "Ryuuji's dream has become true. The Sennenryuu are calling… Can't you hear them?"

Then, an enormous shockwave came out of nowhere… the sea kept shaking…

"Guys, come see this!", Nami screamed.

We went to a side of the ship, looked below… and I was gasping when I saw that solid land was rising underneath us. An island was forming right beneath us!

"What's this? An island?", I asked, shocked.

Nami: "So this is the meaning!"

Sanji: "What do you mean, Nami-san?"

Nami: "As the painting showed us, the Dragon's Nest is really right here! The name Millenar Dragon is not because of their lifespan… but to the fact that they come to this island once every thousand years!"

Me: "And the time… is now!"

Nami: "Exactly! The Sennenryuu are migrators! Ryuuji's group didn't disappear just by chance! Lost Island's a really perfect name to describe this land… they only rise to the surface once every thousand years! So, it's natural that no human ever lived to see it happening!"

Understanding appeared together with the rocks that emerged to the surface.

"And now… in this very moment… THE DRAGON'S NEST WILL RESURFACE!"

And finally… the quake stopped… and the Lost Island emerged completely. We could take a better look at the island. The dragons surrounding the aerial space started landing and forming small groups. The island was full of animals and sub-aquatic lifeforms together with very peculiar mountainous formations.

It's really… "Incredible…"

We all got filled with awe and fascination upon seeing Lost Island. It's a moment that will happen again only a thousand years from now!

Apis: "Is… is this the…?"

Luffy: "This is the Dragon's Nest where Ryuuji longed to return to!"

Me: "It looks like he fulfilled his last wish…"

"This is the… Ah?"

She quickly climbed down the rope ladder and left the ship, running to somewhere.

Sanji: "Oi, oi, Apis!"

Usopp: "Oi! Just where are you going?"

"Why is she running like that?", Usopp said as soon as we climbed down the ship.

"It's Ryuuji."

"Huh?"

Luffy: "Ryuuji's around here."

We decided to follow her, although we didn't run. When we arrived near where she was, we decided to stand back a bit. We saw that Ryuuji was in a lake, fallen down. Apis calling for him.

"Ryuuji! Ryuuji! RYUUJI!"

Nami: "It sounds like a coincidence…but the place where Ryuuji fell down was precisely the Dragon's Nest… Will he finally be able to rest in peace… at least for a bit?"

Luffy: "It's alright. He, right before sinking, said that his desire had become true."

Usopp, looking around: "So this is the Dragon's Nest… It's full of weird rocks…"

"I bet… these are the dragon bones.", Sanji said while walking away from the group to check on one of the rocks.

"Huh?"

Sanji: "Look at this rock over here… it looks exactly like a dragon, doesn't it?"

Me, while looking around: "Not only this one… but the great majority of these rocks around here look like dragons."

Usopp: "But why does it happen?"

Nami: "Because during the last thousand years… these dragons lived at the bottom of the ocean. Their bodies ended up being calcified."

Usopp: "Hm, I see…"

Zoro: "Did you get it?"

Usopp: "Not even a bit."

"Isn't there a place where the elephants go when they die that is called 'Elephant Graveyard'? Maybe this is a similar place.", Nami said.

"A cemetery of dragons…", I completed.

Zoro: "A dragon graveyard?"

"No! This cannot be true!"…huh?

We turned to see Apis. "Ryuuji always told me that if he got back to the Dragon's Nest, he'd get better! There's no way this place can be a graveyard!"

Nami: "Apis…"

Me: "Poor little girl…"…I felt guilty for her now… after feeding so much hope in his recovery… in the end, he's gonna just end sinking together with this island… and live in the bottom of this sea for a thousand years, being calcified… and living his eternity as a rock.

Luffy stood ahead and said: "Ryuuji… was a lost Sennenryuu."

"Luffy?"

"For a thousand years… this Sennenryuu was alone. But then… he got a friend. You, Apis. He told me that, from the thousand years he lived, the period he liked the most… was the year he lived together with you."

I saw Apis struggling even more to hold her tears… what can be going past her head right now…

Nami: "Luffy… can you understand what the dragons say?"

Luffy: "Somehow."

Usopp: "Don't excuse yourself…"

Luffy: "But I'm sure!"

"Liar… Ryuuji, you liar! This is the Dragon's Nest… We found the Dragon's Nest, therefore, please, open your eyes! Talk to me! Get better again!"…Apis couldn't hold it anymore and burst into tears.

"Apis-chan…", I whispered. I always feel guilty when I see people crying. I decided to approach her and comfort her with a hug.

"Dan?"

"Apis-chan… don't cry.", I said while approaching her.

Luffy: "Ryuuji… he wasn't lying to you. He told me that the Sennenryuu return to the Dragon's Nest once every thousand years… to be reborn."

"Ryuuji…"

"Look over there!", Luffy pointed… I turned my head… and I saw that next to one of the calcified dragons there laid an egg. This egg started cracking open… and from it came out a baby dragon! He gave a small cry that caught the attention of the grown adults that came to surround him and help him in these first moments out of the egg.

Fantastic… we were witnessing a miracle!

I could see Apis bursting into tears of joy… These moments always get the best of me, touching me quite deeply… I could grin for a bit.

When we got back to the rest of the group, I said: "While a dragon… that already accomplished his mission in life… will finally be able to rest in peace… another one… another one…"…I couldn't continue, as I felt a tear rolling down my face. I tried to disguise it with a smile… because although I'm a man, I can be quite susceptible to these emotional scenes.

Nami completed for me: "Another one is born and makes his story to be reborn with him. Apis… this place's not only a graveyard for dragons… It's a place that connects them to a new life…"

Apis: "Thank you, guys… When Ryuuji told me 'Take me back to the Dragon's Nest'… I think I understood it by then… what kind of place it would be and why Ryuuji wanted to go back here so much."

"Apis…"

"It's really an incredible place… Now I understand why our ancestors built that temple. Thanks, Luffy…"…Apis said, looking to the horizon. Then, she smiled and looked at us. "So… let's get back to my island? The guys there may be worrying about me and very surprised!"

"Yup!", Luffy said, smiling.

I sniffed, wiping my face to recover from the touching moment.

"It was really a miracle… an experience that will only repeat itself a thousand years from now… I'm not feeling like leaving now… but… let's go?", I said.

"Right! Let's get the ship and sail away from here!", Luffy shouted.

"Ou!", we replied.

As we walked to leave the island, Luffy, with his arms in the air, said: "Oh, all of this made me hungry! Sanji, when we get to the ship, make a delicious meal to all of us!"

"Right!"

"And make it have meat, lots of meat!"

Usopp: "I want vegetables and a huge bowl of beans!"

Sanji: "Where did I hear this before, huh?"

Usopp: "But this place's really fantastic! These rocks are really millenar dragons?"

Nami: "Looks like it…"

Sanji: "They talked so much about the dragon bones… But if all of them end like this, then all of that's just a mere fairy tale."

Usopp: "So all that fuss about the 'Elixir of Eternal Youth'…"

Me: "It's a dream inside a dream… With all of this covered in corals… there's no way they can make any elixir outta this!"

Nami: "Yeah…"

Zoro: "These marines only wasted time…"

Me, smiling: "But, more importantly, I think we're a goddamn lucky bunch! If we didn't come to this Lost Island… we would have to wait a thousand years!"

Sanji: "As if we can live that long! Fool!"

Usopp and Sanji laughed about that.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"…huh?

I flinched for an instant when we heard this, with a scream together with it… we turned to see… no one else than Erik, the whirlwind!

I felt anger building up inside me.

"Grrr… this man won't ever die?"

* * *

**Dan: "Ryuuji might have fallen now, but his spirit is reborn. Now this baby dragon will carry it for the next thousand years!"**

**Apis: "Together with my people, I'll do whatever it takes to protect them and their beautiful history!"**

**Zoro: "In order to do this... we gotta defeat Erik for good. It's already time for him to leave us be! What a pain in the neck!"**

**The walking whirlwind is still looming around! Will this be our last encounter with Erik? My hunch is that it won't... but let's check out what will happen on Chapter 41!  
**


	41. The Red Line's daunting challenge

**Chapter 41**

**"Decisive battle filled with fury! Overcome the Red Line!"

* * *

**

Luffy: "You sure are tough, eh?"

Erik: "Yeah. But only a little more and I'd have drowned."…now, looking afar and opening his arms: "Look… this overwhelming landscape… Isn't it marvelous?"

Me: "I agree it's very astonishing, but just what the hell you're still doing around here? Why won't you leave us alone for good?"

"Because I still didn't get what I want… until now. The fountain of the Elixir of Eternal Youth… the Dragon Bones!"…Erik said with the arms open and grinning evilly.

Nami: "But the Sennenryuu are calcified. There's no way any elixir can be made!"

"Ah… it seems so… but not so fast. You're forgetting to take into account the dozens of lively and energetic Sennenryuu before us all. What do you think of this: I'm already fed up with these useless fights. Why can't we be friends and share all this treasure?", Erik said.

As if he thought that we have any interest in living forever…

"No.", Luffy replied dryly.

Erik: "Don't you long for eternal life?"

Luffy: "I don't care about this stuff."

Erik, more unnerved: "Liar! There's no man in this world that doesn't fear death! And to me and you, who ate Devil's Fruits… only a paper-thin line keeps us in the safe land, away from the underwater hell that is the bottom of the sea! I can't believe you're not afraid of this!"

Zoro: "If this guy does what he wants to do… he's willing to throw everything else away. He's even willing to die with a smile on his face."

Me, cleaning my nails, then facing Erik: "Exactly. I might not have the same willpower as Luffy's, but I can say that we're ready to face and overcome any obstacle in our way to our goals. Besides, living eternally isn't that interesting."

Erik merely snarled. He must be shocked seeing that there _is _people who don't give a shit for living forever. As if there weren't many… the greatest example is the Great Age of Piracy!

"Ah! And there's this… the only thing Luffy desires to last forever is a lifetime meat supply! Right?"

Luffy, turning to me and smiling: "Hehehe! Bullseye!"

There was a silence… a gust of wind breezed past us…

Usopp: "Here you go again with your pointless quotes!"

Me: "Pointless? Says you! Right, Luffy? You only want eternal meat supply, right?"

Luffy: "Yeah."

Nami, to Luffy: "There's no help in agreeing with him!"

I sighed and said: "Ah… switching off the inappropriate quote lever…" …then I drew a lever in my head and switched it off.

"Are your small act done yet?", huh?

We turned our attentions back at Erik.

Me: "Do you get it now? We don't care about this eternal life thingy of yours!"

"Hmmm… I see… very well then! If this is what you desire, stay still right where you are and watch while I catch all the Dragon Bones for myself!", Erik said, then putting a hand in front of his face and getting ready to fight.

"NO!"

Apis ran to stop him.

"GET OUT, YOU BRAT!"

Erik launched a slashing whirlwind right at Apis!

Usopp: "Oh, great!"…he then ran to save her.

"Usopp-kun!"

In the nick of time, he took Apis out of the radius of the whirlwind and both of them rolled on the ground. Both were safe and sound. I sighed reliefingly, but swallowing after seeing the hole in the ground after the cutting wind's impact.

"Usopp?"

Usopp: "Stop acting recklessly, Apis!"

Apis: "It might be reckless… but I have to protect this place! It's a very important place to the Sennenryuu! I will… I will protect this island… FOREVER!"

Luffy: "Yeah."

Me: "Heheh… this strong resolve… we'll accept it!"

"It seems that you're going overboard to try to stop me…", you betcha!…, "Then… I will kill you all for good measure!"…Bring. It. On. "Kama Kama no… TSUMUJIKAZE!"

Erik finally unleashed his attack. Two slashing waves forming an X. They were heading straight to hit Usopp and Apis…

…but not so fast! Luffy launched himself in front of them and took the blow in their place!

Nami: "Luffy!"

Me: "That hurts…"

He merely recoiled because of the force of the impact and was kneeled down. Zoro approached him, already preparing his swords to help. I wielded my pencil, getting prepared and asked: "Luffy… do you need help? Sword and cutting slashes are your weak spot… therefore, isn't it better that you leave him to us?"

"No. He's mine.", Luffy replied.

Nami: "But Luffy!"

Luffy: "I made a promise."

There was a pause… and then he got a hold of his hat and dashed towards Erik and spinning his right arm.

"Oryaaaaa! Gomu Gomu no…"

"Kama Kama no…"

"PISTOL!" / "TSUMUJIKAZE!"

The attacks then faced each other. I'd rather say that Luffy's arm, in the instant that clashed against the whirlwind, was filled with cuts… No! His whole body was left with several cuts!

Me, as if feeling the pain in my body as well: "Krrr… just by watching it hurts!"

Erik then somersaulted backwards to end standing atop a rock.

"Hmhmhm… so? My supreme whirlwind technique… did it taste good?"

Luffy then snapped back his arm.

Erik: "No matter how hard you try to run or hide. There's no way out. Will you withstand all of it?"

We stood back, watching the fight.

Zoro said: "Luffy… he's in serious trouble…"

Usopp: "What trouble?"

Me: "He's with his whole body slashed… and that's exactly the Gomu Gomu no Mi's weak spot… but still… he's still on his feet…"

Apis: "Luffy…"

Luffy… keep fighting…

"KAMA KAMA NO… KAMAITACHI! MIDAREUCHI! (Random Cutting Whirlwind)"

He then launched an all-directional quick barrage of whirlwinds…

Me, whispering: "Yabai…"

"I… I WILL NOT RUN AWAY NOR BACK DOWN!"…Luffy then ran and head straight against the whirlwind!

"Luffy!", I shouted.

Erik: "You idiot! You're gonna be cut in pieces!"

But even with that, he pressed forward… being cut from all directions… but without backing down a single inch… He's too determined to run away from the chance of assuring that his promise is fulfilled… and too dumb to know and understand the meaning of giving up.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Gomu Gomu noooo…"…he could get past the whirlwinds and jump to attack Erik!

Me: "Go! Go, Luffy!"

"KANEEEEEE! (Bell)"…he then outstretched his arms, grabbing Erik to headbutt him…

"AND… BAZOOKA!"…and finished it with a strong slap to send Erik flying away in the sky!

"I WON!", Luffy celebrated from atop the rock.

Everyone celebrated Luffy's win. I sighed in relief.

"Phew… what a reckless captain we have, eh?", I said.

"WE DID IT!", Apis was so happy that she shouted to the entire island.

Some moments went by and then lots of people started appearing. Including Grandpa Bokuden that finally awoke from his 24-hour nap and went to take a look at the legendary Lost Island. The citizens could barely believe their eyes… many of them asking if what they saw was really true… some others saying that they barely thought those creatures were nothing more than legends or fairy tales… but the truth is that nobody has ever lived to see and tell the story, probably.

"Some more time… and this island will sink again… eh?", Nami said.

Usopp: "And if that happens… the Sennenryuu are going to have to migrate to somewhere else, right?"

Apis: "And that baby Sennenryuu will also have to go all by himself somewhere, eh?"

Me, looking at the horizon: "Well… to compensate, he will not be alone… he'll have lots of friends to take care of him."

Bokuden: "So… would anyone of you like to go to my house and taste a bit of my delicious pork buns I'm so proud of?"

Luffy: "Yay! More pork buns!"

Me: "And I'll taste them, finally!"

Before I could realize, Nami came and shut both our mouths.

"Ah… sorry sir, but it's not gonna happen! We're kinda in a hurry right now, you know…"

Luffy: "You sure? I wanted more…"

Me: "I barely gave a single bi-"

I was interrupted because Nami hit us both.

"OOWW!", we whined.

Sanji: "We thank you for the offer, but we have to go now. I can have the recipe, though."

Bokuden: "It's really a pity that you have to go… it'd take three days to get done… and in the meantime, I could tell you all the story of Lost Island's royal family…"

Nami, smiling and trying to wave it off: "Ah… don't bother about that…"

Me: "We already heard this story before, sir Bokuden… By the way, we had such a good nap out of…"

Nami: "You keep quiet!", and she hit me again. I'm gonna end up leaving Lost Island with a couple of bumps in my head…

Me: "Ooww! Nami-chan! Why only me?"

Nami: "I did that so you could stop saying what you're not supposed to!"

Moments later, we got back to the ship.

"Yoooooosh! Let's head to the Grand Line!", Luffy shouted cheerily. We already climbed the rope ladder and were on the ship. Me, Usopp and Sanji in the lower deck, Nami and Zoro in the upper deck and Luffy sitting in the railing.

Luffy: "Apis… wanna go with us?"

Me: "Luffy… she's still a child…"

Luffy: "And what's the matter?"

"I had lots of fun with you… and I'd like to tag along."

Me: "Apis-chan…"

But Apis completed: "But I have to stay in this island. I wanna learn more about the traditions of our people through grandpa Bokuden… and just like our ancestors who protected Sennenryuu… I'll protect the Dragon's Nest! And I'll wait for the day the dragon babies are grown-up and returning to this island!"

Usopp: "But… the next time they'll be back is only… a thousand years from now, isn't it?"

Sanji: "Usopp… think a bit… don't say that! You're gonna end the hopes of the little girl!"

Apis: "That's fine to me! I know I'm not able to see the dragons fully grown… but I know that my children… or my grandchildren, or the children of my grandchildren… will see for sure. And like this, we'll always be able to look after the dragons and protect this island!"

Usopp: "That's just crazy…"

Me, hitting him in the head: "Usopp-kun! You're being too realistic! It's her goal!", and now, talking to Apis: "Apis-chan… this feeling, I can perfectly understand it. Before meeting these five… I barely trusted pirates… and my only idea in mind was to protect my homeland. But these very same five guys opened my horizons… and made me understand that the world isn't only about this. Maybe what I just said is kinda out of context, but… all of us have goals, don't we?", I concluded, smiling.

Apis: "Yeah! Besides, you do crazy stuff all the time, don't you?"

"Do we?"

We were jaw-dropped with Luffy's stupidness… Oi…

Zoro: "He still can surprise us…"

Me: "I'm out of words…"

Luffy merely grinned as if he didn't care about that. Then he ordered: "Yosh! Unfurl the sails! We're getting outta here!"

"Ou!", we replied. It is our farewell to Lost Island, Apis and her fellows.

Luffy: "Bye-bye! See ya!"

Usopp: "Don't forget about me! The brave warrior of the seas, Usopp-sama!"

Me: "If you really wanna learn about your people's traditions, you better not sleep while hearing grandpa Bokuden's tales, 'kay? Bye!"

Zoro: "Don't ask the impossible to the girl, Dan…"

Nami: "Bye-bye!"

"Byyyeeee! Everyone! Take care, right?", we heard Apis screaming.

"Apis, you too take care!"

And as the ship sailed away from Lost Island's coast… we started thinking about what we went through.

Me, smiling: "And thus, ends one more legendary adventure of the Straw Hat Pirates… This was really the adventure of a lifetime… to see millenar dragons… an island that rises once every thousand years… it all was fantastic! Don'tcha think?"

Nami, as happy as me: "That's for sure!"

Usopp: "Will Apis really do it, all by herself?"

Luffy: "She'll do it, somehow."

Nami: "She might be small, but she has the determination and willpower to go to great lengths. She'll be more than fine."

Me: "Besides… she's not alone. I'm pretty sure that her fellows, after witnessing this very unique experience… will get motivated to protect these dragons and their millenar history at any costs, right?"

Luffy: "Yeah! It'll be alright!"

Zoro: "That's true."

Luffy: "After all… she's our friend, right?"

Sanji: "No doubt!"

Finally, Lost Island's horizon was… lost. What surrounds us from now onwards is the endless blue sea… and the anxiety of knowing when will we finally get in the Grand Line.

"Nami-san! Report of love! There are countless rain clouds ahead! And below them, it looks like a storm!", Sanji said from the crow's nest. He and Zoro were checking on the route. Nami and I were in the railing, and she was holding a map. Usopp was in the room, taking care of the helm.

"It looks like we've returned to our original route… In this course, we should head straight on to the Red Line at any moment…"

Me: "Really?"

Then I heard Luffy stretching his arms and heading to the crow's nest.

"Haha! Finally we're arriving at the Grand Line! Kkrrr… I'm so excited!"…then I heard him continuously slapping Sanji's back… who got irritated and kicked him… I laughed a bit to myself before focusing on the dark clouds awaiting us.

I thought… "Dark clouds… hmph… as if it was gonna stop us! No matter how dangerous may the sea be… no matter how far the sea gods may go to try to stop us… we'll arrive at the Grand Line!"

"Guys! Everyone come inside the room! I have important information!", I heard Nami saying. That snapped me outta my thoughts.

Everyone came to the room quickly, then we sat around the table to hear her explanations.

Nami then put the map over the table and said: "Listen and see this."

"Hm?"

Nami: "I already heard rumours about this… but I only did believe when I saw this map. The entrance of the Grand Line is really through a mountain."

Sanji: "Mountain?"

Zoro: "So we must climb a mountain in order to get to the Grand Line?"

Me: "Is it that Reverse Mountain you told us about?"

Nami: "Yup. I also have too few reasons to believe… but as there are channels drawn in the way to the mountain… that might mean we have to climb it."

Luffy: "Ooo… interesting!"

Zoro: "What are you talking about… even though there's a channel… I never saw something like making a ship climb a mountain!"

Nami: "But that's what's drawn in the map!"

Sanji: "She's right, guys! There's no way Nami-san can be wrong!"

Me: "There's no need to agree all the time… ah, by the way… Usopp-kun… can you stop screaming like this? My ears are already tingling!"

"But I do need help with this helm!", Usopp said, while grunting and struggling to steer the helm.

"Dan-kun, can you help Usopp, please? I can't think either with all this noise!", Nami asked.

I sighed, stood up and went. "Right… One, two…"

We tried to pull… but the helm was stuck… one more try… still nothing…

"Geez… the helm… doesn't move!", I said, panting.

Usopp: "The current must be stupidly strong!"

"Usopp! Repeat it!", Nami asked.

* * *

**The road is starting to become more tortuous for our adventurers. The ship is caught within a current...**

**Dan: "It's... too... strong... I can't move the helm! It's stuck!"**

**If they can't get in the right road... it's the end of the line! Let's check the developments on Chapter 42!  
**


	42. Finally, the GRAND LINE!

**Chapter 42**

**"The greatest of all seas! Finally, enter Grand Line!"

* * *

**

"The current must be really strong!"

"Current… that's it!"

Luffy: "What's up?"

Nami: "We have to climb the mountain!"

Zoro: "You're still on that?"

Nami, pointing to the map: "See this. The guide light pointed here, I'm sure of it. Here at the Red Line, Reverse Mountain."

"HEY, WHAT DO I DO HERE?", Usopp shouted, complaining.

Nami continued: "There's a channel around here, right? Strong currents from each of the four main oceans come running to this mountain…"

Me: "I see… and these currents meet each other at the center and go all the way down to the Grand Line."

Nami: "Exactly. And there's more. Due to Reverse Mountain being a winter island… the currents that collide with the Red Line are pushed to the bottom of the ocean. If the Going Merry doesn't get right into the channel…"

Me: "It'll crash… in the mountains… and we'll be done for?"

Nami: "Precisely. Did'ja get it?"

Luffy: "Now I get it… It means that it's a mysterious mountain, right? Ha, ha, ha…"

Nami: "He didn't get a thing… But… Nevertheless, our ship was already caught by one of these currents. If we don't mess up our route, we should arrive at the Reverse Mountain unscathed and climb up in a snap."

Sanji, hearts in his eyes: "Nami-san, you're awesome!"

Me: "It seems to me that from now on, it's a matter of leaving it all to the currents…"

Nami: "Seems so…"

Zoro: "Never heard nothing like this… ships climbing mountains…"

Sanji: "I've already heard something like that."

"About the mysterious mountain?", Luffy asked.

"No. I've heard someone say that half the people who try to enter the Grand Line die right before doing it. That's how I know it isn't easy to get there."

Moments later, the ship already entered the stormy sea and rain started falling.

"Sanji-kun! Take care of the helm!", Nami ordered.

"Right now, Nami-san! Luffy, come help!"

I was ordered to furl the sails. When I raised my head, I saw… some sort of red wall… is it…

"HEY, GUYS! RED LINE AHEAD!"

Everyone came dashing to the railing of the upper room to check it out.

Usopp: "It's stupidly huge!"

Me: "Ooooo… it's so tall! the mountain's so huge that I can't see the top!"

Nami: "So, this is… the entrance to the Grand Line…"

Luffy: "It's… the Red Line!"

So that was it. We arrived at the Red Line. A mountainous region so high that you can't see the top. And in the middle of these mountains, there has to have some sort of opening. An opening, no matter if it's small, but that could give us access to the Grand Line. We were filled with a feeling of awe with the imponence of that mountain. But this moment was interrupted when the ship rocked violently and was swaying. It looks like it was finally caught by Red Line's sea currents. I was still on the sails and, when the shock happened, I could grab nothing but, fortunately, fell on my back on the ship.

"Ow… ow…", I whispered as I stood back up, still recovering from the shock.

"Someone take care of the helm! We're being sucked up!", I heard Luffy screaming.

Usopp replied: "Leave it to me!"

Luffy: "Oi, Nami! Where's the entrance? If we keep on like this, we'll crash in the rocks!"

Nami took a while to reply, then said: "A crack…"

Luffy: "Crack?"

Nami: "Let's go this way!"

Me: "You sure?"

Nami, pointing away: "Look!"

I did so. I had to struggle a bit to find anything in the middle of all that rain, with the ship swaying a lot and my sight to the distance isn't special… but, indeed, there was a slight crack in the middle of the rocky wall.

"I saw it! But are you sure that we can get through that crack?"

Nami: "Dan… who's the navigator around here?"

Me: "You?"

Nami: "Right."

Zoro, seeing through binoculars: "You gotta be kidding me… The current's really climbing up the mountain!"

"WHAT?", I shouted incredulously. I ran to the upper room's railing, took the binoculars from Zoro and saw it with my very eyes. I could barely believe it… the water was really going through some sort of rock gates and climbing up the mountain!

After I saw that, I said: "Sugee… the sea's really mysterious…"

Nami: "Guys, you all make sure that this ship's gonna get through these gates, right? Or else, the ship's gonna be torn apart!"

We went forward for a while… but I started trembling when I saw that the ship was appearing to deviate from the route and heading to crash with one of the gates!

"Oh shit… the ship's gonna crash!", I said.

Luffy: "That's not good…", then he turned to the others, saying: "Guys! The ship's veering off! Right! Right! Turn to the right!"

Usopp: "Even though you say that…"

Sanji: "The helm… doesn't…"

He didn't complete because… the helm broke! And sent both of them against the wall.

"THE HELM!", we screamed.

Me: "Now we're screwed…"

Luffy: "No, we're not!", then he grabbed his hat, dashed off and shouted while jumping off the ship.

"GOMU GOMU NO… FUUSEN!"

He inhaled hard, inflating like a balloon, right in the nick of time to cushion the ship and avoid the crash with the gate. He turned around himself to correct the ship's trajectory and put it in the right course again. But as soon as he was done, he was hopelessly headed to fall on the water!

Zoro screamed: "Luffy! Grab my hand!"

Luffy exhaled and stretched his arm until he grabbed Zoro's hand… and he pulled him back to the ship! I sighed in relief while looking at Luffy who had just arrived. Then I heard Nami's relieved sigh and Sanji and Usopp's celebration. I looked at the water column going upwards and then it finally hit me… we were finally on the route to enter the Grand Line!

I smiled broadly and shouted: "WE DID IT!"

Nami took off her raincoat and said cheerfully: "Now it's a matter of getting to the top!"

I completed: "And we'll enter the Grand Line!"…I jumped the upper room's railing, dashing to the front of the ship to see it get past the water and the top getting closer and closer.

Luffy came running as well: "Hey, I wanna see it too!"

We arrived at the front of the ship, where Zoro was, to get a better view of the scenery.

Me: "Su… su…"

"SUGEEEE!", Luffy and I shouted together.

We were thrilled! But…

"YOU…!"

As we heard this, we turned to see… no one other than Erik! Alive and unscathed… but without his sunglasses… and with his hair loosened.

Luffy: "It's the Okama Fruit guy!"

Zoro: "Is… is he still alive?"

Me: "This guy's a hell of a nuisance!"

"Now you really made me furious… you crushed my dream of having the Dragon Bones! But it will not end like this! I will make this be the last time I cross your paths! At least…", now pointing to Luffy: "I'll make sure that I have your 30 million beri-worth head! Now surrender and don't fight back!"

Tense moments… as we were facing Erik. He was ready to try his last-ditch effort at a revenge against us… what we'll do now…

Sanji: "Oh shit… if he uses his whirlwind here… it's not possible to predict what's gonna be destroyed!"

Zoro: "No reckless movements…"

"Hahahahahaha! No one can even lay a finger on me.", Erik gloated about his nigh-invulnerability. He knows that if we try something, he'll kill us all together with the ship.

"Enpitsu…"

Nami: "Look over there! Dragon bones!"

"Eh?"

Erik turned his head, asking: "Where?"

Nami took advantage of the moment and kicked Erik's leg, making him lose his balance and fall from the railing right in the current.

"Bye-bye!"

Me, shocked: "Was that easy?"

"Now I get it!", the other four said, as if getting it just now.

Me, even more shocked: "Are you all dumb or what?"

Nami then explained: "As he can't swim, he's not gonna disturb us from now on!"

Usopp, happily: "And even if he could, he wouldn't be a match to this flow!"

Sanji, swooning: "This is my Nami-san!"

We laughed, until everything got nebulous…

"Look! We've reached the clouds!", Luffy shouted.

The ship didn't take long to overcome the clouds, but keep climbing up…

"This mountain's… freakin' tall!", I shouted with mixed feelings… I was happy, but at the same time, mortified because of the height of the mountain!

"We are above the clouds!"

Me: "How long are we gonna take until we're on the top?"

But I immediately thought of the other meaning of this sentence…

Nami: "It's gonna take a bit more! We are at the top of the mountain!"…but Nami, kinda unknowingly, put the meanings in their place.

Then… after all that climbing… we finally came to the highest point in Reverse Mountain!

A water fountain, resulting of the colliding currents of the four oceans, thrusted us upwards.

"YAHOO!", Luffy shouted excitedly.

I grabbed the railing… When I looked down… and didn't see any water… I shouted:

"WE'RE AIRBORNE!"

We were suspended in mid-air for some moments, then gravity pulled us back to the downhill course!

Me, relieved and shaking the hair away from my face: "Phew… now, the easy part…"

And as I calmed down, the greatest challenge of my life appeared in my horizons. Yeah… the world's greatest ocean… the Grand Line's at our reach! When we get to this sea, we can give the first step towards our dreams!

Someday…

Luffy will become the King of Pirates…

Zoro will be the best swordsman in the world…

Nami will draw her world map…

Usopp will become the brave warrior of the seas he's longing for…

Sanji will find the All Blue…

And I… I'll find the best adventure of all time!

"Right ahead… I can see! I see it… the Grand Line!", Luffy said.

"Somewhere… in this great sea… One Piece and our dreams there will be!", I did a small rhyme about it.

"LET'S GO!"

This is the downhill route. Moments later we got back to the cloud level.

"This is awesome!", Sanji shouted.

"You're damn right!", I replied.

Nami squeed happily.

Then… we heard a really loud cry…

"Did you hear this?", Zoro asked.

Nami, still smiling broadly: "What?"

Me: "I heard it too… where does this sound come from?"

Nami: "Don't ya think that's only the wind?"

Me: "Since when the wind sounds like this?"

Zoro: "It's too weird to be just the wind."

Nami: "Stop bothering to think about it… surely the peculiar mountainous formations around here did this."

Soon later, the same sound again, but more melodious and longer.

Me: "Now tell me it was the wind… go ahead!"

"Nami-san! I see a mountain ahead of us!"

We turned to see Sanji holding himself on the ropes of the ship.

"Mountain?", I asked.

Nami: "That's rubbish!"

Sanji: "But I'm sure it's there!"

Luffy, sitting in the sheep head: "Like I care! Let's go!"

Nami: "But after the Twin Cape Lighthouse, there's supposed to be nothing but sea!"

And the noise was heard again…

Me: "This sound again… if there's really a mountain ahead of us… why do we still hear this sound?"

Moments later, as we left the cloud level and, consequently, our horizons got bright clear… we saw a freaking huge black wall ahead of us! Or was it…

"AAAAAAAA! THAT'S HUUUUGE!"

Sanji: "THAT'S NOT A MOUNTAIN!"

Luffy: "IT'S A BIG BLACK WALL!"

Nami: "Wrong! It's… it's…"

Zoro: "What the hell is it?"

Usopp: "IT'S A WHAAAAAAALE!"

Me: "F-F-FREAKIN' HUGE!"

It was a whale and it was goddamn huge! And that noise was heard again.

"So this is the source of the sound!", I said, snapping my fingers.

Usopp: "Like it's important now! The current's taking us straight to the whale!"

Sanji: "First calm down! We're so close now, but this looks like nothing but a black wall… Where are this thing's eyes, to begin with?"

Me, snapping my fingers: "That's it!"

Nami: "It might haven't spotted us yet!"

Zoro: "But… if we keep this way, we're gonna crash! Guys, there's an opening on the left! Port! Helm to port!"

"We have no helm! It's broken!", Usopp said from the upper room.

"Dammit, we have to do something! I'll help!", Zoro jumped from where he was to go to the upper room.

"Ah! That's it! I got a genius idea!", as Luffy said this, he rushed to the lower room.

Me: "Luffy, where are you going?"

I turned my head to see Usopp, Sanji and Zoro trying to push the helm (or what was left of it) to the left… but I saw that that was to no avail… I turned to see the whale coming even closer… will we crash?

I saw Nami frozen…

"I-It's… too late…"

* * *

**Luffy: "Yosshaaaa! At last... we've entered the legendary Grand Line!"**

**Dan: "Now our great adventure will start for real!"**

**Yeah, yeah... keep partying around, you two... Oh, there's a... little obstacle ahead of you, ok?**

**Nami: "Little? Just where the hell a huge-ass whale is a little obstacle?"**

**Usopp: "WHALE? We're gonna be swallowed!"**

**It's a problem everybody would like to avoid... but how are our adventurers going to overcome this one? Find out in the next chapter!  
**


	43. Why is there a door in here?

**Chapter 43**

**The first obstacle! Enter Laboon, the giant whale

* * *

**

"It's too… late…"

No… it couldn't be too late… just when we were starting our journey through the Grand Line… we're already gonna fall down in the very first obstacle that stands ahead of us? It can't be!

But as soon as I heard those words… I heard another sound… a cannon shot. We were thrown backwards by the recoil of the shot. I could keep myself standing, but Nami fell down.

"CANNON?"

Then the ship slowed down… only touching the whale slightly…

"I… I thought… we were gonna die…", I heard Nami whispering.

"Nami… are you alri… ah!", I asked, but stopped immediately when I saw the sheep figurehead flying over us and falling in the lower deck.

"Yabai… that's not gonna end well…", I said.

Shit's gonna get serious in a while… because… this is Luffy's favorite seat!

But that was the least, because the ship was still in one piece and the whale might still haven't noticed us yet. But as I turned around and saw that navy-blue wall ahead of us… I looked above and got my legs stumbling because of the immense height of the whale… I ended sitting down and thinking while I stared gasping… just how the hell such an animal exists?

"R-Run away! Dispatch the rows! We're outta here!", Zoro screamed and woke me up.

It was the chance to get away.

Usopp and Sanji quickly dispatched the rows and started rowing.

"I'm gonna help!", I dashed from the front of the ship to help the three row.

"But what's wrong with this whale?", Usopp asked, terrified.

Sanji replied: "Because it's so big, it didn't notice the cannon shot? That doesn't make sense!"

"Actually, that does make sense.", I said.

"LIKE I CARE! LET'S JUST GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!", Zoro shouted.

We rowed the ship for a bit when the whale cried again. It was a very loud, deafening cry that rocked the seas around the animal… and that probably took away part of my hearing…

Sanji: "MY EARS!"

Me: "I think I'm gonna get deaf!", then I tossed the rows to cover my ears, but to no avail.

Usopp: "Just hang on… and keep rowing!"

Zoro: "We have to run away from it!"

And the whale finally stopped crying. I was left with a buzzing noise in my ear after that… while seeing Luffy leave the weapons room, smoke coming outta his ears, looking kinda pissed off… oh shit…

"You bastard… what the hell do you think you did… with my favorite seat!"

Then… Luffy punched the whale's eye!

"DOAHOU!"

Ok… he's done it. Luffy just picked a fight with a whale thousands of times bigger than us. I think we're more than royally screwed.

After Luffy snapped his arm back in place, there were moments of silence and the eye didn't move an inch. It looked like the whale didn't feel a thing… and didn't notice us… and that we still could run away from it. But I emphasize the _looked like_ part. Because not everything is what it looks like.

The whale _did_ look at us. That's it. _Now _we're more than dead.

"How's that, huh? Bring it on, you jerk!", Luffy taunted the whale.

"SHUT UP, YOU DUMBO!", Zoro, Usopp and I kicked him away.

"Just why the hell did you do that? You spoiled our only chance to get away!", I yelled at him.

Luffy whined: "This whale broke my favorite seat! Gonna beat the crap out of it!"

"Like that matters right now!", I said. Then I turned to look at the whale: "What matters right now… is that we're gonna turn into whale food…"

Shortly after… the whale opened it's large mouth and cried before sucking up water around it, trying to swallow us. The ship rocked wildly, throwing Luffy off his balance… and off the ship to a certain death underwater.

"LUFFY!"

But he had quick wits to stretch his arm… and that was the last thing I saw. It was all dark and we were swallowed by the whale… and surrounded in a whirlpool. I felt my body being thrown around in every direction possible… and only after all the ruckus stopped that I could finally open my eyes… and find myself in a paradox.

We were… inside a whale?

Nami: "What… do you think?"

Zoro: "What do we think, you say…"

Sanji: "What we think doesn't matter."

It was a paradox because we've just been eaten by a whale… yet we were surrounded by sea and a blue sky!

Me: "Where… just where… where the hell are we?"

Sanji: "We were eaten by a whale."

Usopp and Nami were static as if they didn't believe what they saw… by the way, Usopp was gawking.

We were surrounded by a blue sky… and sea… and with a house ahead of us. All of that _after _we were eaten by a whale!

Usopp: "Is that… a dream?"

Zoro: "Yeah. Maybe it's a dream."

Eu: "This can't be a dream… because if it is… I wanna wake up!"

I pinched myself to check if it was a dream… and it hurt. It was real. Our boat was stationary in front of a house… inside the guts of a freaking whale! It's a fairly small house in an island in the middle of the sea with a coconut tree, a little table, a beach chair and several clothes stretched in the clothesline. Did I already mention to all of you that everything is happening inside the guts of a whale?

Nami: "So… that house in that island is what?"

Zoro: "An illusion."

Suddenly, a giant squid comes outta the sea.

Me, shivering: "And this… is this another illusion?"

"GIANT SQUID!", Usopp and Nami shouted, terrified.

Sanji and Zoro quickly got ready to fight. I was static with the size of the creature… and with the easiness with which it was taken down.

As soon as the two guys were ready to fight the beast, three harpoons came outta its face. Then the squid didn't move, falling backwards shortly after.

"The squid… was taken down…", I said slowly.

And I noticed that the harpoons had come from the house.

Zoro: "There's people in that house."

Sanji: "I really hope that it's people…"

Nami, crying, lying down in the ground after the shock: "Enough of it… I wanna go home…"

Usopp, likewise: "Luffy's lost and gone… what are we gonna do?"

Nami: "Yeah… where's Luffy?"

I tried to reply: "Beats me… the last image I saw from him is that he stretched his arm to grab in something… I hope he's alive…"

There was some silence… Nami and Usopp stood back up and recovered from the shock. Moments later, I noticed that someone was coming outta the house.

Usopp: "Shoot! Shoot and destroy the island with the cannon!"

Me: "Don't jump into conclusions!"

Sanji: "Really. Because someone's coming."

The mysterious shadow was standing at the door of the house. Then it started pulling the ropes attached to the harpoons and coming outside.

"A flower!", Sanji yelled.

Zoro: "A flower?"

Me: "What the…?"

It wasn't a flower. The person coming outside was a man, already old-looking, dressed in a multicolored shirt, sporting a moustache, white hair and a kind of… sorta… a floral… arrangement… on his head… that was a peacock tail-lookalike.

Sanji: "My error… it's a person."

Nami: "A person?"

Me: "I thought so."

Usopp: "You thought so? A person living inside a whale?"

I didn't answer.

Nami then said: "This old man… he took the giant squid down with one shot…"

Sanji: "Was he just fishing… or did he save us?"

Me: "For me… it looks like he was doing both…"

And the mysterious old man walked around his house… while staring at us with a mean look as if readying hostilities against us. And then he prepared to… ignore us, merely sitting in his beach chair and browsing a newspaper to read.

"SAY SOMETHING, YOU JERK!", Sanji yelled. And that made the old man stare back at us.

"If you wanna fight, bring it, you jerk!"

When I heard this, I looked to see where it came from.

"Usopp-kun?"

He taunted… from the back of the ship.

"We have a cannon at our service!"

A very tense pause… with the old man staring at us.

"Don't. Or someone will die."

These words left Usopp and Nami blue with fear. I was kinda worried for some moments.

Sanji asked challengingly: "Hee… and who would it be?"

The old man: "Me."

"YOU? YOU…", Sanji yelled while we patted his shoulders, trying to stop him.

Zoro: "Don't get worked up."

Me: "Getting pissed off for nothing won't work."

"Making fun of me…"

Zoro stepped ahead and said: "Oi, sir, tell me something. Where are we and… who are you?"

Another tense pause… with the old man staring at us.

Then he said: "If you wanna know someone's name… don't you think it's polite to introduce yourself first?"

Me: "I agree with this one."

Zoro: "Really? Ok… I'm sorry. My name's Roro…"

The old man was barely listening and started on his own: "My name is Crocus. I'm the guardian of the Twin Lighthouse Cape. I'm 71 years old…"

I stopped listening when I saw Zoro, angry red, grab one of his swords…

"CAN I CUT HIM NOW?"

Me and Sanji: "Calm down!"

"Do you want to know where you are?", this sentence made us turn back our attentions at the old man… er… Crocus. "What's up with you… coming in my one-man resort and yelling such rude things to me, huh? Where do you think you are… in a rat's guts?"

Usopp: "So we were really sent to the stomach of a whale! But… this doesn't look like the guts of a whale…"

Nami, terrified, with her hands on her face: "Wait a second! What's gonna happen with us? I don't wanna end up being digested!"

Me: "Neither do I… Oi, Crocus-san… do you know if there's any exit around here?"

"Exit? There's one over there."

We turned to see a humongous gate… huh?

Did I already tell you that we're inside a whale?

"CAN WE GET OUT?"

Nami: "But wait… why the heck there's a _gate _in the guts of a whale? And why that gate's in the sky?"

Usopp: "Wait a second… look closely… the sky… the clouds… even the seagulls… IT'S ALL A PAINTING! A painting inside the stomach of the whale!"

Nami: "Ha?"

Me, looking around: "Hmmm… very well done, by the way. Signed and all! I loved the seagulls… they don't move, though…"

Crocus: "Thank you, boy… it's my pastime…"

"BUT WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, AFTER ALL?", Usopp shouted.

"Easy, easy, don't get involved.", Zoro stopped him, trying to calm him down.

Sanji: "And now?"

Me: "Well, we found an exit, right?"

Zoro: "Right. Nami, let's set off."

Nami: "O-Ok."

Moments later… the ship shook wildly.

"But, what… What… what's going on?", I called, while swaying and being thrown around.

"He's at it again…"

"Guys, look! That's not an island… it's a ship! And it's made of steel!", Nami pointed.

Me: "Ooo… she's right… so this sea must be all gastric acid!"

Usopp: "So that means…"

Sanji: "That if we take too long here, we'll end up being digested…"

Me: "Digested? Oh crap…"

Usopp: "Hey, gramps! Explain yourself! What's started?"

Crocus: "This whale… Laboon started headbutting the Red Line."

Me: "Laboon? Is this her name?"

Sanji: "What?"

The sea shook for some moments more… it should be the whale hitting the mountains…

Nami: "Now I remember… that the whale's got enormous scars in its head… and kept crying and facing the sky…"

Usopp: "What do you mean?"

Nami: "This whale… it's suffering!"

Me: "I see… but what is the old man doing around here?"

Usopp: "Isn't it obvious? He let himself be swallowed to kill the whale from inside!"

Me: "What? How atrocious!"

Zoro: "Now that the mystery's been solved, let's dash from here. If we keep with the small talk, the ship's gonna melt in the acid."

Sanji: "Well… this whole whale mess doesn't concern me, and I don't care… nor I'm with any will to save it… Let's get outta here."

I was a bit resented with these words. I wouldn't leave this whale whack its head and hurt itself even more.

"Both of you, wait!", I said.

They looked at me.

"Are you really sure that he's gonna kill the whale? Do you have any proof of that?", I said.

Sanji: "If it isn't to kill it, what else do you think he would do inside here?"

Me: "I don't know! But… my heart hurts when I see anybody suffering…"

Zoro: "But we can't do anything to help it."

Suddenly, the sea started shaking again.

"What's up now!", I said.

"The whale's still whacking its head against the Red Line! Is there any way of getting outta here?"

Usopp: "The waves are too strong! Like this, I doubt that we can make it to the exit!"

Zoro: "Our only option is to use the paddles and get to the exit!"

Nami: "And we still have to find out what happened to Luffy!"

"I saw what happened to him! He's outside. He was thrown outta the whale's mouth!"

And then we heard another sound. Nami quickly called: "The old man jumped in the water!"

Me: "What?"

Zoro: "Why he'd jump out like this? He's gonna melt…"

Soon after, the gastric sea calmed down. Then we saw the old Crocus emerging unscathed.

Usopp: "Oi, the gramps's outta the water!"

Me: "I thought this sea was gastric acid!"

Zoro: "Forget about it. We have to discover how to open this door."

While Zoro was speaking, we saw the old man climbing some stairs. Then…

Three shadows came flying past us.

"Hey! Guys! Are you alright?"

Zoro: "Luffy?"

Me: "That's my line… are _you_ alright?"

Luffy: "I am, thanks… but, by the way… help!"

Then, he and the other two flying outta the door, that I couldn't identify, fell underwater.

Usopp: "Counting Luffy out… two others flew with him."

Nami: "And the old man's gone!"

Zoro: "Forget him. We have to save Luffy."

Then I volunteered to jump underwater and save him. The two others emerged by their own and were pushed back to the ship. Meanwhile, the whale finally calmed down.

"The whale… settled down.", Nami said.

Me: "Putting that aside… we saved those two… but… who are they?"

They were a couple. A man wearing green jacket and pants, sporting orange hair, with numbers 9 tattooed on his face and with a prince crown on his head, and a young blue-haired lady, dressed with a light green jacket and white shorts, and very pretty, by the way. Sanji was already by her side, admiring her. Each of them carried a bazooka.

They whispered something amongst themselves that I couldn't catch.

"So you're still here, you lowlifes!"

"Huh?", we turned and saw who spoke. Crocus it was.

He continued: "Don't make me say it again! While I'm living, I will not let you lay a finger on Laboon!"

Usopp: "He's here…"

Luffy: "Who's that old man?"

"Hehehe… sorry but we have no intentions on turning back.", the girl said, while standing up and grabbing her bazooka.

The man completed: "To kill this whale is our mission. We will not let you interfere with our hunt anymore!"…hmmm… they sound evil… "Let's blow a hole in the stomach of this whale! Let's go, baby!"…then they aimed their bazookas and shot.

"You…", the old man ran to stop the cannonballs… that exploded.

Usopp: "That old man stopped the cannonballs with his body!"

Sanji: "Is he… protecting the whale?"

"Hahahahaha! Stop this futile resistance!", the girl said.

"If you wanna protect it, then try! This whale's gonna be a lot of food for our village!", the man completed and then the duo started laughing maniacally.

Nami asked, incredulously: "But what the hell's… going on?"

Me: "I think it's pretty clear what's going on around here…"

Nami: "You sure?"

My idea about it was this: The duo of weirdos were supposed to kill the whale that the old man was trying to protect. And I think that Luffy got this idea because… he punched them both, what knocked them out.

"Luffy?"

"Don't ask me why… I just had to punch them.", Luffy replied simply.

After we all went to firm ground, including the two guests, properly tied up and still knocked out, Crocus thanked us.

"Thank you for your help. I owe you one."

Luffy: "Actually, we didn't help at all. I just got upset."

Nami: "But who are those two?"

Me: "Do you know them, Crocus-san? And, just what do you do here?"

Crocus, sitting on his beach chair: "Those are two bozos from the nearby village. They want to kill the whale and extract its meat. If they caught Laboon, its meat would be enough to feed their village for some two or three years…"

"Laboon?"

Me: "It's its name."

Crocus: "Yes. It's an island-whale. They live in the West Blue. They're the biggest whales in the world. I can't let it be turned into food."

Me: "They live in the West Blue… but how… this whale ended up here in the entrance of the Grand Line? And why it always whacks its head on the Red Line?"

Crocus: "Boy, there's a reason for that, as also for why it stares at the Reverse Mountain and cries and for your question of how it ended here in the Grand Line."

"Reason?"

Crocus continued: "Yes. This whale has the heart of a human. And it has been waiting patiently for a certain group of pirates… for about fifty years."

* * *

**As we are finding out more about this giant whale, we can begin to understand its actions. Crocus is determined to protect this whale at any cost.**

**Dan: "But... just who are those two?"**

**Yeah, about that... I... I don't know... yet! We'll find out! Together with our readers in the next chapter!  
**


	44. We'll meet you again, Laboon!

**Chapter 44**

**"A man's promise! Luffy and Laboon, the oath of reunion"

* * *

**

"The reason for which Laboon throws himself against Reverse Mountain, looks at it and starts crying… You'll listen to it now. It's Laboon's story."

Ok. Sit down for the story.

Summing it up: He told us he was guarding the cape when a group of pirates arrived at the Twin Lighthouse Cape, heading for the Grand Line. The thing is that they took with them a baby whale. Laboon already traveled with them for some time before, assuredly having left all the way from West Blue to the Grand Line.

As they were heading for a dangerous way, from which they weren't sure they'd come back, it was decided to leave Laboon behind. But the whale followed them.

Crocus: "Island-whales usually swim close to each other, forming a group… but for Laboon, these pirates were his comrades…"

Those pirates were stationed at the cape for a few months to repair the ship and prepare their trip plans. According to the story, they seemed to be friendly and party-loving, since Crocus told us that he got along with them after some time.

"Then, on the day of departure…"

The ship's captain asked Crocus a favor. That he had to take care of Laboon for as long as it was needed until they returned. They then left leaving the whale with Crocus. But… here comes the part that hurts.

"But… that's an issue… of over fifty years ago…"

Zoro: "Fifty years?"

"Laboon had been waiting for those pirates for fifty years?", Usopp said, while tugging Luffy who was grabbing the coconut tree.

Nami: "So that's why Laboon keeps crying and fighting to get to the other side of the mountain?"

Crocus: "Yup."

Meanwhile, Laboon kept woeing and crying.

Me: "To leave West Blue… swim all the way down here and then wait fifty years for his friends… it must be so painful…"

Crocus then guided his mobile island to bring us to the exit. In the way we went through tunnels constructed inside the whale, as incredible as it might appear.

Zoro: "These are some incredible tunnels! But the most impressive is that that old man's alive after going through all this…"

Sanji, to Crocus: "Do you have fun with this?"

Crocus: "It's my doctor's hobby."

Usopp: "Doctor?"

Crocus: "Yup. Long time ago, I had a clinic at this cape. I was a ship's doctor for many years."

Luffy: "Really? So, don't you wanna be our medic?"

Me: "Like it's possible! Or else, who's gonna take care of Laboon?"

Crocus: "That. And… Unlike you youngsters, I don't have the disposition to reckless jobs."

And so we were stopped in front of a gate. Crocus left his "island" to climb the stairs at a side of the wall.

Sanji: "Doctor…"

Me: "So that's why he went inside the whale… See, Sanji-san? Told ya he wasn't there to kill him."

"I know this already…"

Me: "But… how's even possible that he built this all?"

Zoro: "What do you mean?"

Me: "I mean all the tunnels and secret passages around here… I mean, we're inside a giant frakkin whale! Is that even possible?"

Zoro: "Go figure…"

Crocus, from the top of the stairs: "Being a doctor, it's kinda possible. Besides… when a whale grows up and becomes this big, it's pretty impossible to take care of it from the outside."

Crocus then came to spin a lever.

"Gonna open!", and started spinning it.

As he spun the lever, the gates opened.

"WE'RE OUT! IT'S THE TRUE SKY!", Luffy shouted.

Me: "Phew… I was getting used to the whale sky that I doubted for a second…"

Everyone else: "I know…"

Then, we finally left the whale's insides.

Usopp: "But, fifty years, eh… Those lazy pirates aren't already sick of making Laboon wait for this long?"

Sanji: "Don't be foolish… Do you realize we're already at the Grand Line? At this rate, they're dead already…"…then he puffed his cigarette. "No matter how long he waits, they're not coming back."

Nami: "Yeah… It's been fifty years… I think that's proof of how frightening the ocean's gonna be from now on…"

Usopp: "Guys, guys! Stop saying such heartless things! Are you really sure of what you're talking about? They still can make it back! It's such a beautiful story… the one of a whale that kept trusting on the promise done with his friends!"

Me: "Usopp-kun… don't be silly… Reality and fantasy world are kilometers apart from each other… I don't believe anyone is capable of waiting for fifty years just because of a promise… even a whale!"

Usopp: "But Laboon waited, therefore, there might be the chance of them getting back!"

Me: "But, Usopp-kun!"

Crocus: "You boys… the reality is much more cruel than it looks. Everything was part of their plan. They ran away… left the Grand Line."

Usopp: "It can't be… they left the whale behind?"

Nami: "Ran from the Grand Line… that means they went through the Calm Belt?"

Crocus: "Even if they survived, they'd never come back here. The seasons, the climate, sea flows, even the winds… everything mixes together in unpredictable ways… in this part of the globe, common sense is utterly useless."

Me: "Then… if they really went through the Calm Belt to escape the Grand Line… their trip ended there. Got caught by the monsters we saw back then, surely…"

Crocus, to me: "You went to the Calm Belt?"

Me: "Heh? Yeah… well, we were thrown there because we lost our way and… by sheer luck, we got out!"

Crocus: "Unbelievable…"

Me, turning my eyes back to the whale: "But… it seems that this whale's friends… weren't lucky enough… Reality… can be crushing."

Crocus: "Crushing or not, it's a fact. Grand Line's terror utterly destroys the weak-willed in the second they enter its waters."

I swallowed hard… is the sea I'm gonna face so terrifying like that?

Sanji: "So these weaklings… didn't think about their own lives nor in the promise they did, packed their stuff and threw themselves on the sea…"

Me: "And fell prey to it…"

Usopp: "So they really ditched the whale? Even with it waiting here for fifty years? That's cruel!"

Yeah… indeed. Even not wanting to… they had to leave the whale behind to try their luck at the Grand Line… and failed.

Nami then asked Crocus: "But… if you knew this all… why didn't you tell the whale so? Laboon does understand human speech, doesn't he?"

Crocus: "I told him already. Every single bit of it. But he refused to listen! I spent the last fifty years trying to convince Laboon that his comrades already kicked the bucket… but, as stubborn as he is, he wouldn't listen to anything…"

Me: "Poor Laboon… the facts are too heavy for him to just stop and accept…"

Sanji then went to me and said: "But there's no other option. You must accept and keep pressing forward."

At that time, I recalled the day my father died in front of me… I had to endure… it was hard… and still today, I tend to cry when I'm feeling lonely…

Crocus, continuing: "That's when he started headbutting the Red Line. He still believes that his comrades are gonna climb down the waterfall and get back here… He doesn't want to accept reality."

"What a whale…", Sanji said, disappointed.

Usopp, also down in the dumps: "Even with no reason to wait…"

Crocus then stood up and replied: "If Laboon had no reason to wait, he'd listened to me in the first time. What he wants is to keep his reasons to wait. His home is at the West Blue! He has no way of going back. What he wants is to keep being the comrade of those who brought him here."

Sanji: "I get it… I know this whale might be in a pitiful state but… if we think it through, you were betrayed as well, didn't ya? Isn't it better just to leave him alone?"

Me: "Leave him alone?"

Crocus: "Just look at his scars! With the way he keeps bashing his head against the mountains, if there's no one to treat him, he'll surely die. We may have this strange relationship, but it's been like this for fifty years. Like I can leave him to die like this!"

"ORRRRYYYAAAAAA!"

"Huh?"

Suddenly, we see Luffy stand up and run like crazy.

Me: "Just what the hell…"

Sanji: "…is that bonehead thinking now?"

Zoro: "We just keep our eyes off him for a second…"

Nami: "Seems he's climbing a mountain…"

He was climbing the whale, carrying something I couldn't quite figure out what it was in his back and shouting: "GOMU GOMU NO… IKEBANA! (Rubber Flower Set)"

Zoro: "Was that the mast?"

Sanji: "Yeah."

Me: "The mast… OI!"

I looked at the mast… or, rather, to where the mast _should _be… and just gawked… Luffy… you dumbass!

Usopp: "The main mast… STOP DESTROYING THE SHIP!"

"You're so nonchalant, oi…", I said, while sweatdropping…

Moments later, the whale started crying and moving around wildly… shaking the sea… and our… mastless ship.

"WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING, GODDAMMIT?"

"We're so done for…", I said… "And all because of Luffy…"

Zoro: "I have the feeling this isn't the first time you said that…"

Me: "I'm hoping this isn't the last!"

The whale soared up high… to fall in the ground!

"HEY, KID!", Crocus screamed.

Nami replied: "Don't worry about him! Even if he's crushed, he won't die."

The whale then dove back, revealing Luffy in ground, safe and sane… well, I mean, only sane. Or not!

Because… they started fighting! Luffy and Laboon!

Usopp: "Just what on Earth he's thinking?"

And like this, we saw, baffled, Luffy and the whale exchanging good ol' "fisticuffs" with each other… and it hurt to see Luffy at a disadvantage, being thrown about against the rocks…

Zoro: "What do ya think you're doing?"

Then, the whale went full-power against Luffy!

"Luffy!"

"IT'S A DRAW!"

Suddenly, the whale stopped. Luffy stood back up, put his hat back and said, taunting: "I'm pretty strong, ain't I? Do you wanna defeat me? Our duel's still not over. One day, we gotta fight again. Your comrades might be dead, but, from now on, you're my rival!"

Me: "Now I get it…"

Usopp: "Get what?"

Me: "Luffy's idiocy…"

Usopp: "What do you mean?"

Sanji: "He surely did that to give the whale a reason to be here."

Me: "Renewing… no… making with him a brand new promise!"

Usopp: "I see…"

Everyone looked at the scene with a smile in our faces.

Luffy continued: "We'll fight again to decide who's stronger! As soon as we're done with our tour of Grand Line, we'll get back here to see ya. Then we spar again!"

The whale then cried. Looks like he's happy to have found a new reason to wait.

Moments later…

"Phew… it's ready!"

Er… how do I describe this properly? Well, *ahem*, Luffy painted our symbol (very badly, by the way) in the whale's forehead.

"Ok! This is the promise of our fight! Until we get back from the Grand Line, don't whack your head against the rocks and blur out this mark, right?"

The whale then seemed to agree, to Crocus's joy. We got back to the ship to fix the mast. Usopp's pretty much our improvised "shipwright", then the repairs proper were assigned to him. I went to get the materials. When I returned to the main deck, it came across my head about the two strangers that appeared together with Luffy… where would they be?

"Usopp-kun… I brought what you asked!"

"Ah, thanks, Dan!", he replied, starting the works on the mast.

Me: "More importantly… Nami-chan, don't you know where those two went?"

Nami: "Those two?"

Me: "The couple of guys that boarded our ship, remember?"

Nami: "Oh, yeah… Didn't they run away or something? If they did, I wonder where they are…"

Me: "Ran away? Ah… She was so pretty…"

Nami: "Is _that_ your problem?"

Usopp: "Oi, Dan! Stop spacing out and help me out here!"

Me: "Eh? A-A-Ah, ok! Coming!"

Nami went out to plan our route, Sanji went to cook our lunch, the giant elephant-tuna and Zoro… well, he fell asleep.

While hammering, Usopp mumbled: "Dammit… dammit… that stupid Luffy, Destroying my ship!"

Me: "Usopp-kun… Ah, oi, Zoro-san! Don'tcha have anything to do?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

It was clearly Nami!

I quickly left my work to check it out on land.

"What's wrong, Nami-chan?"

"What's going on, Nami-swan? If it's food what you want, it's done already!"…Sanji said, bringing with him three huge plates with food!

"Tte… wow! So much food!", I turned my head and said, immediately drooling over the food!

Usopp left afterwards.

"The compass's… broken! Doesn't point to any direction!", Nami said.

"Yeah… it's spiiiinning around…", I said.

"Interesting!", Luffy said.

"You came here without any idea of what was ahead, didn'tcha? That's just stupid… did you come to throw your lives away?", Crocus said, catching us off-guard. "I told this before. At the Grand Line, common sense is utterly useless. Your compass's not broken."

Nami: "Then it's… a magnetic field?"

Crocus: "Exactly. Grand Line's islands are abundant with minerals, that can form wildly variable magnetic fields throughout the whole route. If you take into account the utter imprevisibility of winds and sea currents, you'll understand the nigh-impossibility of navigation around here."

"Then, it's not by chance that it's the navigators' ultimate nightmare… And if we can't determine our route… it's our end for sure."

"Yummy!"

I heard Luffy saying this and already attacking the food!

"Hey, leave a bit for me!", I said, snuck around and went to eat.

"Ah, sorry… I didn't know about that…", Nami said, sheepishly.

Usopp: "Oi, isn't that really really bad for us? Are we gonna be alright?"

Luffy: "It's not bad at all! This fish's delicious!"

Me: "You're right but they're not… ah, screw it."

Nami: "Hey, guys, can you shut up for a second?"

Crocus then continued. "If you want to navigate this Grand Line, you're gonna need a Log Pose."

"Log Pose? Never heard of that." Nami replied.

Crocus then explained a Log Pose's function. It's a special compass that memorizes a specific magnetic field.

"And has an exquisite shape.", Crocus added.

"Like… this?", Luffy then handed to the old man a wristband with a glass globe attached. Should be the Log Pose.

Crocus confirmed.

"Without a Log Pose, cruising through the Line is pretty much impossible."

Me: "So this is a Log Pose… but, Luffy…"

Nami interrupted me: "How the hell did you get that?", and just punched him in the face, totally out of the blue, knocking him out of the table…

Oi.

"Acchaaa… Nami-chan, I was gonna ask the very same thing, but… the punch was unnecessary…", I said.

Luffy: "Ow! Those two weirdos left it in the ship! Just why on earth did you hit me?"

Nami: "Because."

Oi.

She then picked up the Log Pose to examine it. It was a glass globe with a pointer. Nothing else.

Crocus then explained that Grand Line's islands obey to routes created by those magnetic fields. To travel from island to island, you must first wait for the Log Pose to adapt to a specific island's field and point the direction to the next.

"You can't precisely pinpoint your location on the Grand Line, therefore, being totally dependant of the Log Pose."

From where we are, we have to choose one of seven magnetic pathways, that will come together in one final route that leads to…

"Raftel. Grand Line's final island. The only person that confirmed its existence was…"

"Gold Roger…", I completed.

"Raftel…"

Usopp: "So the One Piece must be there!"

Crocus: "I can't confirm that… but that island's the most proeminent of all… it's legendary…"

Luffy, while biting a bone: "That we'll find out when we go there!"

Meal's done, Luffy said: "Whooo… ok, lunchtime's over… let's get ready?"

"YOU ATE IT ALL?", Sanji screamed.

"Even the bones're gone!", Usopp added.

"Ah… thank goodness I was able to eat some, hahahaha!", I said…

For what? Just to Usopp to whack me in the head…

"At least leave something for us!", Usopp and Sanji said.

"Too bad! Ya snooze, ya lose!", I said.

"Why, you…! This lunch… this lunch was for Nami-san!"

Sanji then kicked me in the gut… almost making me throw it all up while being thrown away…

When I sat down…

"Better get ready!"

"Ow, ow, ow… Sanji, kono yarō! (You bastard!) Why I'm the only one getting my ass kicked when… hii… Sa-Sanji… behind…"

Worse than Sanji… was Nami… surrounded by a dark aura… grabbing Luffy by the ear…

"Sanji-kun…"

He: "Haaaai, Nami-san?"

"THE THREE OF YOU, GO WASH YOUR HEADS!"

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh… nande boku made? (Why even me?)"

…and the three of us were kicked to the water. Thank gawd that Laboon brought us back to the surface.

"Aahhh… aahhh… thought we were gonna die…", Luffy said.

"Me too… huh? Aaaah! It's that pretty lady! And the nine weirdo!", I said, pointing to the "guest" couple that was brought to surface with us.

Sanji was quick and straight to help the lady get up.

"Wait! I have a favor to ask."

"Huh?"

"We want you to take us to Whiskey Peak."

"Whiskey Peak?", Luffy parroted.

The man replied: "That's the city where we live! Er… sir."

Nami: "What about your ship? Don'tcha have one?"

The lady: "Ah… it was destroyed."

Nami: "Wouldn't it be too much kindness of ours, huh, Mister 9? Since you tried to kill the whale…"

Usopp: "Yeah, that's right… just who do you think you are?"

Mister 9: "I'm a king."

Nami quickly grabbed his cheek. "Liar…"

The lady, kneeling and bowing: "We cannot tell!"

Mister 9 did the same, stating: "We did not want to do this dirty work but…"

The lady which name I can't yet remember: "Understand, please: discretion is our organization's motto!"

They weren't allowed to say anything… just wanted to get back to their village and all that mumbo-jumbo which I find hard to buy. Even the old man warned us not to fall to their talk. Besides, we have no way of getting outta here… since we broke the Log Pose…

"WHAT? IT'S BROKEN? IT WAS MINE, DO YOU KNOW?"

Nami: "Ah, that's it! Crocus told us he was gonna give his one!"

And they kneeled back.

"Ok. You can board."

Eh?

Luffy: "Whiskey Peak, you say, eh? Let's go there?"

"Oi, Luffy, are you really sure?", I said.

Usopp added: "We barely know anything about these two, but you wanna take them onboard? Out of the blue?"

Luffy: "It's alright. Don't bother with small details…"

"But the only place you can decide your route is here…", Crocus said.

Luffy: "If we don't like the route, it's a matter of getting back here and choose another one, right?"

Crocus: "More or less…"

"So, let's set off?", Luffy said while grinning, standing up and getting back to the ship.

The lady: "Who are you…?"

Luffy turned to face her and said defiantly: "Me? I'm… the man who's gonna be King of Pirates!". In front of that, they just giggled discreetly…

I said with a scary face: "You are permitted to board our ship until this place called Whiskey Peak… however… if you try any of your funny stuff… you can count as kicked out to your doom… ya get it?"

"Err… right!", both said.

"Fine, then, follow me!"

The sun was already setting when we finally ended our preparations to get back to the journey. Log Pose's already set with our trip plan and pointing to Whiskey Peak.

"To Whiskey Peak we go… at full speed!"

* * *

**Luffy: "Laboon... just wait for us... we will make our tour 'round the world and meet you again so we can settle our fight! You can bet on it!"**

**Dan: "Yosh! Now we can go ahead!"**

**With ****Luffy and Laboon making the**** promise of meeting each other again, the Straw Hats are now with everything ready to go explore the Grand Line. The first destination is Whiskey Peak, the homeland of the crew's "guests". Don't forget to check out Chapter 45!  
**


	45. Wow! They like pirates? Let's party!

**Chapter 45**

**"The pirate-welcoming city? Landing at Whiskey Peak"

* * *

**

"Dammit… dammit… dammit… why the hell… it had to… snow… right now?"

So there was I, having to clean the snow from the whole ship… Yeah! It was snowing…a _very _cold weather to add to it and I have to clean the damn deck… C'est la vie… Well, at least Sanji's joining me as well. Not that that makes much of a difference.

"Wanna stop complaining and get back to work?", Sanji exclaimed.

"Aaaaaahhhhhnnnnn… but a while ago it was sooo warm… Can't we just wait until the snow stops pouring down and then clean it all?", I complained.

"You… huh… Until there we're gonna end up buried!"…he then turned to talk to Nami and said, caringly: "Nami-san… for the name of love, we have to clean this until when?"

She, from inside the room, where's warmer: "Until it stops snowing, Sanji-kun."

"Yeeeeesss, Nami-san!"…he then turned back to me and said, in monotone: "Come on, Dan. Stop whining and let's get back to work!"

"Oh, for crying out loud…"

Meanwhile, at the Hall of… I mean, meanwhile, the dynamic duo, Usopp and Luffy kept the whole time fussing around…

"Ah… so nice… they're having so much fun down there…", I said.

"Yossha! It's done! The man who came down from the sky: Mister Snowman!", Luffy said.

"Hahaha… I have never seen such a lack of creativity with snow molding…", Usopp then kicked in and… "BEHOLD! My masterpiece I built with my soul: Snow Queen!"

"OOOHH! Sugeee!", Luffy said, impressed.

"Ah… Congratulations, Usopp-kun! If you weren't a pirate, you'd be a first-class sculptor!", I said, while applauding.

Suddenly…

"Snowman Punch!"…and there goes Usopp's muse's head… he took about ten seconds to notice it, though…

"What the hell ya doin', you…?"…Usopp said while kicking Luffy's snowman…

Then they started bickering about… Usopp throwing snowballs… Luffy replying with a giant one, running around… everything fun and games…

"Hmhmhm… Even with all this snow, they keep so full of energy… Hmhmhm… The youngsters of today…", I said, just like an old man, even though I'm 17.

Sanji: "Dude, how old are you?"

After some moments, I got sick of cleaning the snow around, as I saw that it wouldn't stop raining. Then I went to the room where Nami and the "guests" sat around.

That moment, a lightning shane in the sky.

"Ah… scary… Lightning?", I said. As I entered the room… "Hello, girls, how are…"…I was interrupted with a sudden gust of wind that caught me and threw me all the way to the room's opposite wall.

"YOOOOUU! Ow… ow…"

"What the hell's wrong with the climate around here?", Nami asked.

"Don't ask me… I'm not the weatherman…", I said while getting back up.

"Oi, lady, this ship doesn't have a heater?", Mister 9 asked.

"It's cold.", Miss Wednesday completed.

Me: "We're sorry, but there's…"

"Be quiet! You're not our guests, so, you should be of any use by helping to clean the deck!", Nami butted in, yelling at them… "Besides… I already have my hands full with things to worry about… Until now it was warm… then it snowed really hard… and now lightnings and gusts of wind? The climate's totally out of control…"

Me: "It's just like Crocus-jiisan told us."

"It's the Grand Line here, little girl.", Miss Wednesday said.

Mister 9: "You… didn't come here with no idea of what to expect, did you?"

Miss Wednesday: "And it's been a while since you last checked the helm… are you sure we're alright?"

Nami: "I've just checked our directions and… AAAAAAHHHH!"

Me: "Eh… er… Nami, what's up?"

She suddenly rushed outta the room, looked at the Log Pose and said: "It can't be… Guys, turn the ship around, hurry!"

"Turn around? Why?", Usopp asked.

"Did we forget something?", Luffy asked.

Nami replied: "The ship's changed direction and now we're going the wrong way! Just when I take my eyes off the Log for a second…"

Miss Wednesday: "Girl, are you really a navigator?"

Nami, furious, turned her eyes to her.

She continued: "In this ocean, the wind, the sky, the waves, the clouds… everything's conspiring against the navigators. The only thing that is certain is where the Log Pose's needle points to. Clear now, girl?"

Her reply?

"Stop lecturing me and get your butts out there!", fuming, Nami kicked them outta the room…

"Eh… oi…"

Nami then came outside to dictate: "Use the wind that's coming from starboard to turn the ship around! Turn to starboard! Usopp! Take care of the stern's sail! Sanji! Take care of the helm!"

Both went to quickly get things done. Mister 9 and Miss Wednesday pulled the ropes that sustain the front sail.

"Wait, the wind's changing!", I screamed.

"It can't be!", Nami replied.

Soon after… the sun's bright again.

"Aaaaaahh… sun! It's back!", I screamed.

Mister 9, proudly: "Spring's first sunny morning!"

Everyone in the deck were running frantically as we kept trying to set the ship on the right course and cope with the unstable weather conditions.

Moments later, right ahead of us…

"Iceberg! Iceberg at two o'clock!", I screamed.

Suddenly, it became dark again… well, actually, I couldn't see a yard ahead of my nose…

"Nami-san, the mist's too dense!", Sanji shouted.

"WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH THIS SEA?", Nami was desperate!

"WE'RE GONNA CRAAAAASH!", Usopp screamed.

"Aahh… Sanji-san, let's head to the helm!", I rushed to the helm, to try to evade the oncoming iceberg. Sanji came later to help me.

We did evade successfully… well, almost. Because…

"Water's getting in below the deck!", Luffy screamed.

"Someone's gotta fix it!", I replied.

Nami: "Usopp!"

"Leave it to me!", he, with tools in hand, rushed to the scene.

Suddenly, the gusts of wind got stronger.

"The clouds are moving faster!", Nami shouted.

"Get ready, there's another thunderstorm ahead!", I shouted.

Luffy: "Frickin' big!"

Nami, with quick wits, dictated: "Quick, furl the sails! With the wind at this speed, we're soon to turn upside-down!"

"Leave it to me!", I went hurriedly to try to retract the sails… but the wind's too strong and… I can't… do… it!

"Aaaaaahh… I can't… Must… handle… it!"

Then… there's a tear in the sail!

"Oh shit!", Usopp screamed.

"There's another leak below the deck!", Miss Wednesday announced.

"Dammit!"

"Go down there! I'll take care of the sail!", I said.

"Right!", he replied and went.

And it was such a rush in the midst of thunder, lightning, storms, the strongest winds I ever faced and the wildest sea I've ever seen… but through it all…

"Yeah… and… what about Zoro?"

Finally, when the sea settled down and the skies were blue again… calm is here… and we were finally able to… pass out.

"Aaaaahhhh… I'm… so tired…", I whispered while fainting.

Everyone did the same… exhausted from all that work.

"Aaaaahhhh… I slept so well…"

Was it… Zoro?

"Huh? With such a beautiful day don'tcha think it's too lazy of you to just lie down and sleep?"

You bastard… that's hypocrisy incarnate…

"And… what are you doing around here?", he asked the duo.

Mister 9 replied: "SLOW!"

Luffy then explained: "We're going to the city where they live. It's called Whiskey Peak."

Zoro: "Then we're giving them a ride? With no reason to do so?"

"I know."

Then Zoro went to scare the duo a bit.

"Hmmm… those names… I'm thinking I already heard those somewhere before…"

But suddenly, I see an orange aura coming downstairs and… punching Zoro's head full force…

I lean to sit down… to see Nami.

"You… you… how daring of you to sleep all the way until now… no matter how much we tried to wake you up… just snoring and snoring…", needless to say, she was uber-pissed off with him.

"Huh?", he tried to strike back with his green aura…

To no avail. He ended up with a small mountain of lumps in his head.

"Wanna pick a fight with her? Forget it, man…", I warned him.

"Shut up!", he replied…

"Guys, don't even think about lowering your guard. We don't have the slightest idea of what'll happen onwards. We already had a taste of this ocean's wildness. I finally understand why it's called the Grand Line." Then she clenched her fist and said: "But… this ocean never had an adventurer navigator like myself. You can bet on it!"

A breath of confidence…

Usopp: "But… are we really… gonna be alright?"

Nami: "Don't worry now… it's gonna be alright. As a proof…", she pointed to…

Me: "An island!"

"The first part of our journey's complete!"

Luffy, sitting at the sheep figurehead, said: "Land ahead!"

Sanji said: "That's Whiskey Peak, right? Such a weird island…"

Luffy: "Biiiiiiig cactuses!"

Me: "Correct's cacti."

"Whatever!"

The landscape ahead of us was surely strange… the mountains were green, like giant cacti.

While we enjoyed the sight, the duo jumped to the railing.

"As we already are at our destination, it's time for the goodbye.", Mister 9 said.

"Thanks for the ride, sweethearts. If fate says so, we shall meet again.", Miss Wednesday said.

"Bye-bye, baby!", both said.

Then they backflipped to water.

Nami: "Gone."

"Weirdos, ne?", I said.

"Leave them aside! We're landing!", Luffy said.

"There's a river leading down there. I think it's safe to land there.", Nami said.

Usopp, as nervous as ever, asked: "Er… e-e-e… don't-don-don'tcha think there're gonna be monsters or stuff like that?"

Nami: "Monsters?"

Me: "Like it's gonna happen… Don't seem likely though."

Sanji: "There's always the possibility that we bump in one of some sort. We're in the Grand Line after all."

Luffy: "And if we meet one, it's a matter of turning the ship back and run away, right?"

"Hold a second! We have to stay here for some time, remember?", Nami said.

"For what?", Luffy asked.

"For the Log Pose to adapt itself to this island's magnetic field. Otherwise, we can't go on. It can take hours or days.", she replied.

"Ah, I almost forgot that…", I said, snapping my fingers.

Usopp: "That means…"

"That we can't go away until the Log is set, even if monsters are chasing us…", I said.

"What only upsets me even more…", Usopp replied tremulously.

"C'mon, Usopp, relax!", I said.

Zoro: "That's right. To keep thinking about it and worrying won't take us anywhere."

"Let's think about it when it happens!", Luffy said, grinning widely.

"Ok, so we're going in. But remember: don't lower your guard. Be cautious and ready to fight or run.", Nami warned.

"Right!", I said.

We entered a misty zone that kept getting denser.

"Yeah… guys… I… I have a disease that stops me from landing in this island…", Usopp said sickly.

"Ok, ok… you're scared shitless…", I said.

"How dare you? Never heard about this terrible disease?", he replied.

"Is it contagious? Now, c'mon, enough already.", I said, hitting him lightly.

As we went forward, the mist was denser… and the expectation built up.

"What's waiting for us on the other side?", Sanji asked.

A little ahead… and, bit by bit, shadowy figures were appearing from both sides.

"You're seeing this too?", I asked.

"There's something moving here and there.", Luffy replied.

"Is it… people? Guys, there's people in the shores!", Sanji announced.

"Aaahh… dammit… looks like the worst's gonna happen… monsters or whatever it may be… bring it!", Usopp, trembling, challenged.

When the mist finally cleared… screaming from all sides… and, suddenly, the river's margins were so crowded with citizens partying and celebrating… er… I can't tell why.

"Is the monster island… saluting us?", Usopp asked.

"Fool. Not monsters. People.", I said in deadpan tone.

"But what's happening?", Sanji asked, puzzled.

I was also wondering it myself. From here I could hear the shouts of "Pirates!", "Welcome!", "Long life to the heroes of the sea!", "Noble people, brave and immortal!", and the like, scattered over the crowd.

"A city welcoming pirates? That's weird…", I said.

"Ooooohhh! There's lots of beautiful girls!", Sanji screamed.

"Where?", I asked.

"There! Look!"

Well, indeed, here and there were small groups of truly breathtakingly beautiful girls! Looks like this experience's not gonna be too bad after all… Nevertheless, lots and lots of people came to the coast to celebrate our arrival. When we landed, we were received by a small committee, apparently led by a man suited like a baritone, sporting long, long hair… and practically twice our height tall.

"Welcome at…"…he coughed, interrupting himself. "Ahem, ahem… maa, maa, maa~. Welcome. My name's Igarappoi. I'm Whiskey Peak's mayor."

Well… if he didn't introduce himself, I'd ask him if he was a baritone… or a jazz singer… or stuff. He was carrying a trombone and stuff!

"Ah. I'm Luffy! Nice to meetcha. Hey, ossan, your hair's kinda too curly, right?", he said, pointing to the mayor's hair.

He didn't mind and said: "This is the city of the best drinks and of the most upbeat music: Whiskey Peak! Hospitality to visitors is our biggest reason to be proud. We have a ocean's worth of liquors to appease even the most eccentric of tastes. Would you like to join us in the partying and tell some of your adventures to us?"

"Adventure tales? I have a lot of'em!", I said.

"Really? We would be thank… Ahem… ahem… maa, maa, maaaa~. Thankful and pleased to hear them."…I wonder why does he have to take this long just to clean his throat…

"WITH ALL PLEASURE!", Luffy, Sanji and Usopp quickly went nuts.

"Three stooges.", Nami, snarky.

"Maa, don't be upset now.", I said.

She: "Well… Igarappoi-san, how long does it take for the Log Pose to adapt to this island?"

"Log? Ah… do not worry about small details as this. Come with me! Let us prepare your well-deserved rest after this tiresome and troubled trip of yours."

He put his hands, one in my shoulder, one in hers, to say: "People, prepare the party! Sing upbeat songs for our brave adventurers!"

The night fell down and with it there was a great feast in a bar of Whiskey Peak's village.

"…So I said, coolly… 'Even if you're the mighty Sea Kings, freakin' big as you are, do not lay a finger in my comrades.'", Usopp said.

I completed: "We can be small, but you're in for a world of pain if you underestimate our strength!"

The women and girls melted in squees… and the men were impressed. Well, as expected of Usopp's tales…

"I have to admit… I didn't have the barest idea of how we were gonna escape the Calm Belt… I was trembling… of excitement!", Usopp continued.

"Trembling in fear, it was…", I thought to myself.

"We went to the knowingly dangerous Calm Belt! And, as you can prove, we made it out alive!", I completed, sounding proudly.

"A cheer to Usopp-san and Dan-san!", one of the men suggested.

After the cheer, I went to see Nami and Zoro. She wasn't much in the mood for partying, it seemed. He, stern as always.

"What's up, Nami-chan? You seem down…", I sat next to her.

"All of this is very strange…", she said.

Moments later, Igarappoi came, offering us a drink. We refused, especially I, since the last time alcohol entered my systems, it didn't bring good consequences… but he insisted, saying that this is the best wine in the island and that it had a light dose of alcohol.

We gave up and tried anyways.

"Hmmm! Yummy!", Nami said.

"I loved it!", I said.

"This year's grape harvest was one of the best ever. To celebrate… We are immediately starting the Drinking Tournament!"

Me: "Could it be… one of those where you keep drinking and the last standing wins?"

Igarappoi: "Exactly."

Nami: "Do you know about these?"

Me: "Well… when my father returned from his trip, he promoted one of these with his friends and took me to see. I refused to take part… because he brought me along unbeknownst to my mother… and they quarreled about it the day after when she found out… ah, good times…"

Nami: "But… I don't think I'm gonna… I can't drink that much."

Me: "Me too… from the few times I drank… the aftermaths weren't… well… pretty."

"We are offering a prize of 100,000 beri to the winner!", Igarappoi said, while pulling a bag o'money outta his suit.

"Fill it up!", Nami, suddenly, changed her attitude and decided to participate.

"Can't drink too much, huh? Oi, Nami-chan, you sure?", I asked worriedly.

"What? You too, come drink! Hey, Zoro, come as well! You're penniless, right?"

"Huh?"

Like that, we then entered the championship.

There were one… two… three… four… pause. Five… six… uh… seven… hmmm… *burp*…sorry. Eight… ow…

"Look, guys! That man's wooing twenty girls all at once! What the hell's with this crew?"

"Ahn… huh? What? Hey, Sanji, you bastard, it's not fair! Leave some to meee…"

And, if I recall correctly, this is the time where I pass out.

"I can't anymore… Drank too much…"

"Come on, sleep in my lap."

That was the last voice, female, by the way, that I heard before heading to dreamland… it was a frickin' party! Now, good night… and dream with the angels, will ya?

* * *

**Dan: "Whoa... what a... what a party! I'm so... I'm so dizzy... I can't even stand up..." *faints***

**So... just get to a nearby bed and rest 'til tomorrow, will ya? But what's this? Looks like the most lively island we've ever seen on the face of earth has some hidden intentions lurking around! What will happen? Find out in Chapter 46!  
**


	46. What ELSE could possibly go wrong?

**Chapter 46**

**"Revealed! Codename: Baroque Works"

* * *

**

"Suu…"

"Oi…"

"…kun…"

"…n-kun…"

"Dan-kun! Wake up!"

"Ahhhhnnn…"

"Wakey! We have to run away from here!"

"Wut… Nami-chan?"

I was _broken. _To drink nine frothy mugs of that wine ended up being worse than I thought…

"C'mon, get up! I need a bodyguard!"

"Huh?"

My body seems to still be sleeping. I felt like I was stuck to the ground by chains and couldn't move my arms and legs… When I opened my eyes, I saw other eyes right in front of mine…

"Aaah! Nami-chan! Too close!"…and a blush in my face.

She, whispering: "Shhh! Quiet! Finally you're awake, sleeping beauty! Can't you imagine how I struggled to wake you up? Now c'mon, get up because the bounty hunters are around here!"

Me, still half-asleep: "Ahmm… wait a second… ow, what a party… huh? Bounty hunters?"

"Shhhh! Don't yell! Do you want them to find us?", she said.

Then I parroted, whispering: "Bounty hunters?"

She: "Yes. I got the suspicion… no, I'm certain, that this island is chock full of bounty hunters that lured us with the goal of pillaging. But they didn't count on my wits!"

Me: "Hmmm… seems plausible. But why the hell did you go through the trouble of waking me up?"

She: "I told ya already… I need a bodyguard! Because I'm gonna do the reverse trick: instead of just sleeping around and letting them rob us, I'm gonna take everything they have to offer."

Me: "But why me? I can't feel any good after nine mugs of wine…"

She: "You wuss!"

Me: "Eh? What'ya said? Then, how many cups did you drink, after all?"

"Fifteen." How blunt.

I was flabbergasted. Fifteen mugs of wine and yet she's standing, theft-happy as ever…

"But, wait a second… we weren't supposed to get drunk with that alcohol-free wine! Which means…", I said.

She completed: "Exactly. They, somehow, managed to mix alcoholic beverages with our wine as we were drinking it…"

Me: "Point for us, ne?"

She: "Now come on. Let's say this is the start of our counter-attack."

"Er… oi, oi! Shouldn't we wake up the others?", I interrupted.

"No. Three upwards are already a crowd and it becomes even easier to find us. They can hold their own. Now let's go!", she said.

Then she pulled me to escort her and here we go search the treasures this island had to offer. We had to leave the pub we were in, hiding where we could in order to not get caught. We invaded home after home to see if the bounty hunters were filthy rich with their thefts.

"Nothing… not a penny… Goddammit! All they have is this?", Nami mumbled while turning everything upside-down to search anything worth stealing.

"Oh crud… For bounty hunters like them they ain't worth what they say… It's all talk!"

"Er… what about searching anywhere else?"…I said. That's what you get when a greedy woman wakes you up…

"You're not goin' anywhere else!", I heard a voice…

Then guns clicking and being readied…

"Er… Nami-chan…"

She: "What now? Stop fooling around and help me search treasures before the hunters find us!"

"Well… about that… ehe…"

"But what the…? Ah, I get it."

"But how they got up back again? I thought Mister 8 sedated them for good!", one of the hunters said.

"Mister 8?", I thought to myself.

"They can be out of the sedation, but, If they move a muscle, will be chock full of holes in their bodies, that's for sure!", another hunter said.

We were totally surrounded. The windows of the place we were standing in were filled with people pointing guns at us. Cornered to the wall, no exits. That, surely, activated my inner question: fight or flight?

"Dan-kun… Fight or flight…", Nami said tremblingly.

"Er… dunno… flight?", I said, stupidly.

"How? We have no escape!", she replied.

"Well… as Luffy demonstrated a while ago… if we have no exit available… the only means is to… MAKE ONE!"

Quietly I transformed my pencil in a staff. Then, soon after, I tried to break the wall behind us with it, a second before hearing gunshots amok in the middle of the dust. Couldn't see a thing, therefore, tried to embrace Nami, but ended up losing my balance and falling to the ground. When the dust was gone, I found myself laying over the dust of what was the wall, with a body next to mine… and the blush got back again… as I felt Nami's… curves… next to my body.

"Ow… ow…"

"Nami-chan… yo-yo-you… are you ok?", I asked, stuttering.

She: "Somehow, I am."

Trying to disguise: "Eh, hehe… now we can run!"

"Damn right!", she quickly got up and ran away like lightning while I was still standing up!

Me: "Ah… eh… oi! Nami, wait!"

"I can't! Take care of those behind you and come meet up with me!", she said while going away.

"Behind me?"

I turned and suddenly… saw a crowd with weapons and swords and stuff just waiting my move to zerg rush me…

"Ok… one, two, three, four… ten… twenty… thirty or so… Yossha! I was longing for some action for too long now! Now it's rampage time!"

I made some stretching and prepared my attack pose. I put my pencil over my ear because I felt I wasn't going to need it.

"I'm able to train myself on how long can I hold without using weapons. It can be useful against an unarmed opponent."

How ironic… the purpose's totally different of the situation…

"Wait… they're all armed! Shit… Ah, screw it!"

And, tauntingly, I launched the signal: "Bring it!"

It didn't take long until a barrage of gunshots was coming. I had to backflip my way to evade the bullets… until finding a wall to hide behind.

"Whoa! That was _not_ a good idea!"

I waited for a bit until it stopped.

"Where did he go?", they asked.

"I'm here, idiots!", I replied, appearing again.

"You…", one of the hunters muttered before pointing his gun to me and shooting… or trying, since he was out of ammunition.

"My turn!"

I ran to attack him and punched him right in the face! Suddenly a crowd attacked me, without shooting, using their guns to knock me out. In an instant, numerous blurs came from all sides. I had to evade on instinct… and was hit.

"Ah, you…"

But I was able to hit back with a kick! Sent him flying!

"Ok… anyone? Bring it on!"

Now, the ones armed with knives, swords and all sorts of unconventional and sharp weapons.

All the while I was evading slashes, kicking and punching around, trying to make my moves as artistic as possible. Suddenly…

"BOOM!"

In the following instant, there was a cannonball right ahead of my face!

"Eeeekk!", no time to think, I ducked and felt the ball still touching my hair…

"OI! That was dangerous, man? Who's the son of a bitch who did that! Come out!", furiously, I said.

It was the big guy standing behind, with a big frakkin' bazooka on his shoulder and ten more behind…

"Hehee… Looks like we got a skilled pirate here… but we'll assure he doesn't come out alive!", he said.

"Ow… looks like this ain't gonna end soon…", I thought to myself.

I still had twenty guys or so chasing me…

"Well… I'm gonna risk it. Here we go!"

Then I went to the group. They came lashing at me with more and more slashes. I had to abort my "training" and draw my pencil out.

"Enpitsu Bou!"

Quick change into a staff.

"Pole Vault Kick!"

I gained height to kick 'em. Following, quick hit with the staff. Then…

"Enpitsu Yari!"

Change to a spear, needed to take care of the big one. Only one left standing.

"I bet I'm gonna break your bazooka before you shoot!", I taunted.

He: "Hahaha! Like you can do it!"

"Here I come! Ha!"

I launched myself full-speed.

Actually, lost the bet but, screw it!

"Hya!"

In a single swipe, I cut the cannonball in half. When it left my sights, a barrage of shots was right in front!

"EEEEEEHHH?"

Guess what? I was left with evading them… but, luckily, found a savior hideout!

I was panting a bit, but I recovered and remembered: "That's it!"

"It's time to draw out my good, old, trusty, never-thought-I-could-use-in-combat-until-now… sketchbook!"

With it, I drew myself. I had such a last-season tactic, but it works once in a while. Then, my "clone" materialized.

"Art initiates life!"

"Ok, now help me to get up there!"

He served as the base and helped me to climb the house's ceiling while he went to distract the big boy for a while.

Suddenly…

A child running to me with a knife in his hand.

"Hey, brat…", I said, immediately taking the knife from him: "Running with pointy objects is dangerous, y'know?"

He gave up and kneeled crying. Cue a woman coming also and telling me that she's his mother and begging my pardon.

"Please, forgive my son!… Kidding! Pepper spray! Eh?"

"Hmmm… save your tricks for the truly stupid."

I then knocked them out with a light bonk of my staff.

"Sorry for having to hurt you.", I told the unconscious woman.

Meanwhile, I was hearing successive cannon shots…

"He… time to end it all!"

I then went to the tip of the ceiling and saw it: the big one trying to hit me… and seeing "me" disappear right in front of him…

"Huh? Where did he go?"

"I'm up here!", I screamed.

"But how?", he asked himself.

"Guess how!", I challenged.

"Why… you…", He said while shooting again.

Naturally, I evaded. I jumped aiming for the building in front, but… I barely realized he had shot again… and that hit me straight in midair.

I fell straight to the ground.

I cleaned the dust… with my back aching a lot… and the rest of my body as well. Taking a cannonball explosion right next to me and a 10-meter fall isn't for anyone! Normally I would be dead by now… Kids, don't try this at home!

"Ah… you effing bastard… you're gonna pay!", I said while standing up.

"Hahahah… wazzup? I'm waiting!", he replied.

Me: "That's enough! It's time to get it over with. I'm gonna destroy your bazooka once and for all! Enpitsu Yari!"

"Take this!"

He shot once again. Where the hell does he get all those cannonballs?

Nevermind… I pressed forward and cut the ball in two again.

He: "What?"

"Conclusion… now!"

Y'know the scene: backs turned to each other. Once I snap my fingers…

"AAARRGH…"

Me: "Checkmate."

Bazooka destroyed and the big one finally faints.

"Aaaahhhh… finally, everyone is down. It was a good training but… sincerely… you all don't pack a punch. For bounty hunters, you need to learn a lot…"

I then remembered: "Time to meet up with Nami!"

I ran with the thought of having to scavenge the whole town searching for her… until I hear some voices…

"It's up there! Trap him! Go by the back 'cause we'll stay here!"

Me: "Huh? Who're they talkin' about? Could it be…"

"TAKANAMI! (Falcon Wave!)"

A whirlwind sound followed… and screams.

"Zoro?"

I ran to check on what was going on and had to hide the moment I was caught off guard because I saw another herd of bounty hunters. Looked like they were talking to someone…

I ignored the talk and decided to climb the stairs that were at my reach in order to have a better sight of everything, always sneaking swiftly not to be seen. When I reached the top floor, I saw a known face.

"Zoro-san!"

He looked back and saw me.

"Dan? What the heck are ya doin' here?"

I, while climbing: "Long story. I ask you the same! What're ya doin' here?"

He: "Long story."

I noticed a unconscious body and asked: "Who's this one?"

He: "Ahn? This is one of the leaders of the bunch o' hunters that lurk around here. Go look down there."

I walked to the tip to see lots of people piled up and some standing, looking back at us. I quickly realized there were known faces.

"Why're they all piled up? Zoro? Did ya…"

He: "That's right. Now the only ones left are these three and some others."

Me: "These three? Ah! It's Igarappoi! And the weirdo couple!"

"Mister 9 and Miss Wednesday for ya!", Mister 9 screamed.

"Another pirate's awake?", Igarappoi said.

"But how's that possible?", someone else said.

Zoro: "Those types belong to a secret organization called Baroque Works."

Me: "Baroque Works? Do you know 'bout them?"

Zoro: "Long story short: they tried to recruit me, but I refused."

I, while stretching yet again, replied: "Hee… Then… Ladies and gentlemen of Baroque Works! The wine was delicious but if you think you're gonna make me fall with it, you're dead wrong! But… you gave me a hell of a hangover!"

"So, another one knows our secret… But what do you mean? Could it be…"

"I defeated a herd of bounty hunters that tried to zerg rush me and Nami!", I proclaimed.

"Zerg what?", everyone asked.

"Nevermind.", I replied.

Igarappoi: "Nevertheless… this is unheard of… but… I got it! Marine issued a wrong bounty poster!"

Mister 9: "It's more understandable for one of them to be the real captain."

Oh, how flattering of you!

"I was finding it weird to have a boy like that one with a 30-million bounty hanging over his head…", Miss Wednesday completed.

"Impossible… I can't conceive a group of bounty hunters as skilled as us is being easily knocked out by mere pirates!", Igarappoi exclaimed.

"Ah, by the way… the 30 million bounty poster isn't any mistake. When Luffy wakes up, he'll show ya what he's really capable of.", I said.

"Hee… looks like it's our turn…", Miss Wednesday said.

Mister 9 completed: "You may not know yet, but on our Baroque Works, the smaller the number is, more powerful is the agent. The three of us, Mister 9, Mister 8 and Miss Wednesday, are single-digit agents. That means the mooks you have knocked out don't come even near our level."

"Maa… even without your explanation, I kinda realized that before…", I said.

Zoro completed: "Don't you think it's a waste of time just to brag before a fight? The strongest wins. Period."

"IGARAPPA!"

Suddenly Mister 8 draws out some gatling guns from inside his hair and shoots agains us!

We evaded the shots the moment he screamed and went one to a side. Then Zoro screamed: "Dan, take care of the woman!"

I replied: "A… o-ok! But…"

"How the hell can I go down?", I shouted.

"You don't have to. You're not gonna escape!"

"Huh?"

I noticed that Zoro and Mister 9 left the scene and here comes Miss Wednesday.

"Ah… oh crud… I gotta fight a woman…"

I'm really uncomfortable having to fight women. Y'know, it's that thing of not wanting to hurt her and stuff…

"What's your problem with fighting with me?", Miss Wednesday asked.

Me: "Eh… I… I cannot hit a woman. Chivalry rule."

She: "Hmm… So, this will be a piece of cake!"

She then drew a pair of small jewels out of her belt. From them tiny wires sticked out. She put them 'round her pinkies and started spinning 'em.

"Kujakki… Slasher!" (Peacock Slasher!)

And in the following instant, she jumped at me frantically trying to cut through my skin. Her movements were swift and fast. I could see them, although I always evaded at the last second… I saw that she was gonna be tough work…

"What? Changed your mind now?", she said while zigzagging her blades.

"No! Absolutely in no way… I'll punch you! Not even… if you were… my archnemesis!", I said while evading.

I could do nothing but evade. If I hurt her, I'd break a principle of my raising. But she didn't seem to care and continued.

"Then… stand and admire my splendorous display of beauty… Miwaku no Kousui Dance!" (Dance of the Alluring Perfume!)

She struck an attractive pose and, with mini-bottles of perfume in her hands, danced around to spread the smell. In the moment it reached my nostrils… I was paralyzed all of a sudden… either the smell's very foul or too afrodisiac for my tastes…

"My… body… can't… move!"

She then whistled and said: "Come, Carue!"

"Carue?"

Suddenly I see a… duck… or whatever animal appeared in front of me… jumping up and meeting with Miss Wednesday. She then mounted it, readying her blades to attack me…

"This is gonna hurt…"

"Charge, Carue!"

I braced for impact, but…

"You're going too far!"

And a scream. I turned to look at what happened… and saw none of them. I walked to the tip of the ceiling to check on them. Suddenly…

"IGARAPPA!"

And a rain of bullets. I had to jump at once to evade it. And my legs hurt like hell afterwards…

I ran far away from Mister 8 and stumbled upon Zoro having to fend off Mister 9. We were with backs turned to each other.

"That's a hella lot of work, huh?", he said.

"Indeed…", I replied.

"Hold a second… One false step and your chubby friend here will be a goner!"

I turned to see Miss Wednesday holding Luffy hostage!

Me: "Luffy?"

Zoro: "He could at least wake up before being held hostage!"

"Perfect! Kattobase Shikomi Bat! (Home-Run Hide-a-Bat!)"

And then a steel chain came to bind us.

"Didn't see that coming!"

Zoro: "You keep quiet…"

"Prepare cannons!", I heard shouting from above.

I looked upwards to see Igarappoi, or, Mister 8, drawing gunbarrels outta his curly hair.

"Cannons ready! IGARAPAPPA!"

All of them shot at once.

Me: "Eh? He's a frakkin' tin soldier?"

"Dan, think fast!", Zoro said.

He used one of his arms to grab the chain and pull Mister 9. I did the same shortly after. We tried to build momentum to pull him up, in the way of the bullets.

Bullseye!

Then, to complete, we launched Mister 9 to hit Miss Wednesday and take them out.

Zoro: "Two down, one to go! Dan!"

"Right!"

I quickly drew out my pencil and turned it into a spear.

Zoro: "Quick, to Luffy's belly!"

"Gonna borrow it for a second, sorry!"

With a quick and swift double slash, we knocked Mister 8 out.

Both: "Yosh."

I sighed in relief.

"Ah… the city's peaceful again."

A little pause to feel the wind blowing by… then… an explosion!

"Hm?"

Me: "Not for very long!"

I stood up to check on what happened. Moments later, my questions were answered. I ducked in order to spy on the current situation. Another couple was coming out of the smoke and entering the scene. I called Zoro and he came to see it too.

"Mister 5! Miss Valentine!"

* * *

**Zoro: "Baroque Works... a criminal organization that works under the motto of absolute secrecy. To think that we would ever meet each other again..."**

**Dan: "But what does this mean? What will happen next?"**

**You're going to find out only if you check next chapter! Don't miss it!  
**


	47. They're fighting? We men are idiots!

**Chapter 47**

**"Infiltrations, revelations, deals… and a fight between comrades!"

* * *

**

"How pitiful… to lose to one swordsman and a mere boy…"

"Ooo! New characters enter the scene! This is getting interesting…", I said.

"Mister 5! Miss Valentine!", Miss Wednesday exclaimed.

Another couple of agents is in the stage. The man, Mister 5, was dressed in a brown coat and wearing sunglasses… at night. Does he see anything with those on?… Nevermind. Resuming: the woman, Miss Valentine, wearing a lime-colored dress and also a lime-themed tuque, holding an umbrella… and such a cynical grin.

Mister 5: "Are you kidding with me or what?"

Miss Valentine: "Hahahaha! Isn't this already proof of the difference in our status?"

Igarappoi was fallen in the ground, defeated. Must be the result of that explosion we heard before.

He: "Did you come here just to laugh at us?"

Mister 5: "Because of that as well."

Miss Valentine completed: "Hahahahah! Obviously, we're on a mission."

That laugh is already driving me nuts…

"Heheheh… thanks a lot… now that you're here, those two won't stand a chance against us!", Mister 9 said, panting.

"Please, defeat those two!", Miss Wednesday completed.

Mister 5: "Don't make me laugh… we're your reinforcements, you say? Hm?"

Miss Valentine: "Do you have any idea of why would we come to this far corner of the Grand Line?"

"So, what's your mission, after all?", Mister 9, recovered, asked.

Mister 5, stepping forward, said: "You really haven't got a clue… There's criminals here that the Chief ordered to be eliminated immediately. These were his words: 'Someone knows my secret. What secret is it, of course, even I don't know. But the code of our organization is discretion. We will not tolerate any kind of investigation that identifies any of our members.' And to anyone who wants to know about the secret of our boss, elimination is the only destiny."

Huh? If even the boss doesn't know his own secret, what's the point of all of this? Seriously, Baroque Works is just a bunch of idiots…

Valentine: "So, we made our own little investigation of those who could know about the secret and, ahahah! How surprising… We found out that a member of an important kingdom infiltrated Baroque Works!"

Suddenly…

"DIE YOU ALL! IGARAPAPPA!"

Igarappoi quickly stood up and fired at both of them! Then there was an explosion and a smokecloud.

"As the Captain of the Royal Guard of Arabasta, I cannot allow you to lay a single finger in the Princess!", he shouted.

When the smokecloud had dissipated, Mister 5 and Miss Valentine stood unscathed.

"Captain of the Arabasta Royal Guard, Igaram and Princess Nefertari Vivi. By direct command of our Chief, you are to be eliminated.", Mister 5 said, while holding a small photograph of Miss Wednesday… or should we say, Princess Vivi.

"Ah… so those are their real names…", I whispered.

"You will not succeed!", Igaram exclaimed, and then sent another barrage of gunshots at both of them.

"Hmmm… that's bad… Luffy's still sleeping down there…", Zoro said, lackadaisically.

"Err… sorry, but that's your concern right now?", I asked, calling him out. He didn't respond.

Suddenly, yet another explosion caught our attention. After the smoke was out, Igaram appeared fainted.

"Yosh… let's get outta here. The night's too noisy to me.", Zoro said, getting up and sneaking around to rescue Luffy. I followed him.

"IGARAM!", Vivi screamed.

"Don't even bother!"

A voice coming from above. When I looked above, I saw Miss Valentine floating in the air! She came down all of a sudden and kicked Vivi… but only cut her hairclip. Vivi equipped her slashers, but somehow, Valentine floated again.

"You monsters…", Vivi whispered.

We left the commotion for a moment in order to rescue Luffy… that was deeply asleep and fat like ever before. We had to drag him out of there. As soon as we got to a safe place, we went back to checking on the situation.

Igaram, still lying down, whispered: "Vivi-sama… Vivi-sama… don't worry about me… you have to escape right now! For the good of our nation… without you, our kingdom of Arabasta will crumble… so run… now!"

"Don't even think on getting outta here alive."

On the other end, Mister 5 threatened while… er… picking his… nose… Vivi turned to him and prepared her blades. But then…

"I don't understand the circumstances, but due to our little while as partners, I'll serve as a shield. Now go away, Miss Wednesday!"

Mister 9! He's helping her? That's at least somewhat odd.

Vivi: "Mister 9…"

"I'm a pretty good boy, don't you think? Now… bye-bye, baby!"

Those were his final words before rushing to attack Mr. 5.

"Nekketsu Niiiiine…"…while doing his acrobatics…

"What the agents need are only good will to complete their missions. All this partnership bullshit is going to bring death. See for yourselves!"

Mister 5 prepared his attack…

"Nose Fancy…"

Mr. 9: "Konjou…"

Mr. 5: "CANNON!"

Then Mister 9 flew backwards with a blast!

"Oi, oi! That's what I call explosive snot!", Zoro exclaimed.

"Huh? His snot exploded? How the hell he managed to do that?", I exclaimed uncredulously.

"Mister swordsman! Pencil lad! Please, seeing the tremendous power that both of you possess, I request that you accept a really important favor!"

Igaram told this while crawling and grabbing Zoro's foot.

Zoro tried to free himself and said: "Don't come whining to me, I don't care! Get lost, let go of my foot!"

Igaram kept begging: "Those two are also Devil Fruit users! I don't stand a chance against them! Please, protect the Princess in my place!"

Me: "Er… I'd still do that… if we counted out the fact that you tried to kill us!"

So he grabbed my leg also and kept begging, visibly becoming more desperate…

"In the far east from here there's the Arabasta kingdom… if you promise… to deliver the Princess safe and sane… we'll offer gigantic rewards! Please, I beg your acceptance to this offer! Please, protect the Princess!"

Me: "Ah… even if you say so…"

Zoro: "Are you effing kidding me? I don't give a crap about this! Now let go of my foot before I snap and cut you!"

Me: "Hey now, Zoro, there's no need for the th…"

"You talked about gynormous rewards. Is that true?"…hmmm, this voice…

"Huh?"

"Now you're talking in my language… how about… one billion beri?"…Nami.

"NAMI? ER… ONE BILLION?", I asked, shocked.

Igaram: "Eh… er… one billion… be…"

Zoro: "Didn't you faint before, Nami?"

Nami: "What? A city that makes parties for pirates… who's the idiot that falls for such a trap! It was all an act, my dear! All an act! And I can drink much more than that, ahaha!"

Me: "Nami, you… thanks a lot for abandoning me and leaving me at the mercy of the angry bounty hunter mob, huh? I almost got zerg-rushed because of you!"

Nami: "What are you complaining about? So, aren't you here, standing and stuff?"

Me: "Yeah, but…"

"Getting back to the important matters… so? One billion beri, Royal Guard Captain. Do we have a deal? If the Princess is defenseless, she'll be dead meat for sure, right?", Nami asked.

Me, mumbling: "Nami, you sly bastard…"

"Did you say something?"

Do-ki!

Me: "No, nothing!"

Igaram: "I'm just a mere soldier… I can't promise such a high amount…"

"Anyways, soldier or not… One billion, it's just too much! Nami, can't you lower the price a bit?"

Nami: "Don't say bullshit! I'm doing this so we won't be penniless anymore! And… Igaram-san… your kingdom's princess isn't worth that much, you say? Or is she worth much more than that?"

Igaram: "Giku…"

Zoro: "This crossed the extortion boundary already…"

Me: "Extortion is an understatement, buddy…"

"If you deliver her safe and unscathed, and then talk to the King, I'm sure they'll give it!", Igaram said.

Nami: "Then it's a matter of saving her first, you say?"

"As we speak, the life of the Princess…"

I completed: "Is in serious danger… Nami, let's save her! After that we'll settle the price!"

Nami, scratching her head: "Ok… then we'll rescue this princess…"

Igaram thanked with a smile.

Nami then commanded: "Zoro, Dan-kun… hurry now!"

Zoro: "WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING WITH ME? I won't go! Why the hell do I have to put up with your goddamned schemes?"

"Maa… Zoro, calm down…", I tried…

Nami: "You fool… don't you remember? My money is mine but my problems are yours to solve!"

Now that's just f**king unreasonable!

We: "What kind of messed up logic is this?"

Me: "Listen lady, I don't function under this principle, ok?"

Zoro: "Since when a spoiled brat like you turned into my boss?"

Nami: "But it's simple! You only have to beat those two down!"

"But here's the kick: I hate being used. So, send that stupid cook down there to handle this!", Zoro exclaimed. I'd butt in to say that Sanji's still K.O. but…

Now this turned into a couple bickering… so I decided to step out and stay away…

Nami and Zoro kept their stand-up routine. Blah blah blah defeat the agents, blah blah blah debt, blah blah blah three-times return…

Ah, this one I'll explain. For those who forgot, let's look back at Loguetown where Nami lent Zoro some money. Yeah. Now Nami wants it back…

Zoro argued that he returned the 100 grand that she had lent to him… but she replied that he had to return the triple of the value, so there were still 200 thousand to pay. Game over. Zoro, you lose.

Nami: "Oi, oi… can't you keep your promises?"

"Giku…", Zoro was frozen upon hearing this…

"If you do what I'm saying, I'll consider the debt paid.", Nami said with her old malicious grin.

"I hope you die horribly… horribly!", Zoro said.

Nami, proudly: "Yeah! I don't care if I'm going to Hell for being so greedy!"

"I hate you!", Zoro then ran away like someone who's being constantly bullied at school…

"Thanks!", Nami exclaimed happily.

I thought to myself: "Those two… if Zoro wasn't so stubborn… and Nami wasn't that greedy… but I think it's their nature. There's no cure to it."

"It's humiliating… If only I were stronger… I could protect the Princess with my own powers…", Igaram, down in the dumps, let it out.

I left my position and came to comfort him. "Don't worry. Rewards aside, now you know that there's people who care about your predicament."

Nami completed: "Everything's gonna be fine. Zoro's strong as he's stupid."

Me: "Oi, oi…"

"If… if something happens to the Princess… the kingdom of Arabasta… will fall…", Igaram said, worriedly. "She… she has got to live!"

The reward never mattered to me in the first place… I felt a growing uncertainty about all this… should we really help them? Seeing as Igaram is visibly desperate, it seemed to me that the situation was really critical. But something bothered me… just why in the world members of such an important kingdom would infiltrate an organization where absolute secret is the code?

"Well… about that… what's all the fuss… about this organization called Baroque Works?", Nami asked.

"It's a secret criminal organization. The face and the name of their chief are unknown. Their agents are specialized in robberies, assassinations, spying, and bounty hunting. Everbody's movements are controlled by the chief.", Igaram replied.

"Hmm… I'm full of questions… First: Why would people work for a chief whose face and name they don't even know?"

Igaram: "Baroque Works's final goal is to create an ideal nation. Those that follow the orders of the chief successfully will have high positions and wealth on the ideal country he wants to conceive."

"I see…", Nami said.

He continued: "The chief's codename is Mister Zero. The agents which attributed number is closer of zero will have ascending riches and more important offices. And the power that the agents with numbers lower than five is… simply astounding…"

Me: "But… why members of an important kingdom like you would enter an organization like this?"

"Exactly… because the chief of Baroque Works wants to create the perfect nation… by overthrowing ours! In other words… he wants to step on the kingdom of Arabasta and create his own!"

"Hmmm… this is really serious…"

"And the only person who can stop him is Princess Vivi! Somehow, one way or another, she's got to arrive in Arabasta!"

I thought to myself: "Hmmm… I'm utterly clueless about the extent of the situation, but anyhow I don't see how only one person can stop the advances of someone who wants to conquer a country…"

Suddenly the noise of another explosion disturbed my thoughts.

"Where does this sound come from?", Nami asked.

"I don't know… but it sounds like problems. I'm gonna check on Zoro. Back in five.", I replied.

"Take care!", Nami alerted.

Then I ran to check on how Zoro was doing. As I had no idea of where Zoro was, I had to rely on my instincts to find the center of the commotion… and lady luck smiled at me…

"FOOOOOOUUUUNNNNND YOOOOUU!"

"Huh… this voice… Luffy?"

The scream was so loud that I could figure out where they were. I was running when all of a sudden, Luffy's on my view… but there were also Mister 5 and Miss Valentine! I had to hide myself quickly. I used the stairs to climb to a safe spot and observe it all from above. There was Luffy on a side, Zoro and Vivi on the other and in between, the agents.

"Zooooroooo!"

Zoro replied, grinning: "Luffy! If you're here to help, thanks but I don't need. Or is it that you owe money to that girl as well?"

Luffy, panting, was with a mad face…

"I WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU! LET'S FIGHT! NOW!"

WHA?

Zoro: "Eh? HAA? Are you nuts? What kind of bullshit are you spewing?"

Me: "What the hell…"

Luffy: "Shut up! You ungrateful bastard… I'm gonna pound you!"

Zoro: "Ungrateful?"

Luffy: "Yeah! I stumbled upon a whole bunch of fainted people and one of them told me a green-haired swordsman had defeated them all… After the kick-ass party that they threw to us… and your retribution is to slash everyone without excuse!"

There he goes with his bull thoughts…

"Yeah, that's true but…", Zoro tried to reply.

Me: "Ignorance is bliss… Whatever it means."

"Hmmm… are they really partners? Fighting each other… how pitiful.", Mister 5 reflected.

"Hahahahaha! It doesn't matter! It's about erasing all of them from existence, just like we do to the ones who butt in our missions, yeah?", Miss Valentine completed.

"Oi, Luffy… hear me out: those are all…"

"I DON'T WANNA HEAR!"

Without further ado, Luffy started the confusion and landed a punch on Zoro!

"EEEHHH?

But he hit a rock…

Zoro: "ARE YOU TRYIN' TO KILL ME?"

Luffy: "YEAH! DIE!"

Looks like words are useless against Luffy when it comes to food…

"What a hard head… in both connotations!", I said.

While the fight was rolling on, Luffy and Zoro were moving back and forth… and that left the way wide open for the agents to attack Vivi! Oh snap! What should I do?

"Oh damn, now they're gonna kill Vivi! I gotta stop them!", I said.

I jumped from where I was to step on the way but suddenly…

"If you want Vivi you'll have to pass through… huh?"

Without previous warning, a gigantic weight hit me full-force. I only remember of flying about a hundred yards and destroying a wall before stopping…

"Ow… ow… ow… what the eff…"

"Impressive how you manage to get on our way, bastards!", as I was waking back up, I heard Mister 5 saying this, already ticked off.

Ih… better to leave by the backdoor… and I did so. In between the smoke of the explosions, I sneaked my way to a safe spot. Then…

Goddamn explosions here and there!

"Mou… now you made me angry! Suffer with the awesome power of my Kilo Kilo no Mi! Hahahaha! Get ready now! I was able to ride the explosion shockwave for I'm only weighing a single kilogram!", Miss Valentine said.

"One kilo? Floating? That's physically impossible! But… seeing my surroundings, that doesn't frickin' matter!", I thought.

"Ah… what an exercise… Finally digested all that food…"

There were… Luffy bringing Mr. 5 knocked out!

"Haaa? What the…?", simply wordless…

"See… here I come! With my power I'm able to…", while Ms. Valentine kept talking…

Zoro: "Luffy, hear me out. The villagers are all bounty hunters. In other words, our enemies."

Luffy: "YOU FAT LIAR! Do you think enemies would give us food?"

Valentine, at the same time: "…my weight as I… Hey! Don't ignore me! Take this! 10k Kilo Press!"

Zoro evaded without even looking… Took his bandanna off his arm and tied it on his head.

"It looks like anything I try to talk you out is useless… you freaking moron! Now I'm pissed off and I'm going all out! If you die, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Oh crap! They're going all out now! What if Vivi is caught on the shrapnel of the fight? I felt like I had to protect her so I used the circundating streets to go where she was.

"Vivi-san!"

"Who are you?", she asked.

Me: "The name's Daiki! And I'm their comrade."

She: "Eh? Their comrade? And… how on earth do you know my name?"

Me: "Long story. That doesn't matter now. We have to get to a safe place or else we'll be caught on the fight."

"TATSUMAKI!"

The turbillion frightened us both and turned our attentions back to the battle. Everything was rolling until both of them threw each other against the walls behind them. After the smoke dissipated, there was silence.

"What should we do now?", she asked me.

Me: "Er… I don't really know… the most logical thing to do now is to run, but… I have my doubts."

Then we were walking slowly… slowly… then suddenly there are both, each on their side, and with us in the middle!

Me: "Go back now!"

"Carue, back!", Vivi screamed.

As they left the rubble, they got back to beating each other up…

"Now this is going too far… Miss Valentine, let's show them what happens with who humiliates a Baroque Works agent like this!", Mister 5 snapped while standing back up.

"Yes, Mister 5!"

"Hey, you! You won't escape! Don't ever think about underestimating the power of us, Baroque Works Official Agents!"

"Oh God, just shut the hell up!", Both Luffy and Zoro shouted.

They suddenly stopped…

"You're in our way!"

Luffy and Zoro shoved them both out of their fight!

* * *

**Baroque Works's true goal, well, its leader, whose identity no one's allowed to know, has a grand objective and it's finally been revealed. The bravery of a royal soldier who infiltrated himself in a ruthless organization can finally be rewarded, but...**

**Dan: "Oh no! Luffy and Zoro are thinking of nothing but beating each other to death! Now what... what should I do?"**

**What will happen next? Find out in Chapter 48!  
**


	48. Princess Vivi! Y'know, she's kinda cute

**Chapter 48**

**"Deliver Princess Vivi safe! Luffy's Pirates set sail!"**

"Get the hell out of our way! You're interfering in our duel!"

Luffy and Zoro, simultaneously, shoved them out of their duel. One-hit KO! Yeah, just like that they defeated both agents!

"Let's resume our duel, shall we?", Zoro said.

"Yeah!", Luffy completed.

Vivi, spectator: "Impossible… those two literally curb-stomped two of Baroque Works's strongest officers!"

Me, equally impressed: "Really… sometimes I plain forget that I live under the same roof as two super-human individuals."

We could see the intensity with which they glared at each other. This is no place for jokes now… they were fighting seriously. I could even see their battle auras coming together. They hardened their muscles and kept glaring at each other intensely. At that moment, I was in an indecisive turmoil.

"What the hell am I gonna do? Should I butt in and stop their fight? Or let them kill each other?", I asked. However then I recalled the reasons why they were fighting. For them to battle that fiercely for such a stupid reason! But even so… they're still uber-strong! Anything that I might try will end up badly for my side! What can I freakin' do?

Well, screw it. They're already launching against each other!

"Stop fighting this instant!"

I instantly rushed forward when…

"ENOUGH!"

What I saw that moment was the two of them coming my way fast as hell… before crashing with me and the three of us falling down…

"I can't believe it… what the hell? All it takes is a single distraction of mine and that's what happens? You are freakin' unbelievable!"

This voice…

"You're super lucky for leaving the Princess unscathed, eh? You almost made me lose one billion beri, dammit!"

Me: "NAMI?"

I slowly got back up, leaving the knocked-out duo in the ground.

"Na… Nami…? But… how?"

That's just ridiculous! After all that seemingly pointless angst, Nami just sneaks in and knocks both of them out with a single punch! Better not even think about how in the name of Charles Atlas she managed to do that because I'm never gonna find out!

Vivi stepped in, but kinda at loss as to what to say: "You… but what on earth are you talking about? Why did you save me?"

Me: "Ah… yeah… about that…"

Nami stepped in as well. "About that… we still gotta talk it out."

While she spoke, the bickering duo woke up and as they were coming back to their senses, they also got back to beating each other up… even though Nami was holding them by the collar.

"…don'tcha wanna do a… uh… That does it! Stop struggling!", and proceeded to knock them out again.

"There's a saying that goes: 'An idiot will always be an idiot, unless he dies.'", thought to myself.

Nami: "Ummm… now, as I was saying, I was thinking about doing a contract with you, Princess."

Vivi: "Con… contract?"

"Yeah… well, before all else… let's sit somewhere and you'll enjoy the chance to talk about it. Nami, let me take care of the two hot-heads, will ya?", I said.

Then we left the center of the battles and went to the top of one of the houses not destroyed to enjoy the moonlight and assess our situation. Sort of.

Starting with Zoro and Luffy clearing their misunderstanding when… er… *takes a deep breath* Luffy made the effort of stopping and listening to Zoro's explanation! Y'know… something he could just have done about half an hour before, therefore, we could have avoided all of that!

But, it goes as they say: Poor communication kills.

Luffy: "Hahahaha! That's it, eh? Then why didn't you say so? Hahahah! I thought you went nuts and slashed everyone because they didn't have your favorite food!"

Zoro: "DON'T PUT ME IN THE SAME BOAT AS YOU!"

Me: "Oi, Zoro… just cool the heck down, will you?"

Nami butted in: "The three of you, shut up!"…and got back to the deal: "There you go. This is our offer. For us to escort you safely, we want one billion beri. You saw how strong they are, didn't you? I don't think it's a bad deal, is it?"

I then noticed the Princess looked even sadder at every second.

I said: "Nami! One billion's too much!"

Vivi stepped in, stating: "It's impossible. But still, I'm thankful for saving my life. Really. Thank you very much."

Nami, surprised, tried to rebuff: "What are ya talking about? You're a princess, aren't you? One billion shouldn't be much!"

"Nami!", I said.

Still didn't agree at all with that deal.

Vivi: "Did you ever hear about a country called Arabasta?"

Nami: "No."

Vivi then continued: "It was a great pillar of civilization… a peaceful land. But that's a story from long ago."

Nami: "Long ago?"

Me: "Then… what is going on now?"

Vivi continued then: "The country sank with a civil war that's still going on. Few years ago, a revolution begun. Citizens started rebelling, throwing the land in utter chaos. But, in a certain day, I heard about the name of an organization called… Baroque Works! I found out that they were the masterminds behind all the turmoil… and that was all. Couldn't find anything else, nor could I put my finger on it. Then I talked to Igaram, my tutor since I was little."

Luffy: "That one with the curly hair?"

Vivi: "Curly… yes… it's him. With his help, I decided to infiltrate Baroque Works. By doing that, I thought that I could figure out the true intentions of whoever planned the rebellion and what they aimed to gain with this."

Zoro: "Pretty daring for a princess… Did you find out their true plans?"

Me: "They aim to establish an ideal nation."

"How do you know?", Vivi asked me.

Nami replied: "Igaram told us that a while ago."

Vivi: "He claims that creating a perfect nation is his purpose, but all of this is a big fat lie. What he really wants is the throne of Arabasta!"

Somehow, I saw that coming… Generally whoever comes with ideas like this one isn't any kind of savior. Idealism is for kids, some say.

Vivi, desperate: "I have to get back to my country as fast as possible and convince the people to stop this senseless war by telling them the truth! If this goes on… if this goes on…"

She trembled of anxiety.

"Now I get it… now everything makes sense… In the midst of a civil war… there's little money…", Nami, saddened by the facts…

"Oi, you're still concerned with money?", I called her out.

"Hey… this boss… who's he?", Luffy asked.

The sheer bluntness of his question caught all of us off guard.

"Yeah… the… the… Boss's true identity? Don't ask me this under any hypothesis!", Vivi said, stuttering.

Luffy: "But you know, don'tcha?"

Vivi: "I know, but I cannot tell you! If I did so, you'd be chased as well!"

Me: "Yeah… that's kinda unnerving…"

Nami, faking it: "We… we… w-we don't want it! No way! Ahahahah… If he's trying to overthrow the entire country, he must be an uber-powerful guy, isn't he?"

Vivi: "Absolutely! No matter how strong you all may be, you're not even close of his level! A member of the Shichibukai (Seven Sea Warlords)… CROCODILE!"

…

Me: "Like… weren't you supposed to… keep it a secret?"

*beat*

Oh shit.

In the very moment she uttered this word, an otter and a vulture appeared where we were… and suddenly left. From there, all hell broke loose because Nami plain snapped at the poor young woman…

"BUT WHAT THE F**K JUST HAPPENED NOW? WHY THE HELL THAT VULTURE AND THAT OTTER WERE HERE? DOES IT MEAN WE'RE GONNA BE CHASED DOWN?"

Nami was shaking Vivi senseless…

"Sorry! Sorry! It slipped out!"

Nami: "THAT'S NOT GONNA CUT IT! IF APOLOGIES WORKED WE WOULDN'T NEED POLICE!"

Meanwhile, at the Hall of… I mean, out of the fuss…

"She said Shichibukai, right, oi?", Luffy asked.

"Not bad, huh? I'm gonna be lucky to fight one of them!", Zoro, smirking, said.

"Hmmm… looks like our path has just turned even more dangerous…", I said, worryingly.

"YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!", Then Nami just melted down in tears… "We barely entered the Grand Line… and now we're receiving death threats from evil organizations! That does it!"…suddenly, she turned, walking away… "It was a short time together, but it was nice to meet you! Goodbye!"

Me: "O-oi, Nami, where are you going?"…I followed her.

"As they didn't see my face yet, I'm gonna take the chance and get the frak outta here!"

Me: "Wait, Nami! Maybe it's…"

Suddenly, the otter's back, holding a drawing sheet… where the four of us are drawn… pretty accurately.

Me: "…it's too late."

She: "Yeah, you're skilled, eh? I have such a pretty face! Ahahahah!"…she applauded sarcastically, then turned back, fuming: "Now I can't even freakin' escape?"

"I'm terribly sorry!", Vivi said.

"Well, anyway, the four of us are already booked in Baroque Works's death list.", Zoro said while smirking cynically.

Luffy was laughing his ass out… "Exciting!"

My sarcastic mode kicked in: "Well… whoop-de-f**kin'-doo! Now we're gonna be chased the hell down because we know of a secret that even the boss of this blasted organization does not… Yahoo! Hooray! Look how Nami's enjoying all of this!"

Well, basically she was in the corner of woe.

"Do not worry!"…this voice…

"AAAAAHHHH! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?", I asked, freaking out.

"Igaram!", Vivi exclaimed.

"EEEHHH? Do… you… uh… this is… I… I… Igaram?", I stuttered while restraining my laughter… Igaram just got back, but with the same clothing as Vivi. It goes without saying that his appearance was wrong in more than one way.

Me, Luffy and Vivi approached him.

"Igaram? Why's the clothing?", Vivi asked.

"Hahah! With this disguise you're gonna fool anybody!", Luffy commented.

"Yeah… anybody with no neurons in their brain!", I added.

Igaram: "Vivi-sama… I have a plan. Hear me out. At any moment, Baroque Works's headquarters will receive the mission report. When our identities and the fact that we know the secret about their boss arrives at them, you will know what happens."

"Yes… about a thousand agents will be after us.", Vivi said, dryly.

I swallowed hard. Nami immediately turned her head, taken aback.

Igaram: "That's why I'm disguising myself as the Princess. I built three puppets with whom I will travel directly to Arabasta. I will serve as bait for you to escort the Princess to safety."

"HOLD IT! Who said we're gonna take the Princess?", Nami butted in. "We have no deal settled yet."

"Take the Princess? Why is it?", Luffy asked.

"Pfff… Luffy, did it all enter one ear and leave by the other? Didn't you hear the conversation?", Zoro replied. Then he stood up and continued: "Summing it up: This old man wants us to take the Princess back to her land."

"Ah, so that's it, right? It's fine for me!", Luffy said.

"CROCODILE'S GONNA GO AFTER US!", Nami screamed, in a fit.

"This Crocodile's powerful, right?", I asked Igaram.

Igaram: "Yes. Seeing as he is one of the infamous Shichibukai, pirates working under the Government's belt, he had his bounty nullified. However, before he acquired his license, he had an 80 million beri prize for his head."

Surprised, I blurted: "Oi… ei… eighty million?"

Nami completed: "That's four times the bounty for Arlong, isn't it? Refuse at once!"

Luffy took the other option. "Yeah, fine. I'll accept. Let's go!"

Nami didn't even want to look anymore… she must've thought: "I'm surrounded by idiots!"…but I think that anyone with courage, if in Luffy's shoes, would take this "mission". And it's a good adventure opportunity!

Since the very moment I was told that our names were in Baroque Works's list of extermination targets, my tummy's been turning around. It's that I'm still processing the fact that… my… life… is in… jeopardy! That means a single wrong step of anyone of us… will mean a brutal death. That's what's being a pirate is… I guess.

We walked to a side of the island where Igaram had a boat ready only waiting for him to arrive. When we got there, it was time to part ways…

"Well, if you don't mind, I will then leave.", Igaram said effeminately. Probably training for the go time, even though it won't do him much good.

"Haha, ossan, you're just like the Princess!", Luffy said.

"Ah, you're so stupid you don't deserve to be insulted!", Zoro butted in.

Igaram then requested that Princess Vivi handed him a sort of compass just like the Log Pose we have, but encased like a hourglass.

"Vivi-sama, your Eternal Pose, please.", he said.

Nami interrupted: "Eternal Pose? Never heard about that."

Igaram then explained. "Well, an explanation is in order, then. Just like the Log Pose adapts to the magnetic field of the island it's in, the Eternal Pose does the opposite. Locks it's signal to only one island and always points to that specific island, wherever the Pose may be."

I commented: "Hmmm… whoever invented those things thought about all the possibilities, I'm sure."

"This Eternal Pose points to Arabasta.", Igaram said.

Igaram then gave us a quick advice before leaving: "I never did that myself, but I believe that if you follow your Log Pose, then in two or three stops, you'll arrive at Arabasta. Now, I'll leave the Princess in your care."

It was time to go.

"Take care.", Vivi said.

These were the words of the farewell. And as the boat sailed away from the coast, it was beginning to become crystal clear our role in all of this.

Then…

….

A blinding white light caught us completely off-guard. An explosion! The shockwave was so strong I nearly lost my balance. Then a flaming hell absolutely engulfed the sea… and took Igaram with it!

Me: "No! No…th… that's… it cannot be!"

Nami: "Th… they're already here!"

We couldn't believe what our eyes were showing us. Somehow, Baroque Works got a hold of the information and quickly dispatched Igaram for good! In the cruelest way imaginable!

"HE WAS A NICE GUY! Now I'm pissed!", Luffy screamed.

Zoro, quickly: "Nami! How 'bout the Log?"

Nami, stuttering: "It… it's already set!"

Me: "Yosh… go ahead! I'll bring Vivi with us and we'll meet in five!"

Nami: "Wake up Sanji and Usopp as soon as possible, we have to flee immediately!"

Then they rushed off the scene.

Me: "Vivi-san! Vivi-san! We have to leave now! If they catch you here, it's all over for…"

I stopped when I saw her biting her lower lip with such force that it was bleeding… In this moment I realized the vulcan of emotions thrown together that erupted inside her… And resorted to the only thing I could think of at the time.

I hugged her and whispered comforting words in her ear: "Vivi-san, calm down. Everything's gonna be alright. We will surely take you back to Arabasta in safety, no matter what happens from now on! Neither Baroque Works, nor the Shichibukai will be a match for us! So, trust us, okay?"

Without saying a word, she looked me in the eyes, stopped biting her lips and nodded with her head. "Let's go, shall we?", I said.

While we were running…

"Wait! Carue's missing!", Vivi said.

"Carue?", I parroted.

She explained: "It's my pet billduck… I can't leave without it!"

Me: "I'd really like to go search it now, but we're so out of time!"

"Oi! What are you doin' standing there?", Zoro said, from inside our ship.

I replied: "It's Vivi-san! She told me her pet billduck's missing! She tried whistling for it to come, but it didn't!"

"You mean… this one?"

*beat*

It was onboard!

"IT'S THERE!", we shouted. "It was already onboard when we got here.", Zoro replied.

I sighed in relief. "Let's hop on then!", I said.

We jumped in the ship, unfurled our sails and prepared everything to sail out of the island!

I couldn't stop thinking about what was ahead of us. Zoro, in a way, externalized my worries: "Oi… how many hunters are we talking about?"

Vivi: "I dunno… Baroque Works has around two thousand employees…"

"Yo… you said… two thousand?", I exclaimed, swallowing mid-sentence.

She then went on to say: "I heard also that there are islands just like this one in the vicinity…"

Nami, worried: "Other enemy bases…"

Then, finally…

"Oi! The boat's moving already!"

Ah, finally the sleeping beauties woke up! Oh, for the love of Gold Roger… how can they sleep at a time like this! As soon as they woke up, quickly went straight for the complaints… like what we do when we're half-asleep in the morning, except they're well awake… and in a voracious need to know just what the hell happened while they were asleep. Yeah… There's no time to go through all of that, so Nami opted for the easiest way out.

"Get back to sleep!"…that is: knocking both of them out again. "Done. Everything's explained."

Zoro: "That's fast, huh?"

Nami: "Let's say I skipped the unneeded plots."

After all that fuss, we enjoyed a few moments of relaxation in the middle of a very dense fog.

"Ah… it's so nice when our boat's in no danger, huh?"

"Of course!", Nami replied.

"Be careful with shallow seas. I don't want you to go breaking your ship's hull already, okay?"

"Leave it with us!", Nami replied.

I butted in, puzzled: "Nami… are you talkin' to someone?"

Following this question, Nami was as puzzled as me. "Yeah… I'm talking to Luffy."

"But I didn't say anything.", Luffy said.

"Then… who's talking?", I asked.

All it took was turning around…

"AH! WHO ARE YOU!", I asked, pointing.

Vivi was shocked. A brunette, possessing very alluring body features and dressed with a very revealing purple cowgirl attire was sitting, legs crossed, in the railing of the upper deck.

"You… yo… you! What the hell are you doing here? Mi… Mi… Miss All Sunday?"

New Baroque Works Agent: Miss All Sunday!

Nami: "So… who's her partner?"

Vivi: "She's the partner of… none other than Mr. Zero."

Me: "Mi… Mr. Zero? She's the big boss's sidekick!"

Vivi continued: "Exactly. She's the only one allowed to know the identity of the boss. We spied her to find that out."

Ms. All Sunday stepped in: "As a matter of fact, what happened is that I let you spy me."

Vivi: "I know! So it was you who warned Crocodile that we knew his secret, wasn't you?"

"Correct.", All Sunday confirmed.

"Then, what in the world are you after?", Vivi, visibly affected, asked.

"Like I know. You seemed so serious about all of this that I decided to give a little help. After all… a Princess thinking about challenging Baroque Works to save their country… isn't it idiotic?"

Her words were more than enough to make Vivi lose it.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!"

We quickly assumed battle stances…

"Do you mind not pointing those dangerous weapons at me?"

In the following instant, I felt a strong slap in my hand… that made me drop my spear.

Sanji and Usopp were thrown outta the upper deck… and she disarmed all of us without moving a muscle!

"Devil's Fruit!", I screamed.

"But what kind of power?", Nami asked.

All Sunday tried to clear all questions: "Calm down… I'm off-duty right now. I don't plan on picking a fight with you."

She then stole Luffy's straw hat without leaving her post.

"So… you're the famous Straw Hat Luffy, right?"

Luffy, threateningly: "Give my straw hat back… or you're in for some heavy beating!"

"How lucky you are… escorting a Princess that Baroque Works wants dead… And you're so few to protect her… But your biggest misfortune is the route this ship is heading to. Next island's called Little Garden. Even if I do nothing to stop you, you're still not gonna make it to Arabasta. You'll be annihilated. Seriously… running to your graves… That's just idiotic, don't you think?"

She then tossed an Eternal Pose. And said: "With this, you can skip Little Garden altogether. This Eternal Pose points to an island called Nanimonai, standing a few kilometers away from Arabasta. None of Baroque Works's agents know this route, so it's your golden chance to arrive at Arabasta free of chase."

Her every action only left me more puzzled.

"But… why? Why the boss's partner would help us like this?"

Zoro: "It's a trap and that's for sure."

"Or is it?", All Sunday left the question.

"LIKE THAT MATTERS!"

Luffy grabbed and… broke the Eternal Pose!

"You're not the one deciding this ship's route! Now go away!"

Nami immediately kicked him: "You utter moron! She just told us a safe route for us to go through! What if she's really tryin' to help us?"

All Sunday only could grieve: "It's a shame… But if you manage to survive… I'll find you again. And… for you, boy in the white jacket… If you arrive at Arabasta alive, we have a special surprise for you. Don't die 'til there."

That message was for me! But… what the hell did she mean by that?

* * *

**Dan: "A special surprise waiting at Arabasta? For me? What the hell does that mean?"**

**Our heroes got a tough mission in their hands. The organization's vice-president has showed herself, but her movements are ever so puzzling. Why would someone as she go through the effort of helping the Straw Hats after having killed Igaram that way? Let's see if we find out answers to these questions in the Chapter 49!  
**


	49. Nothing Little about Little Garden

**Chapter 49**

**"The ancient island! The shadow hiding in Little Garden"

* * *

**

"…if you arrive at Arabasta alive, we have such a special surprise waiting for you. Do me a favor and don't die 'til there.", All Sunday said while taking her leave.

Wait… this message… it's for me! But… special surprise? What the hell does she mean by that?

"Wait? What the hell are you talking about!", I asked.

She couldn't help but shrug and state: "I have no idea… I totally forgot to tell you that this is only a message I received from the boss. What he could possibly mean by that is out of bounds for me, nor I don't want to know about it. I also think it would be a little more interesting if you figured it out by thinking with your own brain, eh? But don't sweat it. If you do arrive at Arabasta, everything will reveal itself… although it's a lot tougher than you ever imagine… See you later."

She hopped off the boat. I ran to the side where she left.

"Wait! Stop screwing with me and explain it properly! Oi!"

I screamed but, when I realized, she already hopped off the boat and went away, riding a giant turtle specially equipped with a chair and wearing a cowboy hat similar to hers… now that's what I call personalized transport…

"She's gone…", I muttered.

"That's one hell of a giiiiant turtle!", I heard Luffy stating.

Suddenly, I hear a little thump sound. I turn to see Vivi kneeled on the ground, looking worried.

"That woman… I don't have any idea of what the hell is she thinking!", she said, desperately.

"Neither do I…", I could only mutter. All of that left me with much to think as well.

Nami quickly tried to comfort us all. "Then trying to figure it out is only going to make you get worried and waste time."

"Besides, we already have an example of someone who doesn't think about his decisions here on the ship, don't we?", Zoro completed, putting a finger near his nose as if pointing to where Luffy was.

I gave a slight giggle while thinking: "Yeah, she's right… to keep thinking about it is no good after all…"

"Hey… oi! Can you explain me what in the name of Roger is happening around here? I don't understand!"

Usopp interrupted the moment. Yeah! I've totally forgotten that Nami had knocked out them both without explaining anything whatsoever! It's fuel for a little story later on… Surprise after surprise, after both of them started assimilating the facts. The girl who was before called Miss Wednesday was now our companion… and had brought her duck, to Usopp's amazement…

Sanji quickly volunteered to prepare a meal for everybody while…

"Can someone please explain to me what in the world is going on?"

I was already fed up with all that whining, so I decided to intervene.

"Yeah, ok, ok, Usopp-kun… stop complaining so I can explain everything. Every single bit."

Now… that all the ruckus is over, we can finally enjoy some good old rest time. Making it sound like a bedtime story, I explained to Usopp everything that happened while the sleepy bunch was fallen at the arms of Morpheia, since Whiskey Peak until the result of his second knockout, already in o boat.

"Aaahh! Thank goodness I was fast asleep!", Usopp let it out, relieved for escaping with all his skin intact.

"You lucky bastard! Now do you understand the pain we went through?", I asked.

Some moments later…

"I see now… I understand. I've done something unacceptable… but still, there's now the chance for me to show what I can do.", Sanji was talking to Vivi.

Everyone of us stood in the front deck. Luffy sitting in the side railing, Zoro laid down in the ground… making his usual angry face, trying to stand Sanji's wooing antics… I was sitting down, Nami, Sanji and Vivi standing.

He continued: "From now on, your dormant chevalier is awake and shall make it his mission to grant your security no matter what happens.", then she turned to face Nami and asked her: "Nami-san, sorry… are you jealous?"

She: "Not really."

"Hehehe… Sanji-san, take care of Vivi that I will treat Nami!"

I patted her shoulder, but from the moment she started giving me her cold stare, as if she was ready to bite me, I retreated.

"I…", Vivi whispered. We turned our attentions back to her, that spent all the time with a frown in her face, looking worried. "I… I ask myself… if is it alright for me to stay here with all of you… I don't wanna cause any more problems to you…"

Nami stepped forward and told her directly: "What are you talking about? Thanks to you lady… we're going to be chased down and threatened with death.", she continued her complaining while poking Vivi's forehead… "If you didn't want to trouble anyone, you wouldn't do anything of what you've already done!"

"So… sorry…", Vivi muttered through gritted teeth.

"Right, Luffy?", Nami turned back and asked him.

"Yeah! I'm freakin' hungry!", he said while flexing his arms.

"Hmhm… he plain doesn't care about stuff like that…", I grinned while thinking this.

"Anyway, we already know what will be our next stop, don't we?", Zoro said.

Sanji: "Little Garden… eh?"

"Wi-will we be alright going there?", Usopp asked, already anticipating what's to come… and freaking out with the image.

I replied to him: "Dunno… we'll only know when we get there. Right, cap'n?"

Luffy: "That's for sure! Let's go, guys!"

Us: "Ou!"

Lalalalala, lalalalala, lalalalalaaaaaa… Heheh… sorry. It's in times like this that a relaxing song kicks in so we can all freshen up and chill out, right?

The sea… ah, the sea… it's a lord of swinging moods… there's times where he's pissed off with everything and only brings chaos and terror… and there's times where it's calm and serene, bringing with it the opportunity for the so deserved rest… and it's about time we have a little peace around here…

"Hey… do you think it's gonna snow?"

"Not in a million years!"

"It snows that I already saw it! You won't believe me because you were sleeping!"

Luffy and Zoro were talking. We were at the ship's front deck, sitting in the floor. Both of them chatting, with Vivi looking… and I was just listening. It was time for me to practice my meditation by contemplating my navel…

Who am I? Who is me? I am me, but you're not me… Universe's not real to me unless it's real to you, but… who are you? Confusing, isn't it? Heheh, just kidding!

Ok, now let's talk seriously. Everything that has just happened left a lot of questions laid down in my head. Miss All Sunday's words left me intrigued. What kind of surprise would be waiting for me? And… the way she talked to me… it seemed like… like she knew me from somewhere… Nah, could be only a mind game of hers… But the truth is one: Baroque Works knows we exist and that we do represent a threat to their goals. Therefore, they know I exist and are just readying themselves to crush us in the most brutal way they can imagine. That means I gotta prepare myself!

"Hey, Vivi, is it gonna snow again?", Luffy took me out of my thoughts.

Vivi replied: "It's not like snow's never gonna fall again… but that first stretch of sea is unique and special."

"Hm?", stopped my meditation for good to pay attention.

Vivi continued: "The main seven magnetic fields that emanate from Reverse Mountain affect everything that happens in that region. But no matter what happens, we must not let our guards go down."

I agreed: "You're right… Vivi-san…"

"It's rare to have such difficult trips like that one we had in the first sector… but this ocean is the toughest to navigate in the entire world… The golden rule of thumb is to never, ever underestimate nor disobey this ocean…"

Me: "Words that deserve to be respected… by all of us."

We were gazing for some moments the waves rippling and flickering side by side with our ship. The sea was in a state I would describe as serene agitation… it's a strong contrast, I know. It only enhances the moment!

"Hey you guys! Here's a round of my special drink of mint and sweet fruits very cold only waiting for you! Anyone who wants it come here and fetch one!", it was Sanji.

Hmmm… it not only took me out of my meditation once and for all, but left my mouth drooling! It's gotta be delicious!

"Wah… I gotta taste it!", I said.

I rushed to the lower deck and saw a whole lot of cups filled with a green drink with ice just waiting… Carue followed suit, also jumping in joy.

Soon after, Zoro and Luffy also went down.

When I took the first gulp and felt the liquid going down my throat… hmmmmmmm! Simply refreshing!

"Aaaahhh… I was really needing that…"

"Delicious!", Luffy added.

We tasted Sanji's drinks and then started discussing what we were gonna do with our free time. After taking a little sip, I spoke:

"Guys… any ideas of how to spend the time?"

Luffy replied: "Usopp… could you build some fishing gadgets for us?"

"Ooh… fishing, eh? Good idea!", Zoro, while grinning, agreed.

"Nice! Then lessee… I'm gonna make some artistic baits for all of you!", Usopp said proudly.

Me: "But is this art going to catch lots of fish?"

Usopp: "Of course it will! Just wait and you'll see it!"

Meanwhile, I couldn't stop noticing that Carue couldn't drink his cup… but in the moment Sanji taught him how to do it, the billduck drank it all in a single gulp!"

"Ooo… you liked it, eh? Here's another one for you.", Sanji said.

The billduck took other one in one gulp… and another one…

"He… hey… Carue, it's better for you to drink slowly, or else your…"

All of a sudden Carue let out a scream… and fell down…

"…neck's gonna hurt…"…then everyone just laughed their asses off!

"Hahahahah! Silly Carue!"

Moments later… we saw afar a dolphin going past us and flickering!

Sanji: "Look over there guys! A dolphin!"

Nami: "Wah! How cute!"

Me: "Nice! It's the first time I see a dolphin ever!"

Suddenly… the dolphin changes direction… and jumps… over our ship! It's… it's… it's…

"HUUUUUUGGEE!"

I was jaw-dropped… the dolphin was twice the size of our boat! I even risk it and say it's bigger than that! The size of the wave it created when diving back to the water was… truly astonishing!

"Yosh! Guys, let's run for it!"

Us: "Let's go!"

In a quick dash, we all went to our positions. Usopp and Sanji were responsible for the ropes and the sails. I went to help Zoro steer the helm, but we all were running like crazy.

I could see from the back window that the dolphin was ready to jump again. I ran to warn, but I guess it was uncalled for…

"Guys, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Luffy: "Good! Let's ride the wave to sail faster!"

The ship was caught by the waves and gained speed. Later, after all the fuss was over, we went to check our route with the navigator at service.

"Nami-chan… how's our route going?", I asked.

"Turn… to the left!", she stated.

"Aye, aye!", Zoro and Luffy replied enthusiastically.

Now we're on the right way for our next destination! I shouted: "Land ahead!"

"Our next stop is… that island over there!", said Nami, as the island was getting closer of our field of vision.

Luffy: "It's the second island of the Grand Line… Little Garden!"

The island kept approaching more and more… and when we entered its river currents, we could appreciate it's grandness. Literally.

"Here's the place called Little Garden?", Luffy asked.

"…which I think has nothing 'little' in it…", Zoro replied.

"This island looks nothing like its name…", Nami commented.

Usopp was already trembling like crazy: "This… this is enemy territory!"

I could still hear Vivi whispering: "We gotta be careful… I'm still worried about what Miss All Sunday said back there…"

"S… so… do-do you mean this island's full of… full of… mo-mo-mo-mo-monsters?", Usopp asked, so scared he couldn't stop stuttering.

"Dunno!", Luffy butted in.

I intervened: "If… it… wasn't for the obnoxious decisions of a certain someone of whom I never heard of but I'm looking at him right now…" then I gave Luffy a mean glare…

Zoro commented, though: "I guess if it wasn't for him our travel would be a lot more boring…"

Usopp: "Oi… oi! Could we go straight to the next island without stopping here, please?"

"But the Log Pose won't adjust itself on a finger snap…", Nami replied.

Sanji: "We're also running out of supplies… we didn't stock anything on our last stop…"

Me: "Whether we like it or not, Usopp-kun, all circumstances are pointing towards one alternative… make a brief stop here."

"Hey! I'm seeing where the river's going! It's ahead already!", Zoro announced.

We rushed to see it.

Luffy forwarded: "Are there any restaurants with grilled meat around here?"

Sanji: "No way in hell!"

Luffy: "But didn't you say that we needed to gather food?"

"Raw food. Ingredients! That's what I said. Man… I don't know what's wrong with you…", Sanji said.

Nami interrupted: "Guys, our main concern now is the landing… because look over there… there's plants I've never seen before in any botany book…"

Suddenly we heard a bird crying… which scared Nami and Usopp. I realized I was staring at Nami's retreated posture, with her hands over her ears…

"Cute!", Sanji commented.

"I second that…", I said.

Usopp: "It's about me?"

Both of us: "NAMI-SAN, YOU DOOFUS!"

"What the hell was that?", Nami asked, recovering from the scare.

I was going to reply, but I found myself looking behind…

"Don't worry, sweetheart! It's just a bird…", oi… Sanji, look behind!

"Sa… sa… sa… san… sa…", I was talking like an old, scratched disk…

Nami and Usopp were quick to run like hell…

Sanji: "What's up?"

Me: "Sanji-san! BIRD! BEHIND YOU!"

It was a huge-ass bird! It flew right past us, but didn't catch anything or anybody. By a hair's distance.

"What the hell? You goddamn bird!"

Suddenly we heard some rumbling noises then our vision started getting blurry… we were entering a foggy zone.

"Are these really sounds we get to hear in a jungle?", Nami asked.

Usopp, terrified: "It sounded like a volcano exploding!"

Moments later… from between the vegetation… a tiger comes out!

"It's… it's too big!", Usopp exclaimed.

He and Nami quickly ran to the opposite side of the ship… and the tiger kept following our movements for some meters… I was very nervous and trembling. I knew that a little movement was enough for the tiger to leap on us and game over. But… the tiger let out a scream of pain and fell down in a puddle of its own blood.

"It's… it's not normal! That's not normal! How… just how… can the prince of the jungle fall down like this?", Nami asked, mortified.

"Hm. Hm… let's decide for not landing on this island and that's final!", Usopp concluded, but in the midst of freaking out.

I tried to calm them down: "Guys, let's calm down, shall we? All we are gonna do is to wait for the Log Pose to adjust itself and go fetch some supplies to keep going on. So let's watch our steps and proceed with caution. I don't think Baroque Works is willing to let their guards down and distract themselves…"

Nami, trembling, but already calming down: "Yeah… that's it… so… after it's all done we'll leave this island as quickly as possible. We… gotta arrive at Arabasta as soon as possible, right?"

Moments later, we found a safe place, put the anchor down and it's time to step on land! It was a peaceful spot where we could hear only the birds singing.

"Hihihihihihihihih… Sanji, bring my lunchbox!", Luffy said.

Sanji: "Lunchbox?"

I got near him and asked: "Hey, where are you going for asking stuff like that?"

"Hihihihih… I need a big lunchbox full of meat and with no vegetables to recharge my energy! I feel the scent of an adventure!", Luffy replied.

"Wait a minute! What the hell are you thinking?", Nami asked worriedly.

"Adventure! Adventure! Wanna come with me? Let's go on an adventure!", he replied, filled to the brim with excitement. I saw Nami just turning to the side and crying in woe… It can't be helped, girl…

"Sanji! Lunchbox!"

"Ok, ok. Just wait a moment.", Sanji replied.

"Hey… can I go too?"

We were surprised… Vivi wants to go as well.

Nami: "Are you nuts?"

Vivi: "If I'm to keep standing around here and doing nothing I'll just end up thinking about a lot of stuff… and it's a way for me to keep a good mood until the Log adjusts."

Me: "You're sure about that? Well, I know Luffy and he does dangerous stunts all the time, but for you it's gonna be dangerous! Are you gonna be alright?"

She, without stuttering: "Of course I will. Carue's going with me, after all." The duck, as he heard it, was flabbergasted…

"He's so scared it's speechless, poor one…", Nami commented.

Sanji, from the kitchen: "Vivi-san, wait! Wait until I finish a special lovely lunchbox only for you."

She: "Ok, thanks! Ah, could you prepare also some more of your special drink to Carue?"

He: "Okey dokey!"

While we waited, Luffy went to the quarters to get his backpack. When he got back, Sanji was coming with two special lunchboxes and a small barrel with a icy cold drink to Carue.

"Ok! Everything's set! Two pirate lunches plus one drink to Carue!", Sanji said.

Soon after, they hopped off the ship.

"We're going now! See you later!", Vivi shouted while they were running away.

"Have a nice trip!", I said and sighed. "Ah… it's so good to be young…"

"Dude, you're 18!", Usopp butted in, patting my back.

"I know! I was just kidding.", I said.

Then Zoro came, stretching his body. He must have woken up from his 24-hour nap.

"I'm gonna walk around a bit. I'm with my hands full of time and with nothing to do…", so he stepped out of the boat. Sanji came running from the kitchen.

"Hey, Zoro, wait!" The swordsman turned to hear. "We're running out of food so… if you find something edible, bring it here, ok?"

Zoro: "Of course. I'll find something you wouldn't take care of by yourself… maybe…"

"HALT!". Zoro turned again. Sanji stepped on the railing and launched the challenge: "Did you say you're gonna find bigger prey than me, eh? So, let's do this…", he also stepped out of the boat…, "Hunting contest. Whoever brings more kilos of food wins."

"Aren't they tons?", Zoro challenged.

"Wait to brag about it when you find something edible!", Sanji said while leaving.

"It's the same to you!", Zoro said while going away.

In the boat…

"They're all like this… I can't believe it…", Nami, as sad as ever…

"I can understand you… don't cry, I'm at your side…", Usopp, too…

I, stretching: "Ah… ah… we men are a bunch of idiots… Those two are eager to find any reasons to argue with each other… pathetic. Well… now…"

"Now?", Nami asked.

"Why are you moving like this… don't tell me…"

"Yeah. I'm going to walk as well.", I said.

"EEEEHHH? And… and are you going to leave us all alone here?", Nami, distressed.

I said: "I've gotta relieve my mind… and I'm also getting bored really fast. You're able to take care of each other, aren't you? Ok, I'm going down now. Don't worry, I'll be back in five. Bye-bye!", I then stepped off the ship.

My life is to walk… through this country… to see if someday I can rest happily… Ah, ah, sometimes the best cure to the soul is just to move our legs and let the landscape meet our eyes… Ok, this savage environment isn't the best place to toy around, but I still could enjoy some moments of peace. Every once in a while I stopped in my tracks to admire the height of some trees… or even some plants! I passed through water stretches… and the sound they made as it rippled through left me thirsty… the water was really bright and clear!

…

While I walked and kept my mind somewhere else… I heard a bird screaming… and the flapping of wings was louder and louder… it's coming!

"Smells like trouble…", I said.

And it damn was… the bird landed right in front of me… it's the same of last time, really f**king huge… and it was moving like it's going to attack me!

"Eek…!", I moved a step back… "Wanna fight, eh?", I tried to threat, but to no avail… the bird's too much for me! It shrieked so loudly… I felt a chill down my spine…

"Heheh! Yosh! Now it's time to use my special technique of… running away like crazy!", then I escaped but to no good. The bird went after me!

"Go, legs! Run faster!", I tried to motivate my legs to run but…

"Aaaaaahhhhh!"

…

I only know that that in the following moment… I was up high in the sky! It's the cue to a color failure… The bird was flying with me in its paws, grabbed by my collar, and with a deadly fall just waiting for me…

"Kyaaaaaaaa! Don't look down… don't look down…"…I looked anyway… "Don't f**king look down!", I slapped myself for that… and thought: "Nice… what am I gonna do now?"…because it looked like the bird was not gonna land for a long time.

"Hey! You big palooka! Let me go! I'm telling you! Let me go! Unhand me from your dirty paws! Now!", I tried to shake myself, whine but to no avail.

"Ow… ow… it's in these moments that our life goes flashing beyond our eyes…"

Then I saw a brown point far away… it was the ship! The bird was going to pass through our ship again! Chance!

"Hey, it's my stop! Could you let me go?"…nope… until… I felt whatever was binding me let me loose… then everything changed. I was on a free fall!

"Oh, thank you. AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa…."

* * *

**Dan: "..."**

**Dan's on a free fall! How is he going to save himself? But wait, there's something moving between the trees! What will it be? Find out on chapter 50!  
**

**Dan: "... I want my mommy."**


	50. They might be, no, they are giants!

**August 4th, 2009. This was the day I published my first ever chapter in the world of fanfiction.**

**August 4th, 2010. The day of the issue 50 and the celebration of my first year on this site!**

**It's a quite meaningful date for me because of this and I wanted to share it with all of those who are reading. Well, 50 chapters in a year is quite impressive, don'tcha think?**

**Dan: "Yeah... but... are you going to stop? Why's the emotional speech?"**

**Oh, be quiet, will you? That doesn't mean my mission is complete, oh no! It's far from done! I will keep track, will write and keep publishing ****your adventures, Dan! **** (don't expect me to do it regularly, though...)**

**For those that might be following me from the start (I know, kinda tiring, eh?), a great thank you and I hope you're liking it so far. Now let's move on!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 50**

**"A huge duel! The giants Dorry and Broggy"

* * *

**

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh! I want my mommy!"…that does it. I'm royally screwed, gonna die here and now… No, no, it can't be! Let's go! Think! Think of something! Something to slow my descent… that's it!

"Time to pull out my trusty notepad!", I took it out and quickly drew a…

"Parachute! Now!"…then, in the following moment, a backpack appeared in my back. Ok, there's no time for 10-second rules or whatever it is. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. I pulled the cord and the parachute went out smoothly, slowing my fall. After the push of the parachute, I felt such an enormous relief for having the quick wits to save myself.

While I floated in the air, I could see something moving in between the trees and heading towards our ship. What could it be? Well, whatever it is, it would be big, or so it seemed. But the most important thing right now was the feeling it gave me that I threw a great weight off me for saving my own ass. I couldn't do anything but smile… when I saw I was already near solid ground and our ship.

I used the moment to greet Usopp and Nami from above.

"OOOOOOOIII!"

They looked behind and saw me flying.

"D… Dan-kun?", Nami shouted.

"Dan? What the fudge… Where on earth have you been… for coming back… in a parachute?", Usopp did the same.

I sighed and responded: "Phew… my bud, I thought I was gonna die right here and right now! Glad I thought of a plan! Hahahahah, hahahaha-ooooououuo, ow!", in the moment I got distracted, I lost control of my parachute and felt my body crashing against something…

As soon as I crashed against whatever was ahead of me, I was thrown back and fell on my back on the ground… Ow, ow… gravity can be such a harsh mistress…

"Ow… ow… ow… my back… it hurts!", I complained while getting back up and the parachute disappeared from my sight. I just needed to put some bones back in place then I was back in action!

"Dan-kun, are you alright?", Nami ran to the side of the ship to ask.

I answered: "Ah… I'm alright now… To prove it to you…"

I started sprinting and as I approached the ship, I gave a backflip and landed on the ship's floor, striking a small pose. My legs kinda hurt due to the impact but that was nothing special.

"Ho! Hey, guys, I'm back!", I said.

"Welcome… Dude, it looks like you went to a hell of a walk, eh?", Usopp commented, impressed.

"You won't believe what I saw, man! I think it's too long for a story, but if you like, I can sum it up for you.", I said.

"We're full of time…", Nami and Usopp stated at the same time.

So… I explained everything starting with my encounter with a crazy bird to the arrival in a parachute. It goes without saying that they, at least, liked my story whilst thinking I was just making stuff up…

"Hey, I wouldn't dare to take Usopp's place as this ship's official liar!", I said, smiling.

"Heheheh, e-oi!", Usopp laughed and then it hit him.

"So, what were you doing so far?", I asked.

Nami replied: "Well… now we were trying to find something, a book with information about Little Garden…"

"So, how did you fare?"

"After looking around for so long, I finally found it. I recalled that I had read about it some time ago.", she then showed me the book she was holding. But…

We started listening some strange and cadenced sounds…

"Guys… can you hear this?", Usopp asked.

"What?", me and Nami replied.

Usopp: "I'm hearing some funny noises… and they're getting stronger… there's… there's someone… or something coming here!"

Nami: "Oh no… Not again!"

"Yeah, now I get it! Back when I was floating in the air, I could see something moving in between the trees… I guess it's better for us to get ready."

Dum… dum… dum… the noise kept getting louder and a shadow started growing as it was moving out of the trees and getting closer. Our anxiety…

…was converting itself in fear… that turned into terror… I felt another chill down my spine… at every sound, the ground trembled more and more… oh God… is it… it's…

"Gebabababababababa!"…a laugh… echoing through the forest…

All of a sudden… a giant face comes out of the trees!

"Gebabababababa!"

It was a… a…

The three of us: "GIAAAAAAAANT!"

To say I was terrified at that time is still an understatement… um… mortified? No… still not enough. Well, it's better to leave it unexpressed by words…

"Oh shit… a giant!", I said, scared to death. Bring my brown pants, will you…

"Gebababababababa! Geeeebabababababa! Who dares to step in my territory?", the face asked while coming out of the trees and standing…

"Yeah… er… we-", I tried to answer, but I felt a harsh slap in my mouth.

"Shut. Up! Do you want him to see us?", Nami warned, on the verge of freaking out.

"I guess he already saw us a long before…", I pointed and she turned.

"You squints…", the giant, every time we heard the sound of his voice, provoked such an intense echo, thundering through the forest.

"Y-y-y-y-yes… sir?", Nami replied.

"Does anyone have alcohol around here?"…eh? We got taken aback by the nature of the question.

I whispered: "Ok, who's gonna step forward and answer?"

"Y-you go!", I felt two hands pushing me forward… Nami and Usopp retreated, standing at the other side of the ship and leaving me alone! A forced volunteer…

"Hey, you!", I gave them a mean look… "Great friends I have, eh? Oh for the love of…"

"Y'know… I asked if you got any alcohol around here…", the thundering voice asked.

"Yeah… um… er… about that… well, sir… giant… the alcohol we have here, we use it for cooking but… but… if Your Highness desires, I, representing my captain… and my comrades standing here, can offer it to you… well…", I tried to speak, but I was almost freaking out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Me: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Nami and Usopp: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The giant looked to his behind… and saw that a dinosaur was biting his ass… "You bastard!"…as soon as he uttered that, he turned around, grabbed his axe…

"Ah, I don't wanna look!", I covered my eyes and then I heard the sound of a blade connecting with meat…

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"What, what's up? What happened?", I asked looking to left and right. I saw the two behind me sitting down and crying of desperation…

I looked ahead of me and saw the giant holding the dinosaur's severed head… It was a cue for my color to fade… I was white in terror…

"I AM THE GREATEST GIANT WARRIOR OF ELBAF, BROGGY! Gebababababababa!"

"Fantastic…", I muttered.

The giant kneeled and said: "I caught a piece of meat. If you don't mind, I'd like to make you my guests. Come with me that I'll prepare you a rich meal to fill your tummies! Gebabababa!"…I was getting confused and amazed with the giant's gentleness.

But at this moment, I turned to see Usopp and Nami fainting.

"O-Oi, are you alri-", I was interrupted because I felt a kick to my shins… I fell head-first in the ground.

"Ow! Nami, what the deuce?"

"Play dead, now!", she ordered while whispering.

"But wh-"…I ended up obeying because she knocked me out. From now on, I have no recollection of what happened…

…

"Hm… hmmm… huh? What the…?", as I was waking up, I was trying to perceive my surroundings. I had woken up under a ceiling… ok, a 50-meter high ceiling, but it's a ceiling anyway. I was sitting in a giant haystack. Nami and Usopp were still fast asleep.

In front of me the giant was sitting down… doing something…

I looked at every direction around me and I was startled with… the mountain of bones lying in our side!

"Kyaa!", I let out a small scream, but I quickly covered my mouth. I saw the giant look behind, right in our direction! I had to lie down and play dead again.

"Hm? Am I mishearing anything?", giant Broggy asked himself.

The danger passed, I could relax again. I had analyzed my surroundings completely and, as I was calming down, I started realizing that something smelt good… smelt like food… I was already getting hungry…

I sat down and I saw what Broggy was doing. He was grilling meat! Nice!

"Just until when we have to play dead, huh?"

"I knew it! It doesn't work with giants!"

I heard Nami and Usopp whispering amongst themselves… when they saw me sitting…

"Oi! Dan-kun, what the… quick, lie back down before he sees you awake!", she whispered.

"Y'know, I think there's no problem… he seems like an okay guy…", I said.

"He's a giant! What if he's using this to lower our guard then eat us… or kill us… or both!", Usopp complained.

"Oh man… you're being silly… that's so over the top.", I said.

"Don't give up! Anyway, let's get the heck out of here while he's distracted! I'm not someone who's gonna keep waiting until he devours us!", Nami whispered while sitting silently.

"Well, you can run, chicken. I'm going to eat my lunch with Broggy-san that I'm goddamn hungry and he's frying one year's worth of dinosaur meat!, I stood up and got walking, but I felt Nami pulling me back by the collar of my shirt…

"We are getting outta here pronto!"

She dragged me on the opposite direction: "Aw… what a pain!"

"Yum, yum, it's so yummy! Delicious dinosaur meat! Fried in hot hot fire for us to take a bite! Yum, yum, it's so yummy…"

While he was singing, we sneaked out, veeeerrry swiftly…

"Yum, yum, it's so yummy! Delicious dinosaur meat…", Usopp found himself singing it as well…

"Walk, walk, walk… run!", Nami 'fired the gun'.

We ran like crazy through the forests while leaping fallen trunks, like someone doing a 100-meter hurdles dash away from the mean giant… Exhausted, we stopped on our tracks when we only saw trees around us.

"Ah… ah… ah… I won!", I stretched my arms while smiling.

"You shut up!", Nami smacked me on the head. "Ah… ah… haa… haa… Finally, haa… finally… we escaped… haa…", she said, panting.

Usopp, while kneeling down and supporting himself with his hands: "Ah… haa… at least… we escaped being… devoured and digested by the stomach of a giant…"

"Grrr… grrr…"

We heard this, looked above… where was a…

"Hey, look at this… we escaped being devoured by a giant, but what do you think of being devoured by a saber-toothed tiger? It's much more brutal and painful, you know…", I said.

"Ok, no sudden movements, please. Let's just walk, walk and walk… and walk… oh, who am I kidding. Ruuuuuuunnn!, Nami sprinted first. Usopp followed suit.

"Oh, come on, I'm still tired!", but when I looked behind me to see the tiger more than ready to catch me… "Oh poopie. F**k fatigue, let's run like the wind! Hey you two, wait for me!"

I gotta sprint again! Go, my legs!

"Heeellp!"

I looked behind me for a moment and found the tiger slowly coming to a halt and losing its color…

"What's up? Chicken'd out?"

The tiger signaled me to look ahead. When I did it… I also lost my color… again.

"Oh yeah, now I get it. Dinosaur! Ruuun!"

We ran to the opposite direction. Fun part: the tiger was running as well! Ok, with a huge-ass dinosaur trying to eat us, it couldn't be different, could it? We ran for some moments until we saw a huge foot ahead of us. The other two stopped in time, but I kept running and crashed against the shoe.

"Ow… Bro… Broggy-san…", my eyes and everything around me were spinning, but I recovered and retreated. I saw the giant already drooling… it was a cue for both the dinosaur and the tiger to run away as fast as possible.

"Aaaaahhh… everything we're doing is just choosing which stomach we're going to…", Usopp lamented. "No matter what we do, our fate's sealed!"

Nami, with her hands on her head and melting in tears: "We did everything we could to no avail! Let's just accept reality and be devoured with dignity!"

Me: "Huh? Who said not to give up? Devoured with dignity? Does that exist?"

The giant kneeled to talk to us: "Ah… so you were here, eh? I finally found you! Now that you're awake, come with me that the meat's already done. Grab the alcohol and let's have a party!"

We were still trembling like crazy, but at the same time, starting to calm down. Then Broggy extended his giant hand.

"Welcome aboard the Broggy Express! We have ready for you a luxurious lunch! Gebababababa!", he said, smiling.

Slowly, we got on his giant hand and we were lifted up high. We were resting in his shoulder, a thing that strangely, only left me scared as ever… we were so high!

"I have to sit down! Fear of heights! I gotta sit the heck down, for the love of God!", I said that while searching for a safe place to sit in the giant's shoulder.

Broggy: "Hold it tight because we're going now! Gebababababa!"

So we returned to the gentle giant's house. The moment he brought us down to earth again, I sighed in relief.

"Hoo… it's always good to step on solid ground!"

Broggy: "Now just sit there and wait a second. I'm gonna bring you your lunch."

He brought a huge, towering piece of meat and laid it on a plant right in front of us.

"Right. Eat everything if you can! This dinosaur meat is delicious!", Broggy said this then gave a good bite on his piece.

I admit I was starting to get desperately hungry and drooling already…

"Hey… I don't know about you, but what I want the most is to attack the meat… my tummy's hurting already!", I whispered.

"Oh great… look at this… yet another complaining eat-man… It's enough to have to put up with Luffy's antics and now this…", Nami said, then she talked to the giant: "Thanks for the offer, sir… Broggy, but we're out of appetite…"

He: "Oh, come on, don't be shy now! Enjoy while you can!"

"Hnn… We don't want it, thanks…", Nami and Usopp said while crying.

Broggy, lamenting: "But this dinosaur meat is so ripe…"

Nami and Usopp, relaying: "First, he makes us eat dinosaur meat…"

"To let us get fat…"

Me: "…and then to eat us… I already know the story."

Usopp: "But we're still so young… but we still got so many years to live…"

Nami: "Maybe this is the right time of our lives to be devoured…"

Broggy kept insisting for us to eat. I was already running out of patience…

"Maybe if we make a hunger strike until the Log resets, we might get thin and make the giant lose the will to eat us…"

Usopp: "But just when the Log's gonna reset? The meat looks so good… I'm gonna end up falling to the temptation…"

Me, butting in: "Seeeee? Finally someone's feeling as hungry as me. Let's settle this once and for all. Bro… Broggy-san?"

"Hm?", the giant looked at me.

"Bro… Broggy-san, I have a little question… how long does it take for a Log Pose to set in this island?"

He, smiling as always: "A full year."

"WHA?", We fell sideways with the answer. A full year?

"It's impossible to do a hunger strike for a whole year!", Nami stated through gritted teeth.

"I'm not gonna hold it…", Usopp said.

Broggy: "So enjoy the chance! Leave this meat un-eaten is a waste of the size of the world, don'tcha think?"

"Ok, that does it! Enough is enough! Itadakimaaaasu!", I stood up, let my primal senses take over and ran to attack the meat. But first… I stopped in my tracks and let the delicious smell enter my nostrils… before starting to bite like an animal.

"Hmmm… delicious! Your meat's truly magnificent, Broggy-san!", I said while chewing.

"Gebababababa! Look at you! Finally someone decided to taste my meat! You're such a lucky kid!", the giant said, laughing.

"Guys, eat as well! It's so good, this meat!", I said. Slowly they started throwing away their fears and enjoying the meat.

"Now that the mood's good around here, let's talk a bit?", Broggy suggested.

"Cool! To start, I guess we should introduce ourselves first. We're the Straw Hat Pirates. This pretty lady beside me is named Nami.", I extended my arm to introduce her.

"Finally lost your fear, little girl?"

She: "N-Ni… nice to… meet you…"

I continued: "The chicken in the side is the official liar of our ship, Usopp!"

He gave a small smile and then it hit him: "Heheheh… e-oi!"

Then, I introduced myself. "As for me, I'm a young writer and my name is Daiki. But I'd rather have you call me Dan."

"Dan, eh? Nice!", he said.

"Y'know, I recall now that you told us you're the greatest warrior of… el… Elbaf, isn't it?", I asked.

"Elbaf? Yeah, boy, the land of great men like me! Gebabababaaa!"

Me: "Where is it?"

He stopped eating to say: "It's in a remote place in the Grand Line. Even I don't know where it is anymore… I'm stuck here for so long that I already don't know how to track time…"

Me: "Stuck? But, what do you mean by that? What happened?"

He then explained: "Listen, our island is governed by a set of strict rules that are passed down by oral tradition. One of them states that if our citizens come to quarrel between each other and start a fight, the conflicting sides must leave the island and find somewhere else to settle their differences."

"Hm… I get it…"

Continuing: "We must always accept the judgement of our god Elbaf. He's the greatest one who will give divine protection for the winning side."

Nami: "Does… does that mean that there's other giants around here?"

He: "There's one more. I'm dueling him here. It's our battlefield. Someday, one of us will emerge victorious and survive."

Me: "But… if you already lost track of time… how long you've been here, after all?"

He, smiling: "About… a hundred years!"

"H… HUNDRED YEARS?", we screamed, jaw-dropped.

Hundred years? Does it mean that he and the other giant with whom he's dueling have been stuck here since the last century? That's what I call resilience…

"But… how's that possible! To keep fighting for a hundred years?", I asked.

"Gebabababababa! That's very possible for us. We giants have a life expectancy three times as big as yours, little squint. I came here when I was about 50 or 60, I don't recall exactly now… My axe and my shield are so worn out… I think my brain's also suffered a lot!", he said, reflecting and quite down.

Me: "But why? How? Why do you keep fighting?"

He: "The reason for everything… huh… That's…"

When he was about to answer, the ground started trembling.

"Earthquake?", Usopp asked.

We heard a explosion.

"No, over there!", I pointed to the volcano erupting violently.

"Ok… It's my cue. I gotta go.", I looked back and saw Broggy standing up.

Usopp asked: "Where are you going?"

"This is the signal for we to continue our century-long battle.", he responded then added: "Ah… we're doing all of this because… I… I don't remember anymore! Gebababababababaaaa!"

We were shocked… they were fighting for the hell of it?

"It can't be… is all of that because of a grudge?", I asked.

Usopp soon interrupted: "No! It's not about hate anymore. It's about honor!"

"Ha?"

"I looked at his eyes… they were shining with determination! This is the soul of a true fighter!", Usopp concluded.

Broggy then grabbed his axe and shield to walk slowly to where the duel would take place.

"You're right, squint. Now it's a duel of honor! I'll be back soon… if I survive! Gebababababa!", Broggy said while taking his leave.

We were about to witness a duel between two giants!

"Incredible… simply outstanding… I'm speechless…", I lost my footing and ended sitting down.

Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, a duel of epic proportions is about to start!

* * *

**Dan: "A duel of giants that forgot their reasons is about to begin."**

**Usopp: "It's a fight between men!"**

**Dorry and Broggy. A fire-forged friendship. Who will emerge victorious? Wait... aren't we forgetting someone? Don't miss chapter 51!**

**Dan: "We men are a bunch of idiots..."  
**


	51. A battle of giant proportions!

**Chapter 51**

**"The judgement of Elbaf! A hidden trap in the sacred duel!"

* * *

**

"This is the signal for I and Dorry to continue our century-long battle… I will be back soon, squints… That is, if I survive! Gebababababababaaaa!", Broggy said before leaving.

…

"Incredible… it's simply… astounding… I'm speechless…", I was getting confused with everything so I decided to sit down and let it sink in.

"Dan, you may not understand all of this, but I do.", Usopp said, with crossed arms and a determined look on his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?", I asked him.

He firmly said: "I looked at his eyes a while ago. He is fiercely determined. It's not about hate or nothing like that. It's now a battle between two true combatants that prefer death to defeat! This is the true soul of a warrior!"

I couldn't reply, shocked as I was.

Anyway, let's go to the facts: Ladies and gentlemen, get ready! A battle of epic proportions is about to begin!

The two giants slowly walked to the stage where the duel will take place: a open field between the trees. A fight that goes on for a century… A fight of pride… My feelings were mixed and twisted. I felt great anxiety for witnessing a duel of giants, but at the same time, I felt a great frustration because I couldn't grasp the reasons for all of this. A lot of questions were floating on my head.

Why would anyone keep dueling for so long if there's no reason to do so? Are the traditions of this land called Elbaf so present in the lives of its citizens that they become willing to put their honor and lives at stake, throwing reason out the window? Well… I guess it's better to quit thinking and witness it with my own eyes…

I then shook off the dust and stood up. I looked above to see the two giants, already facing each other and wielding their weapons with confident and daunting expressions on their faces. One wielding an axe and the other, a sword.

"HHHAAAAAAAAAA!"

Suddenly, they lashed at each other, bringing forth their weapons. When they collided, they produced a shockwave so powerful that it thundered across several kilometers away from the center.

I tried to protect myself but could do nothing. The wind was so strong that I ended up losing my balance and being thrown backwards for some meters. I remember seeing trees being utterly crushed either by the fighters or by the force of the wind.

Quickly I got back on my feet. I saw Dorry trying a sword slash, but he hit a boulder because Broggy jumped and evaded in the nick of time.

He then tried a axe slash, but it clashed with Dorry's helmet… he then took the chance to headbutt Broggy's belly. They then threw themselves against the same boulder and crushed it to bits!

I couldn't even try to sketch a reaction to what I was seeing… It's… absolutely impressive. It was like everything moved in slow-motion but I could catch that they, after a hundred years of fighting, hadn't lost the touch or the agility to evade each other's attacks, considering their massive size and how it's tough to move when you're a giant.

"Haaaa! Ahahah! It touched his helmet! If he didn't evade, even a bit, his slash would certainly be fatal!", Usopp, frightened, commented.

Both stopped for a second to take a little breath then quickly got back to fighting each other. Other axe slash and after that a quick reply with a slash stopped only by a shield. They then tested their strengths, to back away from each other and take another breath. They were already demonstrating signs of fatigue. Yeah… they're so huge that it must be tiring to move in a combat…

"What a battle… I can see that they're clearly aiming their attacks at vital points!", Usopp said.

"However… look there… they're already getting tired. Now any mistake will be fatal.", I said.

"Oh, come on… is it true that they've tried to kill each other for the last hundred years?", Nami asked.

I looked back and said: "It might sound stupid, but it's reality." I sighed and concluded with an accepting smile: "Hah… we men are really a bunch of idiots…"

Nami grinned back but stating: "Yeah, that's nice… now we can take the chance to escape. Come on, let's go.", then, she started walking away.

"Do you still believe that he's got evil intentions for us? Even after he gave a shitload of meat for us to eat?", I asked her. She stopped walking and asked back: "Won't you come?", she didn't hear a word… oh you!

"I was talking, y'know?", I said angrily.

"I heard you! But that's not of my business. When you talk about giants, it's the old tale: It's always too good to be true. In this case who gets the short straw loses.", Nami said.

I could do nothing but sigh: "You, eh…"

"Incredible…", I heard Usopp muttering.

I turned my attentions back to the fight. Both were still trying to slash each other, destroying everything around them.

"Even though they have no reason to brawl…", he continued. "They still make the effort of fighting fiercely like this…"

I tried to accept, but I still couldn't stop thinking about how these Elbaf laws made no sense to me. Can't a simple talk solve problems around there? Or something like a corner of reflection? Oh, forget it… better stop making stupid deductions for I know absolutely zilch of what goes on in their lands!

"This fight is stupid…", Nami said, pouting.

"You fool! How dare you? This is a legitimate duel between two men!", Usopp said.

"What the hell is that?", Nami asked.

He continued: "It's like those two have a warrior flag carved inside their hearts. This flag is more important than anything to them… even more than their lives. They'll give it all not to lose. That's why they don't give up, won't surrender and will keep fighting. That's been their lives for the past 100 years."

I was starting to accept all of that and understand the reasons for their actions. It's a serious case of honor before reason.

Usopp then concluded: "This is, undoubtedly, a battle in the name of honor and glory of the warrior race!"

I saw that Nami kept nonplussed with all that stuff, like she wasn't giving two craps for what he was telling her. She indeed wasn't: "What does that have to do with me, after all? Come on, let's get outta here because I'm already getting sick of staying still all the time… Hm?"

Usopp: "You can go if you want, but I'm gonna stay and watch it to the end. Heheh… this is the true warrior soul… the brave warrior of the seas that I wish to be! I want to be a honored man full with pride, just like them!"

"Huh? You wanna be a giant?"

I giggled with her response. Usopp as soon as he heard this, ran to where Nami was sitting and, angrily, shouted: "You didn't hear a thing of what I said, did you?"

"Are you gonna see the fight or not?", she quickly changed subject.

Usopp quickly made a smile return to his face and then, proudly, stated: "If they have a homeland, I want to visit it someday!"

…

The battle didn't seem to end. They kept clashing their weapons against each other without anything else on their thoughts but to win. Then suddenly…

Their weapons come flying off their hands and they both fall backwards, already exhausted. They took a few deep breaths, then got back up with their weapons still thrown on the sidelines. Without any concern whatsoever with their equipment, they just lashed at each other again, this time using their shields to punch each other.

"73 thousand, 466 battles…"

"73 thousand, 466 draws…"

Wha? They've already battled that much… more than seventy thousand times and… oh, screw it.

Both fell down trashed and worn out. But… just like that…

"Gebababababababababa!"

"Gyaagyagyagyagyagya!"

They started laughing their asses off! After another fight ends in a draw, everything ends with a bit of beer.

"Gebababababa! Hey, Dorry! I found beer with some guests of mine!"

Dorry: "That's nice… I was really in need of something to drink… can you give me some? Gyaagyagyagyagyagyagya…"

The giants then spent some moments laid down over the grass and over the several trees they just crushed, laughing as if nothing ever happened at all.

Then each one got back to his side.

Broggy sat back together with us, finally getting some rest.

"Gebabababa! That was one heck of a fight, eh?"

We replied simply smiling.

"Y'know, I saw some little squints on the other side of this holey mountain… who were them?", Broggy asked.

Me: "They're our comrades! Thank goodness they're alright…"

Usopp interrupted me: "Now to something completely different… that was awesome! You're awesome! Seeing you fighting gave me even more strength to keep chasing after my dream! I will become a brave warrior of the seas!"

Broggy, while polishing his axe: "Hm? What's that?"

"I'm talking about you! Someday, I wanna be like you!", Usopp said it all with a broad smile in his face.

Broggy: "You wanna become a giant?"

Nami: "Seeeee?"

Me: "Hahaahahahahah! Can you picture it? Giant Usopp? Hahahahaha!"

Usopp, trying to correct himself: "No, it's not like that!" He then put a fist in front of his chest and said, boasting: "I want to live my life with pride and honor just like a true Elbaf warrior!"

Broggy then smiled broadly and said: "Heheheh… Cool! Now I see… You know, we live three times as much as you little squints, that's why we think carefully about how we're gonna die. Because in the end, everything material, richness, money and even our lives will fade away. But what will be truly eternized is our honor. It's a glorious way to die with our honor untouched. In the lands of Elbaf, honor is a treasure that will be preserved forever."

Usopp kept getting excited. His eyes were shining with determination and joy. "Yosh! From now on I'll call you my master!"

Broggy looked puzzled but accepted anyway.

At this moment, I heard something… like a little bang far away…

"Hm?"

Nami: "Dan-kun, what's up?"

Me: "Huh? No… it's nothing."

I must've heard things…

It's true… there's things much more important than material goods. Like this, I started thinking. What would I leave to the future generations… to my offspring, my children? I still have a lot of time to think about that. Now that I dove in this adventure, I have the chance to put my name in the history of piracy, just like my father did. He may not have done anything truly outstanding but he still had fun, had an adventure and left a legacy for me to follow.

While I thought about that… I was woken with the sound of a volcano.

"Hmmm, the signal again? Well, looks like things are getting exciting today, huh?", Broggy said while standing up. Wait… is he going to fight again?

"Broggy-san… are you going to brawl again?", I asked.

Usopp completed: "What about the damage from last battle? Are you going to fight anyway?"

The giant lifted his axe and said: "What? My opponent is just like me! To just give an excuse and run away from a fight like this? That would only stain my name! Gebabababababa!"

Just like that, he started walking back to the battlefield. Today's second round was about to begin.

"Yosh! This time I'll beat him to a pulp!", Broggy declared.

Usopp started cheering for him: "Yeah, Master Broggy! Give it your best shot! Great warrior from Elbaf!" Usopp kept his rooting for him while Broggy took his leave, laughing as always.

"Man, they really take this stupid fight seriously…", Nami said, deadpanning.

"Don't tell me it's stupid, you fool!", Usopp got angry.

I could only laugh at that and state: "Well, it may look pointless, but I think I'm starting to understand it. After all, if they die with no honor, it's a sign that they didn't live their lives to the fullest! A person only dies when he's forgotten!", I said.

"Well, nonetheless, we are going back to the ship to think of a plan to get the heck outta here. No way in hell I'm waiting a whole year until this damn Log resets…", Nami said.

"Wait! I'm utterly useless against dinosaurs, what means that we have no means of running through the forest." Usopp said.

"Hellooo…? Aren't you forgetting someone?", he remembered, then I flexed my muscles: "Don't you worry! I'm here to protect both of you and I'll think about a way of getting us out of here, no matter what happens."

"Ooo… really? Will ya?", Usopp said, smiling.

I then asked him: "What about that thing of being the brave warrior of the seas?"

He: "Hmhmhm… those are my intentions. The road I'm gonna walk it's me who will decide. Listen you two. Even if I lose everything and are on the verge of dying in some desert island, I want to be proud of the life I lived and shout it out loud for everyone to hear: 'I'm Usopp! The Bravest Warrior of the Seas!'", he said that in a dreamy tone and ended up lying in the ground. Nami then dragged him into the forest. I only followed them.

"Hai, hai… So you can start by doing useful things and being a trustful warrior."

He: "Ah… umm… yosh!"

Like that, we entered the forest once again. It would be really tough to find our way back to the ship… because it was the giant who took us to his house. It goes without saying that we would, sooner or later, meet…

"DINOSAURS! RUUUUN!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH! DINO! DINO! DINOSAUR!"

When I realized, Usopp was already way ahead of us, running as fast as lightning!

"HEY, TOO FAST!", I heard Nami yelling…

I kept running aimlessly for some meters. When I stopped and looked around me… I was all by myself!

"Hey… where are you? Nami? Usopp-kun?", I put my hands on my head… oh shit! Help! Somebody help me! I'm lost inside a jungle!

"Oh fuck! I left Nami all alone! Good grief… what do I do! I know, I'll just run back! She mustn't be far away…", I said that while running as fast as I could. I knew the way I went by when I distracted myself, losing the sight of Nami. But when I ran back to the place where we separated…

"Gone!"…she had disappeared!

I was starting to lose it. There's someone else in this island, that's for sure! That was when Miss All Sunday's words came back to haunt me…

"…even if I don't put my finger in it, you'll be annihilated before arriving at Arabasta."

Oh shit… that means Baroque Works has agents stationed in this island!

"Dammit… I'm also blacklisted… I must leave this jungle and search for Luffy!"

I ran in the direction I thought would lead me back to the hole mountain. I ran and ran and ran… ran a little more… I was tired and desperate…

"If I don't leave, Baroque Works is going to get me! Where's the exit?"

I kept running… until I finally found my way out and back to the hole mountain. I then slowed my pace, walking around the mountain. I glanced at the fight between the giants… I then realized something odd.

"Hmmm… Broggy's with the upper hand… I can only see Dorry defending himself… what's going on?"

I just ignored that and got back to running. Moments later, I found Luffy, Vivi and Usopp.

"Oooooiii! Minna!", I shouted when I saw them.

They looked at me and replied.

Vivi: "Dan-san?"

Usopp: "Dan? Where the hell you've been?"

Me, stopping to take a breath: "Hah… I did something unforgivable… I lost track of Nami! Now I have no idea of where she is!"

"We've talked about this before you arrived…", Usopp said, looking down.

"Baroque Works… I've already forgotten that they might have arrived here…", I looked down with my fist clenched.

Vivi: "Dan-san… If I'm not mistaken, you're also on their blacklist, aren't you?"

Me: "Yeah… I could escape, but I can't say the same of Nami…"

Vivi: "So that's how it is… Maybe that explains what happened with the beer…"

Me and Usopp: "Beer?"

She then explained: "Dorry drank some of your beer… and it blew up inside his stomach."

We: "What?"

Usopp: "So… he went to the battle with his stomach battered?"

Me: "Honor before reason…"

Luffy, stuck under the mountain(!): "I tried to stop him, but as you can see, he put the mountain over me…"

Someone messed up with the giants' duel! I'm sure neither of them would dare to use dirty tricks to win… nor I can think about even a chance of any of my comrades putting a finger in their matters… but someone did this! It… it can't be!

"It could only be Baroque Works!", I declared with a finger on the air. "But the missing piece is… why would they interfere in the duel? What's their interest in those giants?"

Usopp: "It can't be… those two fought tooth and nail for one whole century! How dare they meddle with this sacred duel!"

"Baroque Works… I know no one else who could possibly have done this!", I said, clenching my fist even harder and getting angrier.

"Look!"

I looked above to see… a fountain of blood going high up in the sky… Would it be… no, it really is…

The battle… was over.

…

Whoever emerged victorious… will have their glory stained… by this dirty trick…

"Grrrr…. Aaaaaahhhhh!", at this instant, Luffy lost his mind! He started headbutting the ground repeatedly… "WHO DID IT? COME OUT NOOOOOOOOOOOWW!", he screamed at the top of his lungs… he was consumed with rage!

"Yoossh… whoever did this… I'm gonna pummel them to the ground!", Usopp said while his legs were trembling like crazy…

Vivi: "I'll fight as well!"

Me: "Usopp, please, cover me! I will fight them too! Baroque Works… they're already pissing me off!"

"Did you talk about us?"

Two shady silhouettes started coming out from the trees. Shady and very well known, I shall add.

"Aaahh? Mister 5! Miss Valentine?", Vivi gasped.

They were back! Mister 5, with a piece of gauze in his left cheek and Miss Valentine with her annoying laugh… they've also brought Carue… knocked out!

"Carue!", Vivi ran to aid her unconscious poor billduck.

"Bastards… oi, who are them?", Usopp asked.

Luffy responded: "They were in the last city we visited!"

Vivi: "How could you… Carue has nothing to do with this!"

Mister 5, coming closer: "It's true. It has nothing to do with the duck. However, we do consider the boy with the straw hat a serious threat to our plans, therefore, we've decided that the best way to call forth the princess was to make the bird cry. What a f**king stubborn thing… But… now that the straw hat's already out of commission, this bird's outlived its usefulness."

I, stepping forward and wielding my pencil: "You… you who act under the motto of absolute secrecy and don't know who is your boss… you sabotage a duel… mistreat an innocent animal… don't you have any remorse?"

Mister 5: "Remorse? Why? We're Officer Agents. Whoever's on our black list deserves no remorse."

"What the hell's so special about those giants?", I asked angrily and pointing my pencil to them.

Mister 5: "If we told you that, we'd have to kill you. So we'd rather do the easy part. Whoever stands in our way will be eliminated."

Miss Valentine: "Haahahahahahahahaha! It serves well for that stupid bird! Hahahahahahah! Haahahahah!"…grrr… I've already forgot how this laugh drives me nuts!

"Unforgivable… unforgivable… I WON'T FORGIVE YOU! Who's gonna be eliminated will be you!", Vivi, pissed off, pulled out her blades and ran to attack them.

"Heh… are you gonna take us on all by yourself?", Mister 5 teased.

Miss Valentine: "What can you possibly do against two Officer Agents?"

That's my cue! "She might not have a chance… but I'm with her! Enpitsu Yari!", I then dashed and while my pencil turned into a spear, I jumped to reach them.

"Get the woman! I'll get him!"

"Kujakki Slasher!"

I then focused on the guy on the brown coat.

"Time to end this quick!"…I said that and tried to slash him with my spear. He evaded. I was with my back turned to him, then I spun quickly, trying to cut him again. He swerved it! Damn!

"Nose Fancy Cannon!"

"Aaarrghhh!"…he hit me with a snot bomb at point-blank range! No! I won't give up!

"Ooorryaaa!"

"Resistance is futile."…he then gave me a punch that exploded on my chest, sent me flying and when I fell on the ground, he grabbed me by the neck. When I noticed, Vivi was down also. He then walked to her and grabbed her by the neck as well.

"Let… me… go…", I tried to shake myself but I struggled to breathe… "Let… me… go… you… bastard!"…He's too strong!

"Hissatsu! Kayaku Boshi!"

A smokecloud rose…

"You insects! It's time to put you in your place!"…he then threw me upwards without letting Vivi go… to punch and blow me up yet again… throwing me yards away. I tried to stand up again, but I was too damaged with all those explosions.

"Vi… Vi… Vi… vi-san…", I tried to get up but to no avail.

He then picked his nose again to shoot the snot at Usopp…

"Nose Fancy Cannon!"

The snot hit Usopp full-force and blew up. He fell down, knocked out.

Mister 5: "You can get whiny whenever you want… but we're still not going to kill you… yet. As Mister 3 said, this is just a rehearsal."

"Mister 3? The man who ate the Candle Candle Fruit? He's here?", I heard Vivi saying.

Mister 5 confirmed: "Yeah. The man that produces and controls wax. In other words, a candle-man."

Candle-man? That's how it goes… the top guns are already showing themselves… This Mister 3 guy looks like a man not to be trifled with!

* * *

**Dan: "Dammit... I'm really weak... How could I do nothing to defend my comrades? Nami... where are you?"**

**The situation started looking grim for the Straw Hats. The masterminds behind the duel's conclusion started coming out of the shadows and completely overwhelmed the pirates. Now, fearsome Baroque Works's strongest Officer Agents started pulling their straws. What kind of surprises await the pirates? Check it out in the next chapter! See ya!  
**


	52. Ok, I'll stop the jokes! Now, Mister 3

**Chapter 52**

**"The wax of the devil! Tears of regret and tears of rage!"**

* * *

Mister 3… Nickname: Candleman. Now shit starts getting serious. Baroque Works's higher Officer Agents started pulling their strings.

"Vi… vi-san…"…I was still fallen down, seriously hurt… but I couldn't give up!

I saw Vivi being thrown to the hands of Miss Valentine.

"Hahahahahaha… Now keep it cool, girl. Did you really think you could escape Baroque Works's claws?", I heard her threats. "The same could be said of that brat over there… 30 million beri, eh?"

I then saw Mr. 5 approaching the others. I couldn't let him do as he pleased with Luffy!

"Lu… Luffy… Uso… pp… kun… Carue… I…", I gathered all the strength left then I slowly got back up. I struggled a lot but I did it. I then shook the dust off my body and steadied myself while I saw Mr. 5 walking slowly to get close of the trio.

"Hmhm… I'm happy because I can finally return the favor you did to me back at Whiskey Peak. It's in this kind of delicate matters that puny pirates like you shouldn't stick your fingers at. We've already captured your partner swordsman and the other woman.", Mister 5 stated.

I can't believe it! I knew it! Dammit! Why did I leave Nami alone?

"You caught Zoro…? Then… you're… gonna get cut.", Luffy stated while waking up.

"Heh… you still got the energy to talk, eh? What if I kick a bomb right in your mouth to see if you can shut it up?", Mister 5 made the threat with a malicious grin.

Luffy didn't back down and replied in style: "Do you think it hurts me? You don't know who ya're messing with… I'm gonna kick your ass!"…by spitting in Mr. 5's shoe!

He was more than pissed off… and kicked Luffy's face, then an explosion!

"Oh no! Luffy!" It's the last straw! Now I had to do something! Screw my damage, I gotta save my captain!

"Hey, you jerkass! Look over here!"…I ran as fast as my legs would let me. "If you wanna kill my captain, you've gotta kill me first!"

He: "What a f**king pain in the ass you are! What part of 'stay in the ground dead' didn't you get?"

"Shut the hell up!", I punched him as hard as I could but…

"Die!"…he then came back at me, shoving me in the back. It exploded violently… knocking me out for good.

"Lu… Luffy…", I had no strength to stand again…

"Die, you insects!", I still could hear the noise of the explosions. He kept kicking Luffy's face and all I could do was to hear and watch him get pounded! I tried to rise again but my body wouldn't respond!

I could also see Vivi's mortified face and her attempts to get free of Miss Valentine's hold… in vain.

"Luffy-san! Luffy-san!"

I then felt someone grabbing me by the collar and lift me up. My body was hurting like hell and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it!

"Luffy-san! Usopp-san! Carue!"

I was being dragged through the forest. Barely could describe what was around me… It couldn't be… how did Zoro and Luffy knock them out so effortlessly and I can't do the same? Is this the limit of my power? How I'm going to survive this adventure if I stay like this? I have to get up!

Now… what is there for me? Who's that Mister 3? The answer to these questions would appear in a matter of minutes… when I started hearing a voice far away… speaking about very pertaining information…

"Hahahahahahahah! Aww… don't look at me like that, you scare me so much I can't stand it! Hahahahaha? It was good, was it not? To end that eternal battle once and for all… You who fought so honorably for one whole century, right? So? The taste of victory is really astounding, is it not? Although this time… there was a little external help, eh?"

That's it! They were the ones to meddle with the duel! But for what purpose?

"Am I wrong?"

"You bastard!"…this voice… Broggy! Oh no! He was captured!

"Mnahahahahahahahahahah! Buuuut… after all is said and done, the true winner will be me! You knew it, did you not? That the sum of your bounties, totaling 200 million beri, was still active… right?"…now I get it…

They did all of this just to hunt some goddamn bounty? Does that mean that to them, make two honorable and powerful giants fall down is nothing more than a simple dirty job? Bastards… BASTARDS!"

Broggy: "You scumbags!"

We then arrived at the center of the action. Broggy was caught, immobilized with hardened wax around his body. Dorry was still knocked out. Two new characters entered the 'stage'. A man wearing a vest with blue and white stripes, beige pants and shoes and sporting a hair in the shape of a number 3.

Mister 3! It's him!

Beside him was his partner, I suppose. A little girl wearing colorful clothes and a big top hat.

"Hahah… Looks like I've discovered a priceless find! Hahahahahahahah…"

Vivi then spoke. "So that was your plan? Mr. 3…"

Miss Valentine strengthened her hold of Vivi…

"They're here already.", she said.

Mr. 5: "We brought two more prisoners… the betrayer of our organization… and the missing pirate in our blacklist."

Mr. 3 said, in a tired tone: "Hah… you're so late. I wasted a lot of time waiting for you."

Vivi: "Your ways are too dirty, Mr. 3! To think that you put a bomb in Dorry-san's beer!"

It was him… it's confirmed: he's the mastermind behind all of this.

"What? The beer? Do you mean… the beer I gave him?", Broggy said. "That's what you've meant back then… Dorry!"

Now that dirty trick makes all sense… doing this saves the trouble of having to face him directly! All they needed to do was to let them defeat each other to capture them afterwards… and take the bounty! They've managed to kill two birds with one stone!

Mr. 3: "Those brats have discovered my evil plans…"

Of course, you dumbass! If you weren't fooling around and stating your evil plans out loud for anyone to hear, maybe things would be quite different… I was so willing to tell this to him, but I was still too tired even to talk.

He continued: "But that does not matter. Even though they may know about my plans, they can do nothing to stop me!"

Mr. 3 then set fire on the 3-shaped tip of his hair… and after that, I had the chance to witness and have a taste of his powers in action. "Candle… Lock!" He secreted a great load of wax and then threw it at us. Miss Valentine and Mr. 5 released us and jumped out of the way.

I had no way of reacting. As soon as the wax touched my legs and Vivi's, it solidified, forming a kind of lock. We lost our balance and fell face-first in the ground.

"Heheheh… Mr. 5… bring the woman and the swordsman here. I'm going to get started."

Start what… we were about to know. Mr. 3 started doing some strange stances whilst the fire in his head strengthened.

"Wooooo… woooo… Tokudaiiiii… Candle Set!"

He then expelled enormous amounts of liquid wax and molded it along the way. Vivi was getting even more terrified as the wax sculpture solidified. She came to kneel and got shocked with the art piece.

"This is Mr. 3's true power…", she exclaimed.

I whispered: "Astonishing…"

She: "D… Dan-san… are you ok?"

Slowly, I came back to my senses while saying: "Hah… that was nothing. The worst's already over… I'm better now." I wasn't. Still having to deal with lots of pain and convalescing.

I also kneeled and looked above. What I saw was gigantic. A wax cake of sorts, four stories tall with a set of candles lit atop a pumpkin head.

"Here they are."…this voice…

We looked behind. Mister 5 and Ms. Valentine were dragging Zoro and Nami, hands locked in wax.

Me: "Nami!"

Vivi: "Mr. Bushido!"

"How pathetic…", Mr. 5 stepped forward and put a foot on Zoro's face. "To think that I've been knocked out by a bunch of stupid pirates like these… It's so embarrassing I'm angry with myself…"…you should be quiet! We're gonna make you swallow these words down your freakin' mouth!

Mr. 3 turned around and said: "Hmm… that only happened because you're both weak."

"Huh?"

Mr. 3: "No, it's nothing. Now get moving and put them on the candle sets."

"Sets…", Nami slowly came back to her senses and got startled while looking above. "What… what the hell is that?"…she then stared us.

I whispered: "Nami…"

She: "Dan-kun! Where have you been?"

Me: "Forgive me… I lost track of you and…"

She then saw Vivi. "Vivi! Weren't you with Luffy?"

She: "Yeah, I was, but…"

"If you're talking about that stupid straw hat punk, I've already stomped him. It was so easy…", Mr. 5 said with a evil grin on his face.

"Luffy…", I could only mutter. Even though I was certain that Luffy wouldn't let himself fall down that easily. He knocked him out in a single punch back at Whiskey Peak!

"Now it's time for me to put these pests in their places. Today's main event is about to start!", Mr. 3 ordered.

He then used his wax hands to drag us to the lowest floor on the cake. The wax solidified, burying our feet. We were effectively immobilized. Left to right: Vivi, me, Zoro and Nami. Before this situation, we could do nothing but cool down and conform ourselves.

"So that's how it feels… to be a candle atop a cake, huh?", Zoro asked.

Nami, looking at every direction: "What's the purpose of that thing spinning up there?"

Me: "I have no idea whatsoever… but since we got some free time, I'll have the chance to figure out. After all, we can't move our feet…"

Zoro: "It's kinda obvious… why would they let us move?"…he then drew out a sword and tested the wax's hardness. "Shit… this wax's as hard as steel, man… In this position, I can't use my full power."

Me: "We can't do a thing but watch."

There were some moments of silence, until I started noticing my shoulders were full of white rubble…

"Hmm… is it my dandruff?"…I then asked the others: "Guys? Have you got something over your shoulders too? Like snowflakes?"

Vivi: "There's something falling on us…"

"Hahahahahahahah! Now enjoy my wax-based service set!"

Me: "No… is it…"

Mr. 3: "That is what you are thinking, my dear! The wax flakes falling on you will soon turn you all in wax sculptures! There is one and only one object that even my outstanding artistic skills are incapable of replicating… the perfect human statue… Like its name tells, you are going to become wax statues with souls! Therefore, in the name of my magnificent art… you shall die!"

Oh God… so that was it! The fire of the candles is melting the wax away!

"No way in hell! I won't fall for that! Why in the name of Monalisa I have to be a part of your art? Broggy-san! Don't stay down there and cut loose now! Don't you tell me that you want to become a wax statue as well?", Nami shouted.

Zoro limited himself to comment: "Boy… I've never saw such a huge man in my life…"

Me: "If even Zoro's swords aren't capable of cutting through this wax… I don't believe a giant's raw power will suffice to do any difference…"

"Hahahahahahahah! It is no use asking him to help! He has just realized that because he did not take note of his opponent's wounds, he finally killed with his own hands his friend with whom he fought so fiercely for the last hundred years and won… the dumbo even cried so heartily with the excitement of victory! Or… were you grieving over the death of your stupid friend? Hahahahahah… that does not matter at this point. Whatever may happen, nothing can be done now… you idiots! Ahahahahahahahahah!", Mister 3 laughed maniacally… that only made me even angrier! When I break free… I'll crush them all!

"I_ did_ notice…"

"Huh?"

"I _did _notice… that there was something wrong. Since we started our fight, I had noticed that Dorry was hiding something.", Broggy said… and that does make sense. After all, it's simply inconceivable that after a hundred years of fighting, Broggy would still be naive not to notice that something was going on with his friend!

Mr. 3: "Hm? You noticed it, you say?" Hahahahah… then, why didn't you stop the fight? You were fighting so ferociously… I didn't see a single bit of sympathy! Hoohohohohohohoho…"

I guess I know why.

"Grrr… How can a simple squint like you, who doesn't grasp the true meaning of the word 'duel', understand the reason for my tears? What do you know about this? Nothing! A true warrior simply ignores his wounds, stands tall and proud and heads back to the fight like nothing ever happened!"

Mr. 3 was caught off-guard with those words.

"How would I dare to offend him! How would I dare to hold back against a comrade that _requested_ a duel and fought that hard? Now… I understand everything behind all of this. Therefore… I shall settle this with my own hands, once and for all!"

Broggy, all of a sudden, gathered his strength and simply shattered the wax immobilizing him!

"This is a special courtesy in the name of my friend Dorry!"…he said while standing up. But…

…

…there was an explosion! Then a series of blasts… that knocked him out. The raging giant was dormant again.

"Broggy-san!"

"What an annoying monster!"…Mister 5…

"Mister 5! You jerk… how dare you! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO BROGGY-SAN! GET ME OUT OF HERE!", I screamed… I was burning with rage… goddamn wax!

What happened afterwards only left me raging even more…

"Doru Doru Arts: Handcuffs!"

The wax Mr. 3 expelled hardened transforming in a set of cuffs he used to bind Broggy's hands and feet…

"As a bonus feature…"…he covered the giant's members in wax…

"Now the final touch!"

He molded four wax stakes…

"!"

…then he carved them in the giant's hands and feet!

I felt a chill down my spine… I could even share a bit of Broggy's pain… the scene was simply horrifying. Broggy let his head rest on the ground, numb with the pain he felt.

"Hahahahahahahah… Waaahahahahahahah! Now you have no way out!", Mr. 3 continued his evil gloating.

"How cruel… this torture can be…", Vivi muttered through gritted teeth.

I could only clench my fists… If I were to punch this wax, I'd break my hand… I had to restrain myself, but, man, I was so ready to take out my anger at something…

"Hahahahahah! Noooooow, my masterpiece, my special candle service set…Turn these insects in beautiful wax statues!"

Damn… this guy's evil laugh is already driving me nuts!

"Cough… cough… I can't… breathe…", Nami!

"Nami! Are you… cough…"

It was getting tougher and tougher even to breathe… the smell of burned wax was getting stronger and we were forced to inhale it while the flakes kept covering our bodies… like this, we were going to turn into statues from the inside out!

"Show me all the pain and grief you can gather! A face ridden with suffering and angst is the best sample of artistic expression ever! Now despair while you harden!"

I could not stand listening to him anymore… Nami still wasted her energy shouting… "What kind of lame art is yours anyway? Huh, you fuzzyhaired weirdo! We're gonna get you!"

"You can scream all you want!"

I saw Broggy's tears of anger… and Mister 3's delight with all of this…

"Hahahahahah… this face… this face is magnificent! Unique! Anger, angst, agony! This is the true art!"

Meanwhile…

"I can't move my hand!", Vivi was scared.

"The wax is already hardening…", I lamented.

"You, think of something!", Nami begged.

Me: "Think of what, huh! We're with our feet burrowed in wax… our bodies are being covered in wax… we're gonna turn into live statues… we can only wait for the others to come save us…"

"Hey, old man…", Zoro.

"Hm?"

Zoro: "You can still move, can't you? I can move yet. Wanna kill these rats with me?"

He then drew out two swords with a courageous look.

"Eh? O… Oi, Zoro?"

Nami: "Z… Zoro! Just how are you gonna get out of this? Don't tell me you're…"

He: "Yeah."

"Are you gonna cut your own feet? You're screwing with me, right?", Nami asked, baffled.

"It's no joke! It's the only way I could think of getting outta here.", he said it all while unnervingly composed. "What do you decide?"

Vivi: "Decide…? Even if we did that, we would be caught again in a second!"

He: "How can you say that if you didn't even try?"

I couldn't stand it anymore. I snapped before such stupidity.

"YOU NUMBSKULL! How do you expect to move without f**king feet! Besides, I think being recaptured isn't really an issue in this case because the worst that could happen is you _dying _because of goddamn blood loss!"

"Since we're going to die anyway, it's better just to make our last stand. Why don't let shit get serious and resist for a little while? I see no reason for us to do nothing before them. They're worth nothing! Don't you agree?", I couldn't believe he could say all of this with a straight face, a grin, his arms outstretched and a confident look.

"Zoro… this idea has every reason to go horribly wrong! Wasn't it _you _who said we were going to die anyway?", I alerted but he didn't give two craps about it.

"What the hell this guy's gonna do?"…Mr. 5 said.

"Stay calm, will you… it is just a bluff! There is no way you can do this with yourself. All of this is nothing but an act!", Mr. 3 said.

"Hmhmhmhmhm… heheheheheh… You're really daunting, squint… How stupid of me, I didn't see any reasons to defend myself anymore… I will share your determination, boy!" Broggy said courageously.

It's no use anymore… he's a f**king idiot… Zoro wants to fight without his darned feet!

"I don't know how I'm gonna do it… but I'm certain that I'll do it and I will win!"

"What the hell's wrong with that guy! He's insane!", Mr. 5 said.

I would tell him this: Zoro's the only person with the right to call himself insane.

"Wait… I will fight alongside you!"…Vivi…

Wait… Wha? Vivi? Does she want him to cut her feet as well!

"Vivi!", Nami…

"Vivi-san! Have you lost your marbles!", I snapped.

Broggy: "LET'S ROCK IT, BRAT!"

"I don't wanna look!", I closed my eyes as soon as I saw Zoro getting ready for the emergency surgery…

"OOOOOOOORRRRYAAAAAAAAA! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASSES!"…this voice…

I slowly opened my eyes… to see a smokecloud far away… when it dissipated, I saw three known silhouettes.

"Let's go, Usopp! Bird!"

I rubbed my eyes, pinched myself… but it was true! Nami screamed… "LUFFY! USOPP!"

Vivi: "CARUE!"

They're back and ready to kick some butt! Thank goodness… if they came a second late, we would have two casualties here.

I smiled broadly and shouted at the top of my lungs: "YOU'RE F**KING LATE! Now thrash these guys once and for all!"

Luffy, while cracking his knuckles: "That's what I plan to do. These guys sabotaged the duel of the giants, after all!"

Mr. 3: "So it's you… the owner of the biggest bounty in East Blue… Good grief… The Marine's commanders lowered their standards…"

"Man, what a weird hair!"…Luffy ticked him off in the most childish way he could think of. Well in his style.

Mr. 3: "None of your business!"

"It's a three! A three in flames!"

Mr. 3: "Shut your mouth!"

"Before that, Luffy… Destroy this pillar! We're about to turn into wax statues!", Nami shouted.

Luffy, sporting a dumb face: "Hm? Need help?"

Zoro answered: "No sweat…"

Me: "Ow! Your feet!"

He: "Ah… that… That's a pretty deep cut, eh… No sweat…"

Blood was dripping from his shins…

Me: "NO SWEAT MY ASS! If we don't do something, you're gonna die!"

He: "For now… Luffy… can you destroy this pillar first? I'll leave the rest up to you."

"ARE YOU LISTENING?", I shouted.

Luffy, Usopp and Carue versus Baroque Works's Officer Agents. To hell with that! Please, someone, save us! We're hardening!

* * *

**Dan: "Hah... hah... I can't move... I can't breathe... my lungs are getting filled with wax vapor..."**

**Nami: "Please... Luffy, get this over with! Save us!"**

**Zoro: "Since we're gonna turn into statues, how about striking a pose?"**

**Vivi: "Mr. Bushido..."**

**Half the group is trapped under a mountain of wax... now the responsibility is resting on the shoulders of the captain and the shooter of the Straw Hats! Their enemies are gonna be a hard obstacle! Baroque Works is determined to let no one stand in their way.**

** There's still one agent who's yet to show his skills and the pirates are bound to have a little taste of it. How is this going to end? If it's gonna end after all! See it all on chapter 53! Don't miss it!  
**


	53. Colors Trap vs Fire Star!

**Chapter 53**

**"Colors Trap vs Fire Star! Both sides play their last trump cards!"

* * *

**

The heavy hitters are now on the scene! It's time to swim or sink! Luffy… Usopp! Please, save us!

"Yosh… now that Luffy's around, the table's gonna turn to our… huh? Zoro, can you tell me why are you making this pose?", I said.

He was with a hand in his waist and the other outstretched, wielding one of his swords.

"Well, if I'm gonna turn into a statue, don't you think it's better to make a pose?", he said.

"Zoro… is this really the time to joke around!", Nami snapped.

"Mister Bushido…", Vivi couldn't react otherwise.

"I'm not joking!", he said with a straight face.

Nami then stared at his shins and told him: "For now, please do something about your legs! It hurts me just by looking at it!"

He: "Then don't look at it!"

While they were quarreling, I looked the other way and saw Vivi's face. She was staring in awe.

"I can guess what you might be thinking now.", I told her.

"Hm?", she then glared at me.

Me: "Hmm… let me guess… 'in this situation in which we're about to die, they aren't concerned even a bit', right?"

She only nodded.

Me: "Yeah, to be straight, I also cannot grasp how they can keep their cool in the midst of the panic. That's why the best answer to these times is not to think about it. Doesn't look like it, but I, just like them, put my hopes in the rest of the guys. They're the only ones who can save us now. If we were in their shoes, I'm pretty sure they would do the same."

She didn't reply, but I could notice by her eyes that she understood… or at least knew what I was talking about.

"I guess I'm gonna make a pose as well. If I'm gonna die, I wanna look good.", I said just to get looked at by Nami. "I'm surrounded by idiots…", she ought to be thinking.

"Hey, brat, did you stop resisting yet?", we heard Broggy ask. Zoro answered: "Yeah… looks like it's time to end our turn and make way. Girls, if you wanna make a pose, now's the time! Hurry!"

Nami: "Y'know, keep me out of this, will ya?"

Vivi: "Please, Mr. Bushido, take this seriously!"

Zoro: "I am taking this seriously."

Me: "Can we stop the chitchat already?"

I tuned the bickering out and turned my eyes back to what was going on down there. Mister 3's partner was sitting down in a picnic, eating a cookie… while I saw Mr. 3 visibly affected with all of this. He doesn't have a clue of what my captain's capable of! Little bastard!

"Mr. 3!", the henchmen are back.

Mr. 5: "Let us kill him."

Mr. 3: "Do not make me laugh… Your attacks were ineffective against him, therefore, he is alive and standing. You are not a worthy opponent for someone in his level. Take care of the other two if you will."

I then saw him preparing a stance.

"I will personally take care of the effort of adding Straw Hat Luffy to my prize collection… Hohohohohohoho!"

Meanwhile, Usopp and Carue were slowly walking away from the "main stage"…

"Ah… I'm gonna back you up…", Usopp must be planning to do this.

"Now, let's begin! Candle… Lock!"

Mr. 3 produced more of his infamous wax and… locked Luffy's legs.

Zoro: "What the hell… you're already caught?"

Nami: "Clumsy!"

Me: "Oh for the love of… Before being caught, at least make some resistance, will ya?"

"This was easy…", Mr. 3 said. "Now to the hands… Candle… Lock!"…he then made more wax…

"Luffy! Watch out!", I screamed. He swerved in the nick of time, being able to move even with his legs locked in wax! "Wow… sugee!", I admired. He then gave a frontflip, stretched his arm, putting it around one of the horns in Broggy's helmet.

"Ooorryyaaaa! Giant ossan! I'm gonna use your head for a second!"

He then took advantage of the moment to start spinning… spinning… and spinning… spinning even faster… Broggy was already getting dizzy… Luffy now were getting closer of the pillar until…

"Gomu Gomu no… Tonkachi! (Gum Gum Hammer!)"…he broke it in half, also breaking the hammer in his legs! I don't know why, but I felt uneasy about that… maybe it was because…

THE FREAKIN' PUMPKIN HEAD WAS ABOUT TO FALL ON US!

…

To our relief… what it did was to stop over the third floor of the cake.

"Lucky! The hammer of my legs is broken! Hihihihihih…"

I looked to the sides and saw both Nami and Vivi sighing hard in relief… but… was it me or that didn't change our situation in the slightest? Then it hit me. I was "enlightened"…

"Ah, so that was it… CONGRATULATIONS, DUMBO! You did nothing but to make our situation worse!", I didn't wait for him to answer and talked to myself: "Nice… now we're gonna get covered in wax even faster."

"Wow, that was close! Why didn't you run?"

"WE CAN'T MOVE! IF YOU SEE YOU'LL GET IT!"

Vivi, angrily: "Can we really trust our lives to this guy, Mr. Bushido?"

Zoro, calm as always: "I guess we don't have much of a choice at this point… Not to mention that my arms are already frozen…"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!", Vivi then snapped.

Yeah, so that was it… Luffy brought the pillar down… and sped up the process!

"Oi, are you really turning into wax statues?", YOU'RE F**KING SLOW!

Vivi: "That's what we've been trying to tell you centuries ago! Please, do something, Luffy-san!"

"Okay, right, I get it!", Luffy answered, but…

Mr. 3 wasn't going to just stand there and watch! "I will not allow you! Doru Doru Arts… Harpoon!"

He then molded a wax harpoon heading straight to pierce our captain. At the same time… I saw a bullet being shot from the trees… aiming at Mr. 3.

Luffy swerved the harpoon that swooshed past, cracking part of the wax in Broggy's helmet and Mr. 5 got on the way of Usopp's star… and ate it! It exploded inside his body, but since he's a walking bomb, it didn't matter for him. He even burped smoke and licked his lips…

"Hm… pretty bitter… tastes like cheap gunpowder…", Mr. 5's 'rating'.

On our side… "Ouch… it's really bad now… glad I thought of doing a pose…"…Zoro, you…

"IDIOT!", Nami yelled at him.

"Please, Luffy-san! Hurry up!", while she still could talk, Vivi was already begging.

Luffy then stretched his arms… "Gomu Gomu no… Bazooka!" but…

"Candle… Wall!"

The punch was stopped by the wall of hard-as-steel wax… I can imagine how it can hurt… except that I'm under a layer of wax.

"Hey, get out of the way!", Luffy shouted.

Mr. 3 replied: "Heheheh… that is my line. I will not let you stand in the way of my art! Candle… Lock!"

Luffy jumped to evade, but purposefully let his arm in the way to get another wax hammer.

"Now I got another hammer!", he said, grinning.

Mr. 3 quickly realized his mistake. "Oh no!" Immediately he produced another wall of wax to remedy the problem.

"Gomu Gomu no… Tonkachi!" / "Candle… Wall!"

The wax props cancelled each other… Luffy got his hand free and advanced… hitting a direct punch in Mr. 3's face! Way to go! GO, LUFFY!

Nami: "Great, Luffy! Now take the chance and destroy the pumpkin!"

"No."

Zoro: "What do you mean by 'no'? Quit the jokes and come help us!"

"No."

Vivi: "Please, we're begging you, Luffy!"

"I… I don't wanna save you…"

Me: "Hey! Luffy! Are you nuts? Just what the hell are you… hey! Wait a second…"

Nami, slowly: "What… what's that supposed to mean?"

Zoro: "Oi, Luffy! Stop fooling around! We're running out of…"

"Wait, look!", I interrupted.

"What's up, Dan?", he asked.

"Look at the grass! Luffy's stepping on some black marking… what's that? Vivi-san, do you recognize it?"

She stared for some time and appeared to recall something: "Ah… that mark! That's…"

A small silhouette came out of the shadows while stating: "Colors Trap: Black of Betrayal.", she's Mr. 3's little partner.

"Miss Golden Week… So it was you, wasn't it?"…so this is her codename.

"Yup. Black of Betrayal will force any person to disobey any orders, no matter how urgent may they be. It doesn't matter how precious you are to him, he will betray you all.", Ms. Golden Week exposed.

Nami: "Ho… how? What is she doing?"

Vivi: "She's a realist painter. She can bring forth the emotions represented by each and every color!"…Eh?… "She can use her special paintbrush to influence the mind of a person…" Oh bollocks…

Zoro: "Luffy's so naive that doing it to him is a piece of cake!"

Me: "But he needs to step out of the marking to get free, right?"

Nami: "Luffy! You gotta move!"

Vivi: "No, it's not gonna work!"…she then shouted to Luffy this: "Luffy! Do not move from there, no matter what happens! We don't want you to save us!"

He: "No."…he then stepped back, leaving the black marking.

Me: "I see… the old trick of reverse psychology…"

"Are?"…he came back to his senses. "I… I felt something really weird right now…"

Me: "Screw that! Destroy this pumpkin, please!"

"Ok! I'll get you out in a second!"…he then started spinning his arm… but slowly stopped… and started laughing his ass off!

Nami: "What… the…?"

Zoro: "You…"

Me: "Idiot!"

Vivi: "What's going on now?"

"Colors Trap: Yellow of Laughter!", that kinda sums it up nicely.

Nami: "This time it's painted in his clothes… Take off your shirt, Luffy!"

Me: "That's not gonna work either! This time he only cares about laughing his ass off! Someone's gotta blur the mark! Usopp-kun!"

Zoro: "Dammit… at the rate the flakes are falling down… we're only gonna hold out for a few minutes more…"

Suddenly… Usopp and Carue came out of the forest being chased down by the other couple of agents! In a come-and-go routine, they ran back and forth, back and forth… until stepping over Luffy!

"Look! The mark's blurred!", I 'pointed'. No need to explain the apostrophes.

Luffy, while recovering from the shock: "Oi! Stop doing this shit! You bastard! Oh, who cares… I gotta destroy that pumpkin! Gomu Gomu no…"

"I will not let you! Colors Trap…"…oh noes… what now!

"Red of the Raging Bull!"…she painted a red mark where Luffy stood.

"BAZOOKAAaaa… nyan, nyan…"…and the bazooka landed _there_.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU AIMING AT, MORON!", Zoro yelled…

"There's a red mark in the grass, Zoro…", I said.

Golden Week: "Like an angry bull running behind a bullfighter's mantle, the attacks you send are only gonna hit this mark. Tough luck, eh…"

"AH… YOU BRAT! GO YIFF YOURSELF! GOMU GOMU NO… BAZOOKaaaa… nyan, nyan…"…there's no need for details here… the results are the same. Just imagine.

"Oh crap… he can't get out of this…", I mumbled.

"As a bonus…"…there's more? "Mixing the Blue of Sadness with the Yellow of Laughter… I give you the Green of Tranquility!"…now there's a green marking in Luffy's back! Now he's… calming down and sitting to have a sip of tea with the enemy!

The four of us: "NUMBSKULL!"

Nami just sighed and said in a defeating voice: "Now, what do we do?"

Zoro: "See? I told you to strike a pose when you could. Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

Me: "Zoro… can you shut up with your pose thingy?"

Vivi: "How can you be so nonchalant at a time like this?"

I then asked the wind: "Changing the subject… where the heck's Usopp?"

Moments later, I guess the wind replied… because Usopp was back!

"Usopp… kun…", I asked.

"Dan! Guys! I'm gonna save you!", I could still hear him.

Well, my entire body was already covered in hardened wax and petrifying… I was totally immobilized. The final touch was the face. I was already struggling to move my mouth, but I still could spew some last words…

"Ple… plea… please…"…that was my last word. I had to close my mouth to avoid more powder entering after having inhaled that much. Only my eyes were free.

I saw Usopp getting near where Luffy was. Now he could blur the mark in his shirt and free our captain from the hypnose!

"Hissatsu! Kaenboshi! (Final move: Fire Star!)"

"Breeze Breath Bomb!"…I heard the noise of shots… It was getting hard to see anything… then the sound of a blast! Usopp had been hit for sure… but I couldn't see by what. He and Carue fell down.

I heard Mr. 5's voice: "I forgot to tell you that even my breath is explosive."

Usopp: "Bastard… with no bullets? Carue… are you alright? Luffy! Are you back?"

I saw Luffy standing back up and coming out of the bushes: "Yeah… I'm fine. I won't fall for that anymore! Now I'm pissed off!"

My sight was getting blank… Everything ahead of me was already blurred… I could only try to figure out what was happening from the voices I heard… Then from now on my vision was totally white. I was completely encased in a cocoon of wax. Do not wait for a butterfly to come out of it, folks…

Luffy… Usopp… we're counting on you!

"Hahahahahah… You got all ticked off back then, but still, your friends are like this…", Mr. 5, gloating already…

"Who cares? They're still alive, I know it!", Luffy, angrily…

"Hahahahahahah… or are they? After Miss Golden Week gives a little paintjob on them, they're gonna be complete and glorious wax statues… admit it, it's too late to save them, Straw Hat!", Mr. 5…

"That is correct… Everything is over! Have a little taste of what is endless despair … that is… my most powerful sculpture ever!"…this voice… Mr. 3? He's still packing a punch?

I heard sounds of modelling wax and then, I started to hear the noise of trees being uprooted. Alongside with robotic steps… What the hell is Mr. 3 planning to do? If it wasn't for the stupid wax blocking my eyesight!

"Candle… Champion!"…Mr. 3 announced.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!", Usopp and Carue screaming…

"Ah… it's come out… how he managed to defeat the owner of a 42 million beri bounty…", Mr. 5…

"Mr. 3's greatest masterpiece…", Ms. Valentine…

I wanna see it! What on earth is happening down there!

"In this armor, I am pretty much invincible! My body is wrapped inside an absolutely impenetrable armor made of wax as hard as steel! The I as it is now… has no weak points!", Mr. 3… exposing his last trump card…

"Cool!", Luffy… if he's wasting time fanboying over whatever it is, it must be quite something. Well, considering it's Luffy we're talking about, everything's quite something…

Usopp, yelling at him: "NO TIME TO ADMIRE! FIGHT!"

"Gomu Gomu no… STAMP!"

"Hahahahah… Champ… Fight!", Mr. 3 fought back…

Usopp: "Oh no… But wait… Wax powder…"

There were some moments of silence… then…

"I got it! Luffy! We have to set the wax on fire! No matter how hard it may be, but wax is still wax! It melts with fire!"…Usopp shouted. Then it finally hit me.

Goddamn it! It's so freakin' simple! The answer was lying right above me! Why didn't I figure that out earlier!

"Even if Master Broggy and the others are in this state, we can still save'em! We still got time on our hands!", Usopp announced.

Nice one, Usopp! Let's go! I'm already with lack of air… my lungs hurt… guys, hurry up!

"Hahahahah! You may possess the knowledge, but that will not pay off! In a few minutes, their hearts will stop beating due to lack of oxygen and they will die!"

No… NO! I don't wanna die like this… I'm still too young… I have a long life ahead of me… I don't wanna die now!

"They are agonizing with their last moments of consciousness! They are having the taste of a horrible, painful and slow death! Haaahahahahahah…"

"Hissatsu… Kaen-"

"BREEZE BREATH BOMB!"

Suddenly… an explosion.

"USOPP!", Luffy screamed. Then I heard grunts of pain… and a thump. Usopp fell down.

"Didn't listen? You have no chance against us!", Mr. 5…

"Hahahahahahahahah…", Ms. Valentine…

"Damn… we're out of time!", Luffy…

"Just give up!", Mr. 3…

I then felt the ground shaking. After that, silent moments. Luffy had been hit for sure.

"RUUUN! No matter what happens, you have to run as fast as you can! Wrap this rope around the cake!", I heard Usopp screaming. Then sounds of shots… There were lots of things happening at the same time… everything was confusing… I was already losing consciousness… no, I've gotta fight!

Goodbye, cruel world…

…

"GUYS, WAKE UP!"

…

I heard the noise of something combusting… there was something on fire. I slowly regained myself… and I realized I could open my eyes! I could see the wax coming out of my eyesight and letting me see what was ahead of me… Slowly, I began to notice that I could move my arms and legs! That's it! THE WAX IS MELTING DOWN!

I blinked and got startled to see a wall of fire right in front of me. "Ouch! Fire!"

I then let the warm wax slide away and took out the excess. I then smiled broadly… my comrades are also returning!

"Vivi-san! Nami-chan! Zoro!", I looked in both sides, smiling. They started moving as well.

"Phew… right on time…", Nami said while cleaning the wax away from her body.

"Ow… it's really getting hot around here… Hey, what took him so long, huh…", Zoro said.

"Ah… I really thought I was about to die…", Vivi, relieved, let it out.

Me: "Guys… WE'RE BACK!"

"You did it, little punks!"…this voice… "Enough fooling around! Now I'm serious… I will break your little neck in shreds!"…we saw a blur soaring rapidly into the sky…

Nami and Vivi: "Miss Valentine!"

Me: "Guys, it seems our comrades are in danger. What do you think of returning the favor?", I looked both ways and they replied with a simple nod.

"Then… a pair to its target! Guys, let's turn the tables with a pair of double attacks! LET'S GO!"

The girls then set up their weapons.

"10,000 KILO GUILLOTINE!"…Miss Valentine came down.

"Girls, now!"

Them: "Right!"…they jumped out of the fire.

"I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY FULL-BODY EXPLOSION! YOU PUNY PIRATE! EVEN YOUR BONES WILL BECOME TOAST AFTER THIS ONE!" Mr. 5… he's ready to do one of his tricks again!

Me: "Looks like it's our turn now! Let's get back at them! With style!"

Zoro: "Yeah."

He drew out his swords. I turned my pencil into a spear.

Us: "Let's go!"

Finally we jumped to the fire. It burned. But we had more urgent matters to care about.

"Yosh! I'll go ahead!"

I saw Mr. 5 binding Usopp. He struggled… He was about to take a full-body explosion! We couldn't let this happen!

It's go time!

"BURNING… CLIMAX!"

"YAKI… ONI… GIRI!"

"Impossible…! AAAAARRRGHHH!"

Two flaming slashes and Mr. 5 was taken out!

Zoro: "Blades on fire… not bad, huh?"

Me: "Heh… that's what I call getting back with a blast!"

"Zoro! Dan!", the girls.

"Heheh… The End. By… Zoro and Dan."

My pencil was back to normal and Zoro sheathed his swords back. Broggy was also back in action. The giant turned his eyes to his fallen comrade and I saw the sadness in his face.

Me: "Broggy-san… Is Dorry-san gonna be alright?"

He, as he heard this, faced me and laughed out loud: "Gebabababababa! Do you think a giant that fought so hard for over a hundred years is going to fall just because of one silly wound? Gebabababa! He'll be fine, don't worry. Just a good ol' rest and he'll be shiny and new."

Usopp: "Master…"

Broggy: "Guys… there's still two to take down, huh?"

Me: "I guess there's already someone taking care of that."

Vivi: "Where's Carue?"

Me: "Probably, he and Luffy are chasing down the other two. But… the most important thing right now is that…"…then I took a deep breath to scream: "WE'RE ALIVE!"

Everyone smiled in joy!

That made me cough all the wax I inhaled back then…

I then sighed in relief, taking some seconds to register what was happening… and just like that, out of the blue, a thought came in my head: Aren't we forgetting someone?

* * *

**Dan: "Phew... We are alive! Thank goodness we got out of that!"**

**Zoro: "Just in time like always."**

**Nami: "All thanks to Usopp's quick wits!"**

**Vivi: "Luffy-san... did he defeat Mr. 3 already?"**

**Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine finally were defeated! The situation is practically over. But there's someone missing... the group's cook is still wandering in the middle of the forest and it'll be tough to find him... unless...  
**

**Everyone: "IMPOSSIBLE!"**

**What will happen next? Don't forget to find out in the next chapter!  
**


	54. To go or not to go, that's the question

**Chapter 54**

**"Goodbye, island of the giants! Next stop: Arabasta… or is it?"

* * *

**

The battle is over. However, our giant friend Broggy couldn't hold it anymore and showed his true emotions. He's now crying waterfalls of tears over his fallen friend… No, really.

"He's a good friend even to cry!", Nami said.

"I've heard about rivers of tears but that's just ridiculous…", Zoro commented.

Crying to his heart's content… and giving tremendous pain to our ears…

"I… I… I can understand you! Master Broggy!"…Usopp, crying as well.

"Even you? Come on!", I butted in.

Well, all of a sudden, he stops crying and looks sideways… we look as well… and we see Dorry waking up!

"Ah! Dorry-san! Weren't you supposed to stay… er, um… dead?", I said, perplexed.

Broggy: "DORRY! You… but… how?", yeah, how?

Dorry: "I think I was only knocked out… Maybe it was because of your axe…"

How the hell an axe doesn't kill a man? Ok, they're giants and live the triple of any normal human being, but… taking an axe slash on the chest is instant kill to anybody!

"Wait a sec… weapon… Yes! I got it! These weapons… are very worn out. I got it! Since they were used for so long, the weapons ended going far beyond their lifetime! Even the famous Elbaf weapons aren't capable of cutting anything now, they're completely useless!", Usopp deduced and celebrated, sighing in relief.

Me: "So that's why… Well, better for them!"

Usopp: "It's a fantastic miracle!"

Nobody's dead after all! A warm hug of the two giants sealed a temporary truce in their hundred-year old "war".

"Ow… Broggy, don't hug me that tight, my wound's gonna hurt…"

Broggy, crying tears of joy: "I'm so glad you're still alive, my dear friend! Gebababababababaaa!"

"Gegyagyagyagyagyagyagyaa!"

Then they shared a laugh together, something that might haven't happened for a long, long time…

In that, Zoro reflected: "There's no miracle here. It's only natural."

"How so?", I asked him.

"You gotta agree that it'd be weird if weapons that were used during a hundred years of sparring still slashed anything. That can also be said of its wielders.", he continued.

I agreed: "Well, that makes sense… Yeah… isn't it ironic? Lord Time can be pretty ruthless to anyone and anything… but that may also carry inside good coincidences."

"Today is a marvelous day! We have to thank great God Elbaf's blessing!"

Dorry: "Hey Broggy, tell me… face it, you kinda liked slashing me down and knocking me unconscious, didn't you?"

"Don't say that, my friend!"…Broggy then patted his friend's shoulder.

"Ouch! Don't touch my wound!"…Dorry got back at him punching him in the chest.

Amidst giggles and laughter… they punched… and kicked… each other… Wait, what? What the hell's wrong with their friendship?

"Wanna go at it again, eh, bastard?", Dorry threw the challenge.

"Of course! I'm gonna pound you so hard this time!", Broggy replied accordingly.

There were the two throwing insults at each other again…

"Why the hell you're gonna fight again?", Nami asked.

I answered her, sighing: "Haa… really, they're hopeless… It's like my grandma always says: Close friends always end up fighting each other… right?"

She was intrigued. "Wow, never heard that one…"

"Of course not! I just made that up!", I said, giggling.

Nami: "What the hell…"

…

After their little skirmish, we and the two giants walked through the forest to sit down on the grass near the skeleton mountains, sharing giggles through the way. Between stories and other stuff, we told them the reason why Baroque Works took the effort to come all the way down here.

"Gegyagyagyagya… that was it… They were chasing our bounties, huh? I completely forgot about that.", Dorry said.

"However, they want to kill me as well and that was the main reason they came here…" Vivi lamented, looking down. Nami noticed that and pulled her cheek.

"Owowowowow! Nami-san!"

Nami: "Can you stop talking about that?"

"That's right, Vivi! Why you're still so depressed?", Luffy asked while chewing a cookie.

I was munching as well. "Yeah, Vivi-san! Depression's gonna do you nothing. Come eat with us and perk up! Guys, cookie toast! Kanpai! Ah…" The "toast" with our cookies… broke them in pieces.

"Oh, dear… that's just wasteful…", Usopp lamented and started cleaning the pieces, but Luffy stepped in trying to steal the cookies. They started fighting like little boys. I let them settle their differences and stood up.

"Ow!"

Me: "What's up, Nami?"

She: "Uh? No, nothing. A bug bit me, that's all."

I then took off my white jacket and offered her: "Look, wear this. It's burned but it still can be used."

She: "No need for that, Dan-kun. I'm fine, really."

"I insist."

She gave up and wore it anyway. "Thank you."

I then whispered: "Ah… ah… I wish I could still see you only in a bra…"…don't seem like it, but she heard me.

"Did you say something?", her mean tone of voice gave me a chill…

"No, no, nothing! Hahahah…"…I tried to wave it off, but then I remembered something that might be important. "Hey… It's everything well, everything alright, but I get that nagging feeling that we are forgetting one or two things, maybe…"

She: "Well… now that you mention it…"

Zoro: "I think I have an idea of what you're talking about: how are we supposed to get outta here? It's out of the question to just wait for the Log to reset."

Yeah, one of those is our burning question.

Nami: "That's true…"

Broggy: "It looks like you're still concerned about something… We're really in debt to you for having rescued us. Can we do something to help you? Just ask."

Luffy then did so. "Well, can you do anything with our Log?"

Dorry: "Sorry, little one, the Log is the only thing for which our hands are tied."

Nami: "Is there something else, Dan-kun?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah… something is telling me that we're forgetting someone that is still to show up…", I said, while mumbling with a hand on my chin.

"NAMI-SAAAN… VIVI-CHHWAAANN… and the rest of the doofuses!"

"Yo! Sanji!", Luffy waved.

"Oh, speaking of the devil… wait. Oi! Doofus? How rude of you!", yeah, that's it. Sanji, the missing lad, is back with all the love in his heart.

"Hahahahahah! You're all OK, aren't you? That's fantastic! Guys, I'm so glad you're all alive!", he said while walking towards us.

I then approached him. He needed to hear us out on this. "Stop right there, compañero! Thanks for being missing when we needed the most! Where the hell were you? Didn't you see the extent of the troubles we had to get over to defeat those bandits!"

Usopp also yelled at him. "You have some guts to walk here only now like nothing ever happened!"

"AAAHH!", Sanji just ignored us and ran to where the giants were sitting.

Me and Usopp: "Listen when someone's talking to you, dammit!"

"Ah, I finally found you! So you're the bastard called Mr. 3?", he shouted.

I walked to him to bonk his head. "No, you dumbo! Mr. 3's already been defeated in the middle of the forest. These are the giants we saved."

He: "Saved?"

Me: "Long story. I'll explain later."

Nami, dragging us back to the original subject: "But how do you know about Mr. 3?"…hmmm… that's a good question…

"Aaah! Nami-san, your appearance is really surprising!", he just kept ogling her and melting in praises just because the lady was only in her bra…

"Wanna make me hit you?", she threatened.

He then retreated and started talking about his misadventures.

"Oh well… I had a little and very enlightening talk over the phone with nobody but the man himself: Mr. 0."

Wait… what?

Vivi reacted immediately. "TH-THE BOSS? You talked with the boss!"

He continued: "Erm… as I was walking on the forest, I found a little strange white house. There everything happened. He must have mistaken me as this so-called Mr. 3."

Me: "Mistook you? Sounds fishy… how did you manage that?"

He: "Don't even ask me. I only know that I was able to talk to him and I told him that the Straw Hat crew was successfully murdered."

Vivi: "So he thinks we're dead?"

Me: "Personally, I highly doubt it. He cannot be _that_ stupid."

"Ah, who cares if no one's after us anymore anyway! It's gonna take a year for us to get out, we are completely stuck!"…Usopp lamented.

Sanji then intervened. "Stuck? Even after everything I had to go through to get this little thing here…"

I only know he took something out of his pocket… something JAW-DROPPINGLY IMPORTANT!

He: "What? Something wrong?"

Me: "What do you mean? Don't you know what's that?"

He: "Of course I do, it's a…"

Luffy: "AN ETERNAL POSE POINTING TO ARABASTA!"

Oh yeah! We can now head straight to our destination!

"Guys! Cookie toast!", I proposed. Me, Nami, Usopp and Luffy then "toasted" with our cookies that, to nobody's surprise, broke in pieces. Again.

"Ah… that's just wasteful… Guys, this way we can't do another toast, there's only two cookies left!", Usopp said.

"If no one wants, they're mine! Give it to me!", I said it then stole the bag from him.

"Hey, not fair, I want too!", Luffy whined and tried to steal it.

Nami then stepped in and put an end to it all. "Guys, let's stop the quarrel once and for all! We have no time to waste, captain! Let's get outta here right now!"

He: "You're right…"

Luffy then talked to the giants. Holding his hat, he said: "Ok, docs, we're going now."

"Hmm… seems like you're in a hurry… Ok, as much as we want to, we won't stop you.", Broggy warranted.

"Little girl, I hope everything's alright in your country.", Dorry said.

Vivi: "Thank you."

We then bid farewell to the legendary giants from Elbaf, another friendship made in our journey. We walked through the forest and got back to where our ship rested. Zoro and Sanji brought the results of their little hunting contest. 'Little' isn't the prey they caught!

"Look at my rhinoceros! It's the bigger of them! I won this thing!", Zoro bragged.

Sanji retorted. "My gecko is the winner, you doofus!"

Luffy butted in: "Does that matter? Both of them look delicious anyway!"

"YOU SHUT UP!", both promptly kicked Luffy out of the discussion.

"Hey you two, how long are you planning to keep on with your silly arguing, huh? Neither of them are gonna fit in the ship, so cut the necessary bits so we can sail right away, ok?", Nami spoke from the railing of the cabin.

"Usopp! Dan! Which of them is bigger, huh? It's mine for sure!", Zoro asked our opinion.

Usopp: "Eh? Who cares…"

"OI!", Zoro was not amused.

Vivi: "Can't you settle with a tie?"

Zoro: "There are no ties in duels."

Me: "Yossh… Let the drums ruff!" …ruffing drums fit for the great announcement! "The winner of the hunting contest iiiiiiissss… I don't care! Just bring the meat to the storage and let's go already!"…there. The great announcement.

"HEY YOU…!", both yelled at me.

Nami got ticked off for real and shouted: "GET ON THE SHIP NOW!"

Trembling, the duo quickly got stuff done and cut out the best parts. We could finally unfurl the main sail, push in the anchor and get on our journey! We navigated through a river that, according to Nami's map, would lead us to the open sea. When we were close to the shore, we saw the giants with their mantles swaying with the wind. Truly, an imposing image.

Luffy: "Hey, look! The giants came to say goodbye!"

"For all the humans that managed to arrive at our island…", Broggy…

"The main reason why they can't go to their next stop lies right ahead.", Dorry… What does he mean with that? "You risked your lives to protect our honor."

Broggy completed: "Therefore, we will do the same, no matter who our enemy may be."

Dorry: "No matter what happens, a friend of ours shall never be abandoned."

Broggy: "Lay all of your trust on us and go ahead without hesitation!"

Some silent moments until Luffy announced: "Understood!"

Me: "What's going on here?"

Luffy: "We're going forward, no matter what!"

"I kinda have this bad feeling right now…", I started getting nervous with all of this.

The ship sailed forward… we went past the giants wielding their weapons. Ahead of us, the sea…

Nami: "GUYS, LOOK OUT!"

…AND A GIANT FRICKIN' GOLDFISH! It's mere presence shook the sea violently!

Me: "What the… what's… it's… it's huge!"

Usopp: "Go-go-go-g-g-g-goldfish? G-giant? Where did I hear about that?"

"We gotta get outta the way now!", Nami ordered.

"Nami… that makes sense, but what can we do?", I told her.

"What do you suggest then?", she shouted.

Usopp: "Let's go ahead!"

"WE'RE GONNA BE EATEN!", Nami was terrified.

My body was all shivers… the terror affected me… but I could spit out my words.

"It's… it's… it's like the giants told us! Let's… let's just trust them and gather the courage to keep going!", that's my suggestion.

Usopp: "Yeah! We're going on! R-r-r-right, Luffy?"

"Obvious."…Luffy. Confidence is written in his face.

"DON'T BE AN IDIOT! This thing's not like Laboon! Turn the helm!", Nami yelled.

"Just give up, Nami.", Zoro said, leaning on the cabin.

The mouth of the goldfish was getting closer and closer… until we were finally swallowed.

"We can't go back anymore! Aaaaahhhh!", Nami screamed in fear… We can't do anything now. We have to trust their word to save us.

Usopp, weeping: "Let's go! March ahead! Proceed!"

Luffy, confident: "Marching forward, guys!"

"SHUT UP! WE'VE BEEN EATEN ALREADY!", Nami shouted.

Suddenly… a bright light approached us…

"HAKOKU!"

A blue and red, very powerful gust of wind raged past us and clashed against the "wall" ahead of us. The impact was incredible… and shining… the light ahead of us… so blindingly intense… When it disappeared… we saw a hole… and the sea ahead of us!

WE'RE SAVED!

Luffy: "We're through!"

"We did it! We did it! Thank you very much!", thank you giants!

"They… they even slashed the ocean itself… This is the true strength… of the giants from Elbaf! Fantastic!", Usopp shed tears of happiness!

The wind gust made the ship float in a high speed for a few seconds before landing its keel gently back in the sea. We're sailing again… once this time, heading to Arabasta!

…

After the sea calmed down, we could finally rest and listen the sound of the waves rippling through the wood of our ship. Back is also the boredom and the times where there's nothing to do. But that doesn't mean that the silence is back as well because… we have a very excited duo guaranteed to make noise for quite a long time after yet another adventure…

"Waaaaahhhh! That's thrilling! Now I'm even more eager to visit the land of the legendary Giant Tribe! One day, surely, I'll go to Elbaf!", Usopp said, more than happy. Luffy agreed and they both partied, singing to their heart's content.

I let myself rest leaning on the ship's railing and feel the wind in my body. "Hmmmm… they have great dreams… Like my grandma always said… We're free to dream…", I mumbled to myself while writing another of my little recordings of everything that happened until now.

I soon stopped when I noticed Nami and Vivi sitting in the ground talking to each other. They must be quite worn out… I closed my book to go tend to them.

"Hello ladies! How you're doing? Nami… you look kinda worn out…", As soon as I arrived, I tried to join the talk.

Nami: "This whole fuss left me more tired than I thought…"

Me: "Just sit down, rest and let the ship sail in its route. We're on the right direction, aren't we?"

She: "Yeah. I've checked it a while ago. We're in the right route."…she then turned to Vivi. "We're finally able to take you home…"

Vivi: "Yes… I really need to go back. After all… there's no one with enough power to save my country. People lost all trust in my father, the King, and started rebelling… I have to arrive at Arabasta alive."

"Stop worrying so much, Vivi-chan.", Sanji went down the stairs to the mast, bringing with him a delicious-looking dessert. "Because I'll be on your side. Now, will you have the honor of tasting one of my delicious 'petit fours'? To drink, I can bring you tea, coffee or whatever you may wish."

"WOW! DELICIOUS!", Usopp, Luffy and Carue, hungry as always were now drooling over the plate…

"Hey, you! Don't spoil the mood!", I complained.

"Yours are on the kitchen! Now get out!", Sanji ordered.

The three hunger-ridden quickly rushed to the kitchen.

Me: "Hmmm… now that you mentioned it, I admit I'm hungry now… Sanji-san, you made one for me, didn't you?"

He: "I made for all of us. It's in the kitchen. Now go."

Me: "Yatta! Ok!", I then ran to grab my 'petit four'. Kinda stylish name, eh? I then walked a bit around the ship while appreciating the candies, delicious, I might add. Just like everything Sanji comes up with!

"GUYS, COME HERE QUICK!"

Hm? Vivi is calling! Sounds like it's urgent!

I run from where I stood, still carrying my plate and munching candy, but there's a pressing issue here! Whatever it may be…

"Guys, Nami-san is burning in a fever!"

Oh no… Fever? But how? When I touched her forehead… it stung! The fever looked very high! What are we gonna do?

"Guys, no sudden movements now… Calm down and take Nami to our room. I need a bowl of water and a small towel. We gotta do something about the temperature of her fever!", Vivi spoke, trying to keep calm.

I volunteered, also asking for help. Sanji, between tears, was able to keep calm so we could carry her to the women's quarters. We then laid her on the bed, covering her in a sheet.

"She's not gonna die, is she? Huh, Vivi-chan…", Sanji said while crying and biting a napkin.

"I think that's because of the climate. One of the greatest obstacles pirates find in their journeys are the climate changes, something that leaves the body little time to get over.", Vivi said while moisturing the towel and putting it on Nami's forehead. "It isn't strange that great pirates with fame and enviable reputation end up perishing affected by unstable weather."

"Wha… being killed by enemy pirates or by weather-related diseases… I don't know which is scarier…", you always gotta be careful about that.

"Guys, does anyone of you have any medical knowledge?"

Usopp and Luffy pointed… to the "patient".

"I… well… when I was little, I used to get sick from time to time… therefore, I know a little, but I don't think it'll serve on her case…", I tried to help, but I reckon I can't do much, either.

"Hey, a little bit of meat should perk her up again, right… Sanji?", Luffy, still smiling, asked.

Sanji stopped crying and replied: "Well… I can try to fix something for her to eat, but… all it'll do is to nourish her… that's not enough. Besides… while we're sailing, I try to prepare the women's meals with exceptional care compared to you guys.", I feel kinda insulted, though I can't help but agree. "I always prioritize the fresher vegetables and meat to the girls… and what's rotten… goes to you guys."

"OI!", Usopp complained.

"Sanji, that might qualify as food poisoning, you know."

"I don't mind, it's good anyways!", Luffy said nonchalantly.

Sanji continued: "As long as I am here, there will be no nutrition issues for anyone. However, when you're dealing with preparing food to ill people, you have to take other factors into the equation. Like what are the symptoms and their treatment in terms of food. I am not capable of doing this kind of diagnostic."

"What about giving her a little of everything? No good?", Luffy asked, still intrigued.

"Someone sick has the energy for that? I don't think so.", Sanji replied.

"What? 104º F? Her fever's gone up!", Vivi made the alert.

"Oh crap…", I said.

Usopp: "There'll be doctors in Arabasta, right? How long are we gonna take?"

Vivi looked desolate when she stated: "I don't know. But I believe it won't take less than a week or so…"

"A full week? Dammit… it's really serious…", I said. One of the things I learned the hard way is that one week with a high fever is too much for the human body to handle. It might be fatal, but I didn't wanna say it out loud.

"Hey… getting sick is this bad?", Luffy asked, puzzled as he was.

Sanji and Usopp tilted their heads: "Dunno… never been through there…"

"WHAT! You never…?", Vivi, taken aback, reacted. "Can't you see? It's clearly bad to get sick! A 104 degree fever can be fatal!"

Oh, she let it out and all hell broke loose. The three of them and Carue started panicking, running around and asking loudly "Oh god! She's gonna die, she's gonna die!"…

Me: "Oh for crying out loud! You just had to say that, didn't you, Vivi-san!"

She: "Sorry…"

"After I tried to hold it in myself…"…we then turned to the scared group. "Guys, calm down!"

"WE HAVE TO FIND A DOCTOR NOW! SAVE NAMI!", Luffy was shouting his loudest.

I had to step in. "You guys, calm the f**k down!"

Vivi: "We know that, but we have to stay calm first! The noise will affect her body!"

"N-no… Please… no…", Nami whispered slowly and tried to get up. "There's a newspaper in the closet near my desk."

Vivi grabbed the newspaper and as she read the news… her face got paler and paler…

"Oh no… It can't be… 300,000 royal soldiers turned to the rebel side… Before that, there were 600,000 of the royal guard against 400,000 rebellers… the table's been turned overnight!"…her reading of the news left her even more terrified.

Nami, panting: "Now the rebellion's… gonna get more intense… This one's from three days ago… I apologize for hiding that from you… I didn't want to worry you even more…"

"Hmmm… Looks like things are getting ugly there…", Luffy stated.

"That's understanding enough.", I said.

"What… this thermometer's gotta be broken… No one gets a 104º fever… Must be a heatwave…", she said, trying to get up.

"Wait! Don't do it!", I tried to stop her. "When you're with a fever this high, ignoring the thermometer equals throwing your life away! I'm not a doctor, but I know. Please!"

She still stood up, even with her body shaking and swaying. "Leave me alone… I gotta get back to checking the ship's route… but…", she then turned to us, smiled and said: "…thanks for the concern…"

"Oh, she's better after all?", Luffy, unable to understand, asked.

"She's faking it.", Usopp explained.

"It's really worrisome… being stubborn in her state…", I lamented.

"A bloodshed is looming… it's really serious…! Arriving alive isn't enough anymore! I have to arrive as fast as possible… or else, one million people will get in a meaningless carnage!"

"One million?", Luffy said.

"What a heavy burden… Vivi-chan…", Sanji reflected.

Nami sick, feverish, trying to resist… Vivi with a responsibility the size of the world in her back… It's desolating…

* * *

**Dan: "It's really bad... Nami sick... Vivi having to arrive pretty much now..."**

**Sanji: "Nami-saaaan... Vivi-chwaaaann!"**

**Luffy: "We gotta find a doctor first and immediately!"**

**To head straight to Arabasta, with the risk of losing their navigator for the rest of the journey or to stop, find a doctor, but let everything in the hands of destiny? The answer to this burning question will be in chapter 55!  
**


	55. It's cold, really, really cold!

**Chapter 55**

**"The search for a doctor in a nameless, cold country"

* * *

**

We're now stuck in one hell of a deadlock. Nami is very sick, her condition is worsening at every passing second and she needs urgent treatment… but Vivi also has to hurry to stop a senseless carnage at her home country! Grrrr… what are we to do?

"Hey, folks! Come to the deck right now! We have stuff to do!", I had to interrupt my thoughts when I heard Zoro screaming from above. We quickly left the women's quarters to check the emergency.

"Adjust the sails to catch the wind coming from port!", Zoro commanded.

"Huh? If the orders are coming from you then I'm not moving, get it?", Sanji complained.

"Nami… what's going on?", I asked.

"The wind… I got this hunch… telling me that a very powerful wind's gonna hit us head-on…", she announced.

Usopp: "Even if the weather's currently this calm?"

"I know my stuff… please, hurry…", Nami asked us.

Sanji, worryingly: "Oi, Nami-san… I know this is all for Vivi-chan's sake, but if you force yourself this much…"

She: "I told you I'm alright! I can't let myself go down because of a simple fever… now move!"

"Nami-san…", Sanji was still concerned.

Me: "Well… guys, for now, let's stop wasting any more time and go take care of the route, ok?"

The guys were still obviously concerned, but they nodded agreeingly at me and we ran to our positions. Sanji and Zoro went to pull the ropes. Usopp, Carue and me went to steer the helm correctly. We then left the cabin to check if the route is already corrected.

"Yeah… we're already heading… in the right direction again.", Nami confirmed. She should be very weak now, having to fight a high fever this whole time… and having to steer the ship as well…

"Guys! I have a favour to ask you."

Vivi came dashing from the bedroom to the railing of the cabin and seemed like she had something important to say.

"I know it's rude to ask this of you just because you gave me a lift, but… my country has sunk in a deep crisis. Therefore, I want to get there as soon as possible and I won't tolerate delays!"

"Of course… we promised that… didn't we?", Nami replied.

We were silent. That wasn't really what we were hoping to hear at this point, but… let's just let her continue.

"However… our main priority right now is… to find a doctor to cure Nami's disease. After that we can head to Arabasta at full speed. Right, captain?"

Luffy, cheeringly, agreed. "Of course! Besides, this ship won't go any faster than this!"

Whew… reason and courage at the hardest of times are the qualities of a good leader. That only means we have to hurry even more! The lives of 1 million civilians and our navigator are at stake!

Only that… just like that, out of the blue… the sky starts to get dark… and right behind us…

"LOOK, GUYS! A CYCLONE!", Luffy pointed, scared out of his wits.

The thing was simply colossal! It was right in the direction we were heading! Holy frickin' cow… look the danger we just happened to avoid!

"Stunning… cyclones are next to unpredictable in the Grand Line… yet she was able to accurately spot a huge one like this…", I thought to myself while grinning in relief as the ship was sailing away from certain doom. My heart was racing… yeah… little details like these are the line between life and death.

…

Scary moment over, Nami got right back to the bed and is now receiving makeshift treatment. Vivi, Sanji and Carue are responsible for her medical care. We were tasked with keeping an eye in our surroundings. As we sailed on, the weather was getting colder and clouder… until it started snowing in the middle of the sea. I had to fetch a blanket to keep me warm for the time being.

"Hey! Guys…", Zoro screamed from the crow's nest.

Luffy asked him: "Can you see any doctors up there?"

"In the middle of the sea? Fat chance, dumbo.", Usopp said.

"Zoro, what's up?", I asked.

He: "Oi… do you think anyone can walk on the sea?"

Me: "Huh? What the heck's with that question of yours? Zoro… what are you seeing?"

He then pointed forward. "So… what's that?"

Yeah… well… I don't really know how I should put it but… either I'm seeing a mirage (?) or… is there a person standing over the sea? The three of us rubbed our eyes, but it was no stinking hallucination.

Usopp: "Guys… are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Me: "Beats me… Luffy, pinch me."

He did so. "Ow! It hurt… Ok, I'm awake, it's no dream."

"It's really cold today…"…wha! The thing spoke!

We got startled… and he as well. We then stood there… silent… until… something came emerging from underneath our ship! We were going up for a few meters before being thrown down back in the sea… that got violent, throwing us further away. I had to get a hold of myself until the waves calmed down. Ahead of us… a frickin' huuuuuuuuuge fortress!

It was then revealed to us that it was a submarine metal cover that opened itself to reveal…

Usopp: "A pirate ship! Oh crap…"…dammit… right when we have no time for this?

Me: "It's chock full of soldiers…"

"Maaaahahahahahahah! Are you surprised? This is my most advanced giant submarine vessel, the Bliking! Maaahahahahaha!"

Me: "Who's it? If you're a man, show yourself!"

"You won't need to say it twice…"…suddenly, just like that, the situation changed… for the worse. We were surrounded… out of nowhere, dozens of soldiers trapped us at gunpoint.

"Fuck… say hello to my big mouth!", I said.

"Guys, what the heck's going…", I looked behind me and I saw Sanji dashing from inside the cabin… for him only to get surrounded by soldiers pointing his guns. He then only stopped, lit a cigarette, analyzed his surroundings and asked: "Hmmm… let me guess… we're being attacked, right?"

"Yup.", Luffy replied.

However, the most unsettling thing amidst all of this…

"You're… you're pirates for real? But only five?"

…was a really fat man wearing a metal armor on his chest and a coat made of polar bear fur that appeared aboard our ship… eating a piece of meat, chomping _even the freakin' knife_ and everything else! Owowowowowowowie… my tongue…

"No matter how you look at it, five aren't enough for a pirate crew!", he said before… before, well, eating the rest of the goddamn knife!

"What the hell's wrong with this guy? He's eating a knife!", Luffy commented.

"Uhyaaa… it hurts just by looking!", Usopp stated while doing funny faces.

"Omnivore detected…", I thought to myself.

The fat man then asked: "Look, we're going to the Drum Kingdom. Don't you guys have an Eternal Pose or a Log Pose or something like that to give to me?"

Sanji: "Well… nope. We don't even know about this place you're going to."

Me: "Now, if you don't mind, can you politely leave?"

Luffy: "We're in a kinda hurry so we have no time to waste with you."

"Haaa… haste makes waste, you know? Ok, if you have no compass, then what am I gonna do? Oh, wait, I know. The only thing reasonable for me to do now is to take this ship and its treasures.", proclaimed the eat-it-all fatso. "But first and before all else… I'm still hungry, so, I'm gonna make a little snack."

Ah… alright, a little snack, it's harmless… then he's gonna le-OI!

Usopp: "WHAT THE F**K IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY?"

Luffy: "DON'T YOU DARE TO EAT OUR SHIP!"

The soldiers started their threats: "Do not interrupt our Lord Wapol's meal!" Luffy didn't give a damn and hit them both.

From then on, all hell broke loose and the shooting started.

"Haaa… can we get rid of them now? We should have done that from the start!", Draw the pencil out and let's get 'em!

"New weapon: Enpitsu Dagger!"

Finally, my new artistic masterpiece for combat purposes will have a worthy test-drive! It's go time!

"Brrrrring it!", then three guys started rushing against me. As they were unarmed, I had to kick and punch them. They were defeated quite quickly.

"You'll soon gonna know your place!" The next were armed with swords and they came rushing down trying to connect a slash. I had to sort it out and stop his sword with my dagger to then punch him straight in the gut! Right against the wall! Another one tried his luck at slashing me, but I could evade and scratch him! Then I kicked and punched those coming to fight me. In a matter of minutes, all of those who were brave enough to fight us collapsed!

"What? It's over already? No one's coming anymore?", as they wouldn't, I decided to call it a day and turn my new dagger back.

"Done! Although I wanted to have more time to test it out…"

"DAMN… YOU… GET LOST!"…I was finished just in time to see Luffy sending the fatso right to the sky with his powers! He flew so far away that we could only see a tiny light in the sky.

Alright, problem solved with a smile! When I stopped to look around me, everyone in the bigger ship were gawking! Vivi as well… Soon after, the troops didn't waste time to retreat.

"Remember what I tell you! Sooner or later, we'll get back at you!", said one of the fat man's subordinates, that one who "walked on the water".

"Wha… who the hell was that guy? 'Wapol' or something like that…", Usopp said, still puzzled with all of this.

"Who cares with the name… he's just another weirdo. Forget that.", Sanji said.

Hmmm… I have this feeling that this won't be the last we will hear of him.

…

Hours passed after that small incident that cost us part of the wood in a side of our Merry. The sun was already setting and as the night fell down, the weather was getting even colder. Therefore, 'twas time to break out my winter clothes! Long-sleeve shirt underneath my sweater and a navy blue winter blazer, paired with warm pants and shoes… and I'm ready to face the cold weather!

Vivi and Sanji, with Luffy to provide smiles, resumed the makeshift treatment to our little sick comrade. I and the others were tasked with overseeing the route. The cold night finally came so we had to stop. Without Nami's navigational guidance, sailing at night is next to impossible.

We all decided to go sleep in the women's quarters so as to not leave Nami all alone, except for Sanji who got "stuck" in the crow's nest, gazing at the full moon. I was a little insomniac, so I decided to get something to read and make me fall asleep. Amidst that, I saw the "patient" waking up slowly and breathing heavily.

"Can't sleep?", I whispered in a low voice.

She got startled but talked back: "Eek! You were awake? I… Nah… it's nothing… it's just…"

Me: "It's just…?"

She: "It's just… that your snores are loud. Though… thank you for staying with me."

Me: "Don't mention it. We'll always be at your side. Now stop trying to force yourself, lie in your bed and get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll find a doctor to cure you, ok? I'm sure of it!"

She nodded and went to sleep. Ok… the book had done its job. My eyes are already heavy and I'm sleepy, so I let myself "rest in the arms of Morpheus".

The next morning came about and… brrrrrrrr! It was pretty frickin' cold! I woke up and as I was heading out of the cabin, I stumbled across Usopp working on repairs in a side of the ship.

"Waaaaaaahh… Good morning… Ah! Usopp-kun… did you fix the damages?", I asked, still half-asleep and stretching.

He: "Yeah, I'm on that… I just can't lounge about and let them wreck my ship. I'm gonna do whatever I can."

Me: "Ok… Sanji-san! G'Morning! How's the weather up there?"

He: "Ah… no good. I let myself sleep… it's goddamn cold…"

Usopp: "We're on the Grand Line, so this crazy weather's no surprise to me anymore…"

"I think we're witnessing the opposite effect…", Vivi said while exiting the cabin.

"Good morning, Vivi-san!", I greeted her.

She greeted me back. "Hello, Dan-san."

Usopp: "Vivi, what do you mean by that?"

She: "If you haven't noticed, the climate's been stable since a few days ago. That's a sign that we may be close to an island."

"Really?", I asked.

She nodded confirming and asked: "Sanji-san… focus your sights in our horizon. We may be arriving at a winter island."

Me: "Winter island? What's that?"

She then told us that, in geographic terms, there are four types of islands: Winter islands, Autumn islands, Spring islands and Summer islands. And each of those islands has its own winter, summer, autumn and spring.

Me: "That means…"

She: "That means we have a total of 16 different seasons, from the summer in a summer island all the way to the winter in a winter island."

"Geh! All of that!", I said, surprised.

She: "Yup. And there's more to it: there are also islands whose climate doesn't fit in this scale."

Usopp: "Now I get it… that can explain why the weather between islands is so crazy."

Me: "Islands with clashing climates, by being close together, end up causing severe weather changes in the space that separates them… hmm… now it makes sense…"

She then concluded: "If the climate stabilizes, that means we're close to an island."

"Guys, I'm seeing land ahead!", Sanji confirmed! We're arriving in solid land!

"ISLAND! WE'RE ARRIVING!"…yeah, speaking of that, Luffy's super-sharp ears detected the message. He then came dashing from the cabin to his favorite seat, saw the island in the horizon…

"WAAAAHH! It's snow-white! Beautiful!"…and got dazzled by it…

Sanji tried to remind him that we're not going to an adventure. "We have to look for a doctor to cure Nami and then leave immediately, capiche?"

He didn't even care… "Snow… so cool… so white-y…"

Me: "Forget it, dude… he's not even listening. Let's just prepare ourselves for the landing."

As we got close to the island, the white was dominant in the landscape. Everything was covered in a white mantle of snow. Far away we could see the enormous mountains that looked like tree trunks… but something was still odd and kinda unsettling…

"Luffy… aren't you freezing wearing only that?", Usopp asked.

"The current temperature's around 14º F! It's a temperature in which bears hibernate!", Vivi alerted.

"Dude, please, go wear a jacket! Just seeing you with small clothing in this cold hurts like hell!", I advised.

He thought for a few seconds…

"Wah, it's freezing!", he said.

Us: "YOU'RE SLOW!"

He then rushed to the room to get appropriate clothing. Meanwhile, Usopp was concerned, as always, with our landing. Will we meet monsters? Or the… abominable snowman?

"Oh god… my 'I-can't-land-on-this-island' disease is striking again…", he, while coughing.

"Oh man, just cut it out, will you?", I said.

We were already entering the island's rivers. After finding a small waterfall that poured out water resulting from melted snow, we decided to park the ship there.

Zoro promptly asked: "Ok, guys, who's gonna search for doctors? Or should I say, for people…"

Luffy and Sanji soon voiced their availability. I also volunteered, but I think we're not gonna move an inch out of our ship…

"Freeze right there, pirate scum!"

Well, looks like this island is inhabited after all… Dozens of men were around us, all of them armed… and looking ugly…

"Oi, oi… they look all but happy to see us…", Usopp commented nervously.

One of the citizens then stepped ahead to say: "I order you to leave this island immediately."

We tried to explain ourselves. "We're only looking for a doctor…", Luffy said.

Vivi: "We have an ill person aboard."

"We're not falling for your same dirty tricks again, you stinking pirates!", another citizen shouted at us.

"Oh goodie… where did I see something like this again…", I thought to myself.

"We barely have met each other though…", Sanji complained.

"Don't talk back at me!"…one of the citizens shouted before shooting!

"You bastard…", Sanji got pissed off and wanted to beat the tar out of him… but Vivi stopped him… and got shot!

"VIVI!", Luffy screamed… "YOU… BASTARDS!"

The citizens promptly readied their weapons, we did the same… however…

"Wait, Luffy-san!"…Vivi got up again and stopped him. "Fighting them now is not the best option! I am fine… the bullet only scraped my arm…", she then kneeled before the citizens and begged: "Very well, as you wish, we will not land on your shores. But we beg of you, please call a doctor… Our comrade is suffering right now… I beg you, please!"

"Vivi…", I whispered. She sure knew her stuff…

She then turned to Luffy and scolded him: "You're a failure of a captain… Just acting recklessly at everything solves nothing! If you came to win this fight… would that do any good to Nami-san?"

Vivi… really… she's a great diplomat. Luffy then stopped to think for some moments and came to a conclusion. "I deeply apologize… I was wrong. Please, I ask you… call a doctor… to save my comrade.", he then kneeled with his head all the way down.

The citizens were all silent, trying to assess the situation, I think. After some moments, a man looking like the crowd's representative, a very large man in a green winter coat stepped forward to say: "I'll take you to the village. Follow me."

Oh, thank goodness… they understood. Sanji volunteered to carry the ill Nami on his back and all of us headed to the village in group. We walked past areas where the snow was up our knees.

During that, the man in the green coat talked to us. "I just wanna say this. Our island has only one doctor. A witch."

"Witch?", Usopp parroted.

Sanji: "Only one? How weird… Anyways, what country is this?"

The green coat man: "This… is a nameless country."

Vivi: "Nameless? Is there such a thing?"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH! A bear! Guys, play dead!"

A bear, walking just like us (!) was coming by. As soon as he saw it, Usopp laid in the ground, but the green coat man explained: "Ah, that's a hiking bear. It's harmless. It likes to be greeted in the manner of the alpinists." We kept walking but spent a moment to salute the "fellow" bear alpinist, that greeted us back. Well, as for Usopp…

"Um… Usopp-kun…"

No go. Still lying down.

"It's gone already. Stand up and let's go.", I pulled him and we walked to the group again.

We walked for quite a while after that… until we arrived at Bighorn, this country's main village, it seems. People were walking around its white streets, some of them walking their animals. Goats, sheep, bison… all part of a rudimentary but civilized environment.

"Guys, thank you for the company.", we could listen the man talking to the other citizens.

One of them asked him: "Don't you need our help with those pirates, Dalton-san?"

He: "I think they won't cause harm. It's my intuition by experience… believe me."

Hmmm… looks like this man has influence among the people… and he seems like a good leader…

The citizens trusted us to him and left.

"Luffy! Look, another hiking bear!", I heard Usopp's warning.

I then saw him together with Luffy bowing to… a large lady coming by… I just giggled with their little screw-up.

Later, the man… uh… whose name I can't quite recall right now, invited us to stay at his house for the time being. We accepted his invitation, and as soon as we got there, we laid Nami in the bed, covering her with a sheet. He then formally introduced himself.

"Sorry for the lateness. My name is Dalton and I'm the Captain of the Guard in this island. I apologize for our hostile reception."

"Ah… don't worry 'bout it… we're already getting used to… more unwelcome… receptions.", don't tell that to me…

"Lady…", he then stared at Vivi. "Just one question… have we met each other before?"

She tried to wave it off and changed subject. "Ah… n-no… I think you're mistaking me with someone else… But, anyway, can you please tell us more about this doctor called a 'witch'… Our comrade's fever is worsening… it's already in 107º F!"

"What? 107 degrees?", Sir Dalton reacted, surprised.

"It's been like this since three days ago…", Vivi said.

"If it goes up just a little more, it's gonna be the end!", Dalton alerted.

"It's true, but we don't know the cause of her disease nor how to treat it…", Vivi lamented.

Dalton then pointed outside the window: "Can you see those mountains far away?"

"Yeah, those huge-ass moun-", Sanji was saying but stopped as he got startled when he saw a face outside…

"Behold my Mr. Snowman!"

"Shiroraaaaa! The white dragon!"

"I'm gonna kick you both!", Sanji got fed up, left to wreck their snowmen and bring them inside. After this minor interruption, Dalton explained:

"In the top of the highest mountain, there's a castle… without a king."

We searched until finding something looking like a palace in the top of the mountain.

"Wah… I can barely see it…", I said.

Dalton continued: "The doctor and so-called 'witch', her name is Doctor Kureha, and she lives there."

Sanji: "What? Of all the places, why there!"

Me: "By any chance does she have any sort of emergency hotline?"

Dalton said: "No. We have no means of contacting her."

Sanji, annoyed: "What kind of doctor is she?"

Dalton then explained that her medical prowess is unquestionable… but she has her eccentricities.

"She's a 140-odd-year-old lady."

Vivi: "Eeeh?"

Me: "Hundred n'… forty? How can a person live this long?"

Dalton: "Says the legend that she likes very sour plum."

Ok… I heard that sour plum can prolong your life, but that's just scandalous!

Vivi: "What happens to the sick and wounded?"

Dalton said: "This doctor comes on her own. She roams the town, searches for patients, treats them and then grabs anything she wants from them as payment."

Usopp, while drinking hot tea: "Hmmm… looks like some mean oldie!"

Me: "How does she get down the mountain?"

"It's only hearsay but… it's said that she flies through the sky in a sled. That's why they call her a witch. It's said that a creature never seen before follows her as well…", Dalton explained.

Usopp jumped in fear: "I knew it! I knew something like that would be here!"

Dalton continued: "She's the only doctor here, but she doesn't want nothing with us. We can only wait for the next time she comes down the mountain."

Vivi: "Oh dear…"

"It means she can take days as she can take years to come down again!", I complained.

Sanji: "We can't just lay and wait…"

"Oi… Oi, Nami, are you listening?", we turned to see Luffy slapping lightly her face… what the…?

Us: "What are you doing?"

Me: "Luffy! Don't wake her like this!"

She woke up. He then told her: "Look, if we don't climb the mountain, no doctor to you. So, we're going up."

What? Up? Up as in climb?

"You mean… you wanna climb that… gulp… huge-ass mountain?", I swallowed as I was asking.

"You're nuts! Are you trying to get Nami to do that!", Sanji reacted really fast. He wouldn't let his lady risk herself in her state… understandably.

"I can do it!", Luffy said.

Vivi warned him: "Maybe so, but that's gonna be tough to Nami-san!"

"If we fall down, we won't go past the snow for sure!", Luffy continued.

Sanji: "Fool! Any healthy man would die anyway!"

"But, guys, if we look closely at what we have… maybe this is our only hope…", I said.

"Dan-san, that's still too risky! Nami-san's body may not resist.", Vivi alerted.

"I know… it's gonna depend on her spirit.", I said.

"I gotta… I gotta get better… soon… for Vivi's sake…", Nami tried to talk even breathing hard. "It's up to you… captain…", she then raised her hand.

He smiled broadly, high-fived and said: "Leave it to me!"

This sealed a contract of trust between the captain and the navigator before the tough mission that is climbing the mountain. Please Luffy… don't let Nami die!

* * *

**Luffy and Nami agreed to head on a very risky mission that, if successful, may pay off with a chance for them to see the mysterious doctor and "witch". The climb itself may be dangerous, but the road to there promises unwelcome surprises!**

**Let's see what will happen on the next chapter! Don't miss it!  
**


	56. Up the mountain we go! Zoinks!

**Chapter 56**

**"Through the snow… and the mountains! For the sake of our friend!"

* * *

**

Oh boy… here we are going to risk our lives yet again… Now in a… in a… uh, the thought of that thing is enough to shake me big time!

"Haaa… both the captain and the navigator lost their marbles…", Usopp lamented.

"I… I don't believe it… you really are willing to climb that… gulp… huge-ass mountain?", I stuttered, but asked while trembling in nervousness.

Luffy replied flatly: "Yup. Didn't you tell us that this was our only choice after all?"

Me: "Yeah, I did… but…"

"Yosh… I'm going too.", Sanji firmly declared.

"Eeeeh! You too?", I asked, scared out of my wits.

He: "I deeply admire Nami-san's courage, but her condition requires utmost attention, so I'm going!"

They're about to set off to a very dangerous mission. I gulped… I felt my body shaking more than ever before, but I wanna help too!

"Y… y-y-y-yosh! I… I-I-I… I wanna go too!", my voice was shaky, but I could spit it out.

Usopp: "O-oi! Dan! You can't be serious!"

Me: "O-o-of course I am! Very serious!"

Sanji: "You don't have to. Besides, you're scared?"

"Of course I am scared! I'm scared out of my wits! When you're talking about things related to heights, I almost piss my pants in terror!", well, I can't help but admit it. "However… if it has to be done, especially to save a friend of ours, it simply has to be done! Therefore, I… I'm tagging along!", I tried to gather all fragments of determination I could and completed my thoughts.

"Dan-san…", I could hear Vivi whispering.

Usopp: "Well, and I am the scaredy cat, huh…"

"I HEARD THAT ONE!", I snapped at him.

Sanji then stopped to think for a few seconds before deciding: "Ok, you can come with us. But remember a little thing: you're coming to help, not hinder. See if you can watch your own back. We don't know how long it'll take until we get to the mountain, even before the climb. Are you ready?"

I tried to calm down and smiling sheepishly, I stated: "Let's do it! Besides… You watch your back too. Never know what's gonna happen, after all…"

I did a thumbs-up. He smiled back.

Minutes later, we packed all the stuff we needed on our bags. Finally, we're ready for the dash off to the mountain.

Dalton gave us some warnings beforehand, especially about giant and wild rabbits called Lapahn that live near the mountain. They're feral and very territorial… they attack everyone and everything.

Dammit… I can't even think about bumping into one of those…

"Ok, guys, here we go! Before Nami kicks the bucket!", Luffy said while dashing off.

"If you're gonna say unlucky things then shut your trap!", Sanji yelled at him.

"Oi, oi! Nice start, huh? Throwing curses like this…", I said.

There were we dashing through the white landscape… and with high attention because of the constant threat of Lapahn…

I have nothing against rabbits or animals in general… as long as they don't try to kill me…

As we advanced through the woods, the wind kept getting stronger and chillier. While we were running, Sanji couldn't help but notice something very unsettling for our eyes…

"Hey, Luffy… why the hell didn't you put pants on?", he said.

Now that I noticed it… it kinda hurt. "Now that you mention it… dude, just seeing you like this hurts like hell!"

He stated this: "I don't see anything wrong… it's my police."

Sanji: "Doofus. You don't say 'police'. It's 'policy'."

Me: "Policy or not, you can't walk on bare feet in a cold like this!"

"I'm not really bothered by that…" Luffy then, trying to have a pep talk, said: "Look, did you know? The people living in the snow don't sleep!"

Sanji: "Huh? Really?"

Me: "Why?"

"Because if they fall asleep, they die.", he said.

"Sounds like a lot of bull to me.", I retorted.

"Don't be silly! No one can do that!", Sanji said.

"So, under that logic, tell me why is it that in Dalton-san's house there was a bed?", I asked.

While we talked to each other, I couldn't stop hearing strange noises…

"It's for when he dies.", Luffy said.

In this moment, I heard the sound of a tree being… forcefully… uprooted… hey…

Well, surprise, surprise… there was a huge-ass tree falling down right ahead of us. I was glad because the tree fell in the right timing for us to jump over it.

"Then… hear this one: The women of snowy countries have smoother skin.", Sanji commented.

"Yeah? Why?", Luffy got intrigued and asked.

Sanji then explained: "Did you know? When it gets cold, people rub their skins more often. That's how they get their skin to be more smooth and white. That's how it goes."

"Huh? Yet another pile of bolo-", I was skeptical… but I paused myself when I heard a roar coming from the trees ahead…

I got a sudden feeling of dread…

We stopped to look at our surroundings.

"Guys… changing subject now: since a little while ago, I keep hearing strange noises…", I said with a little shake on my voice.

Luffy parroted. "Noises?"

Sanji then warned. "Guys! Look out!"

We barely turned around just to stumble onto something white and wild jumping right at us!

"Ah, you damn rabbit!"

Sanji soon acted, kicking and scaring the wild animal away. I admit I got startled, being caught off guard and all that.

"What the hell was that…", I wondered.

"I don't know… We have no time for that now. Let's go on!", Sanji ordered.

We then dashed off again until we arrived in a region where the snow was deeper. Nice… our pace just got slower now… the snow's already feet-deep…

Sanji scolded Luffy for too much bounce-stepping. "Oi, run more delicately! This way Nami-san won't resist!"

I could only pray. "Nami… please, hold on for a little more… we're close now!"

I had to pause my mental prayers because… well, let's just say that when I looked ahead, I immediately regretted it.

"Guys… we're screwed…", I said while feeling my stomach fill up with dread.

"Just what the… hell… are they?", Sanji asked to the wind.

"Polar… bears?", Luffy asked intriguingly.

Me: "Well, they're giant, have white fur… but I don't think they're… wait! They're the…"

Giant creatures sporting white fur, check… red mean eyes, check… angry and ready to tear us apart at our slightest misstep… CHECK!

"THEY'RE COMING RIGHT AT US!", I want my mommy!

I had no time to think about anything else because one of them jumped the whole distance keeping us apart and threw a powerful swipe at us. Luckily, I evaded it on time… to see that the force of the impact could have shredded me in one slash! The beast's paws shook the snow big time!

"Holy freakin' claws! They're the Lapahn Dalton-san told us about!", I said while recovering from the shock.

I heard Sanji say: "Lapahn! But… how can these things move like this? Just like gorillas!"

Luffy corrected him: "But they're polar bears, right?"

"They're rabbits, for crying out loud!", I snapped at both.

Ahead of us there were like, give or take, twenty giant and angry rabbits coming out of the trees with their sights set on the prey: us. Now what?

"We're royally screwed now!", I said while letting the terror turn and twist my tummy around… I was more nervous than ever!

"Oi, how do we do to fight them?", Luffy asked.

Sanji then replied: "Simple: we don't.", he then stared at Luffy: "Or, to be more precise, you don't."

Luffy got surprised and reacted: "Eeeh? Why?"

"Because Nami will feel the aftershock of whatever you come to do. If it goes on, she won't be able to hold out…", Sanji, worriedly, gave the warning.

Just as he finished it, the Lapahn charged!

"Ok, I won't fight then… but what do I do instead?", Luffy asked while evading a swipe.

Sanji told him while taking care of his part: "Evade, evade, evade and run! If you take a single hit, Nami's gonna weaken and die! Leave the rabbits with me and Dan!"

"Just like we did when we left… the giants' island, here's the idea… go ahead, no matter what happens! For the sake of Nami!", I said, pausing when I noticed rabbits taking a chance to swipe me.

"Oh, man! Easier said than done!", Luffy screamed.

I got distracted and then I noticed a rabbit coming my way!

"Flanchet Shoot!"

Sanji came in the nick of time and saved me.

"Don't space out! If you distract yourself, you're dead meat!", Sanji alerted me.

"O… oh… thank you! Let's go!", I focused again.

"With all this snow, I can't kick quite well…", I heard Sanji commenting.

I had to keep an eye on the rabbits… because they came jumping in our direction, all at once!

"I guess this is international code for… RUN!", I screamed then in the following moment, we started dashing away.

"Let's head to the forest!", Sanji shouted.

I could still hear the Lapahn coming after us through the trees… shit!

Sanji: "We have to lose them! If we fight, we won't knock all of them out 'til night!"

One of the Lapahn took the chance to swipe Luffy and he tried to fight back!

"No, Luffy, don't do it!", I quickly stood in the way, grabbed Luffy's leg and opened the way for Sanji to kick our attacker far away.

"Idiot! I told you not to attack?", Sanji yelled at him. Luffy quickly apologized.

The giant rabbits were still after our flesh, but Luffy found a hill we could climb.

"Go ahead, you two! I'll cover it!", Sanji stayed behind.

I had to take care of the rabbits coming from the front. I couldn't let Luffy attack. While he evaded swipes, I kicked them out of our way. In that, we used the belly of one of them to jump and get to the hill. Sanji jumped right after us.

We looked down and there were the Lapahn… they should be upset since they can't get to us… that is, if they didn't have springs instead of legs and jumped all the way up!

Luffy: "THEY'RE AFTER US AGAIN!"

Oh, thank you, Captain Obvious…

"TIME TO RUN FOR OUR LIVES!", I shouted.

We then started running to save our tiny asses again. We ran for quite a while, slowing down when noticing that the roars of the rabbits were getting weaker.

"We lost them?", I asked.

"Not really… over there."…well, this was not the answer I wanted to hear!

At the top of a hill, there were a rather large group of rabbits, standing still and staring at us. We stared each other for some moments and noticed they weren't coming down.

"Now what? Got tired of chasing us already?", Luffy asked.

Right after that, the rabbits started hopping. Up and down… up and down…

"Aaaand now? What are they doing?", I asked.

"Are they irritated because they can't reach us?", Luffy tried to deduce.

"No… wait a second…", Sanji warned.

The rabbits were still jumping… we soon started to feel the ground shaking… certainly not a good sign…

"Goddamn shit… stupid rabbits…", I heard Sanji muttering.

"Sanji-san, what's wrong?", I asked.

"Start running… NOW!", he shouted.

"Ru-running? T-to where?", Luffy, stuttering, asked.

"TO WHERE YOU CAN! AN AVALANCHE'S COMING!"

Avalanche? Damn those f**king rabbits!

The snow started racing down the hill, dragging everything standing in its way… we then had to dash to save our asses… yet again!

"SANJI! DAN! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?", Luffy shouted.

"LIKE I KNOW! OUR TOP PRIORITY IS TO PROTECT NAMI-SAN!", Sanji shouted back.

"HOW CAN WE DO THAT IF WE CAN'T SAVE EVEN OUR OWN HINEYS?", I shouted.

Sanji then made a 'well, good point…' face for a few seconds, looking left and right, until an idea finally dawned on his head: "That cliff! We gotta jump to somewhere higher!"

Sharp turn right… and start sprinting hard! After running like never before, we screamed our lungs out while jumping to the saving cliff!

I took a few deep breaths and enjoyed the little of rest we could have… but all that is good won't last long, my grandma always told me…

"Oh shit… WE'RE NOT HIGH ENOUGH!", I heard Sanji screaming…

Just like that, a second wave of snow came racing down to where we stood and threw us outta the cliff.

Stupid avalanche… stupid rabbits… stupid snow… stupid cold! I can't believe I chose to tag along and go through this hell!

Curses and swearing put aside, it sure wasn't comfortable to see Sanji hitting the snow and being dragged off… and it was much less comfy to actually hit the snow and be dragged by it!

Dammit… we have the worst of luck…

"Sanji! Keep close to me!"

I tried to put myself in a position to stop Sanji as soon as I saw him go past me. Now we were drowning close to each other and as we were dragged, we still tried to get something to hold onto.

"DAN, SANJI, GRAB MY HAND QUICK!", I heard Luffy screaming. We could see him riding a tree nearby.

We saw his hand whizzing towards us. Sanji had quicker reactions, he grabbed me with one hand, grabbed Luffy's hand with his other so we got dragged out of the snow and to the tree which Luffy was riding.

"Ok, now what?", I asked.

"Now… we're not drowning under the snow… BUT WE'RE COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!", Luffy screamed.

"EEEHHH? We took hours to get here!", Sanji complained.

"Fan-tucking-fastic… how are we supposed to stop?", I asked to the heavens.

I could still hear Sanji's cursing. "Goddamn those stupid rabbits… next time I see one of those I'll cook it in a pan right away!"

Speaking of the devil… as I was looking around me, I noticed they were already surrounding us, surfing the avalanche!

"YOU JUST HAD TO SAY THAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaattt…", I yelled at Sanji…

You know those times where you speak ill of somebody… and the moment after he's right behind you? Yeah… kinda annoying, isn't it?

Well, in our case, they're giant murderous rabbits… surfing down an avalanche… and ready to shred us!

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THOSE THINGS?", Luffy screamed as he evaded a swipe…

I found myself evading swipes and bites, and ended up taking a scratch on my back… the mere speed with which the swipe slashed tore my coat and hurt a lot…

"AAhhh!"

"WE'RE GONNA CRASH!", sooner than I thought, the scratch wasn't that important…

I was snow-white (no pun intended) when I saw a cliff with wood scraps carved in it right ahead of us… yeah… we have the worst of luck…

"If you hit that cliff, Nami-san's gonna feel the impact as well!"…I heard Sanji screaming.

We're gonna crash in a cliff… the rabbits are attacking from everywhere… we're surrounded with no way out…

"Drastic times require drastic measures…", I heard Sanji mutter… while tossing Luffy off the tree!

"Sanji, what the he-", I was cut when I was also tossed out…

"Please… treat Nami… well!"

He said, grinning… before crashing against the cliff and being thrown away…

"SANJI-SAN! YOU IDIOT!", I screamed with all the air on my lungs but was soon cut out when I crashed with the ground and bumped in the wood carved on the rock, taking snow on my back… and that made my wound sting more than ever.

I then saw Luffy in midair extending his hand and grabbing the wood as well. As soon as he was done, he turned around and looked at the drowning Sanji.

"WHY DID YOU GO… AND DO THAT!", he shouted and stretched his other hand to save him.

"Oooh nooo! SANJI!", he screamed and gawked as he realized he had saved only a glove!

Sanji sacrificed himself for our sake… and he's drowned under the snow!

When the avalanche finally died down, our top priority was to find Sanji.

I stood up and came sliding down while Luffy regained his composure and laid Nami on the snow.

"Luffy… I'm gonna find Sanji. You stay here with Nami, get it?", I said, firmly.

He: "Oh my god, your back! What a scratch!"

Me: "I know… it hurts… but I can't stay still here! Back in 5!"

He was worried about me, but I don't wanna be dead weight! Besides, the worst's still to come!

I practically had to dive in the snow, looking left and right in the hopes of a signal. Until I finally saw a hand sticking out of the snow, I then sped up my pace to get where he was.

"Sanji-san… Sanji-san… please, be alive!", I chanted while hurrying and digging him outta the snow. When I unearthed his whole body, I immediately checked his pulse and sighed in relief as it was still beating. He must've been knocked out by the force of the avalanche…

Carefully, I stood him and slung him over my back. While I was walking back to where Luffy was, I drew a piece of cloth.

"Luffy, please help me out here. Wrap this cloth around my belly and tie it, would ya?", the first thing I asked when I was back at the cliff.

He was still confused, but could do so.

"Sanji-san's kinda unconscious, but he's fine.", I quickly tried to calm Luffy down. "The force of the avalanche must've knocked him out, but… uh… Luffy?"

I interrupted when I noticed that…

"Where's your jacket again?"…his arms were exposed and he was dressed as always.

"Oh…", he turned and pointed to Nami, wearing his jacket as a blanket along with his hat. "I think she needs it more than me…"

"Sorry for taking too long…", I apologized.

He didn't mind, put Nami on his back and stood up. "We have no time to waste. Let's go!"

Me: "Ok."

We then walked through the snow in silence, until hearing some crying. Specifically, a baby animal's crying.

As we walked, we approached a Lapahn baby alongside a paw… and it was roaring at us as we got close.

"Dan.", Luffy muttered. I stared at him, he stared me back, and then we looked at the situation. We agreed silently…

…and grabbed the paw, with the baby ducking in fear. We then pulled the adult Lapahn out of the snow. The baby then smiled and cried in joy.

We then left on our way.

"Hey, Dan… how's your wound?", Luffy asked.

Once in a while, I let out yelps of pain but I tried to wave it off: "Don't worry. Nothing serious."

I could hear him muttering. "Sanji… Nami…don't die, please!"

"You're the last one I can hear that from… going unprotected in such a freezer…", I told him.

"Your back's bleeding, man!", he retorted.

"I told you, it's nothing seri-ow!", as I was saying that, the wound stung me again.

"THERE ARE THEY! LET'S KILL THEM!"…this shouting cut our talk out.

We turned our sights back to see a white furred hippo dashing in our direction. When it got close, it stopped right in front of us… bringing a rather… known… character.

Luffy: "Who are you?"

Me: "Wapol and his henchmen… do you remember, they tried to raid our ship!"

"Ah…", Luffy then recalled.

"You've disrespected me more than once… Now you'll pay for it!", Wapol stated.

"Please move.", Luffy flatly asked.

Wapol denied. "Why should I? You're idiots… and it looks like the people you carry on your backs are kinda… dead?"

"Dan. Let's go.", Luffy said and started walking. I nodded and followed him.

"Who ignores the king must be killed on the spot! Starting with the sick and fainted!"…damn you!

Just as we turn around, we notice the fat man's mooks coming right at us!

"I'll take care of the sick girl!"

"I'll get the fainted one!"

Assholes… just because we're with weak people on our backs and can't attack! Grrrr…

"BIKKURI MARIMO!"

I had to evade and do nothing else. Luffy did the same between clenched teeth… and with arrows raining down on him…

Me: "Let's run far away!"

He: "Grrrr… you're gonna pay for that! Don't follow us!"

While we ran away, I couldn't stop looking behind…

"Luffy, when I say 'jump', you jump, ok?", I oriented.

"Huh?", he said.

As soon as I saw arrows coming at us…

"JUMP!"

We jumped our highest, letting the arrows pass underneath.

Back to dashing off, until we noticed we were alone… but not for long!

"Ah… did they give up?", Luffy whispered.

"I guess…", I got startled when I saw a 'cave'… with teeth! "…NOOOOOT!"…that tried to bite us!

We jumped again, looked above… and stared at Wapol's mooks ready to strike! Dammit, an ambush!

"STOP IT!", Luffy screamed face-to-face with imminent doom, but…

Two grown Lapahn came out of nowhere and knocked them out!

The fact that one of them had a scar in his face… and was together with his offspring… made me recall something.

"Ah! This is the Lapahn we saved a while ago!", I deduced.

"Yeah!"…Luffy remembered and thanked. "We owe you one! Dan, let's run!"

"Ok!", I nodded. Yeah… the rabbits returned the favor… by protecting us! Nice!

We arrived at a region where the snow was knee-deep… and the wind was devastating. Might be a signal! We kept walking… until we finally arrived.

At long last… the giant rock. A huge wall of rock right in front of us. We couldn't even see the top of the thing…

"At the top of this mountain… there'll be the doctor who'll save Nami!", I heard Luffy muttering.

Me: "Luffy… the time has come. Don't care about me. Just take Nami to the top."

"You idiot… everything will be for naught if I let even one of you die. You ready?", Luffy asked.

Ok… this is the moment of truth. All we did until now culminates on this climb. I gotta think about nothing until we're up there. Throw away my fear of heights! This is for the sake of our comrade!

I took a few deep breaths, tied the rope its tightest and readjusted Sanji as I could… to dig my fingers in the rock and start climbing.

"I can do it… I can do it… I will do it!"…key point: repeat a mantra and think of nothing else! Anyone in my place wouldn't give up! Luffy won't give up!

I have to keep my will strong! I have to get to the top! For the sake of Nami!

Oh… no… the rope's loosening… I can't stop… I can't let go… hold on, Sanji!

I dig my fingers to… oh, god… the rock broke! I lost my momentum… and started falling… at this time the rope loosened for good… oh no! SANJI'S GONNA DIE! I'M GONNA DIE!

…

"SAANJJIIIIII! DAAAANNN!"

I saw Luffy's head stretching out… he reached and bit my jacket… at the last second, I extended my hand and stopped Sanji from falling!

He then put me back on the rock so I could climb again.

"Ok… stop. Breathe. You can do it. YOU CAN DO IT!", I talked to myself.

I then used all my might to pull Sanji and hold him with my teeth.

I then exhaled and started climbing again.

Climb… climb… climb! Don't look down… don't look down… don't look down!

Climb… climb… climb! Don't look down… don't look down… DON'T LOOK DOWN!

I paused my mental chanting when I heard a screech of pain and saw Luffy skidding! His fingers bathed in blood… aaaaarrrghhh…

I wanted to scream but I couldn't! SANJI'S COUNTING ON ME!

I HAVE TO CLIMB!

Luffy could hold himself and get back again. That was relieving.

Hours later… with our bodies far beyond the limit of our strength… the coldest wind I've ever faced in my life… at last… WE'RE AT THE TOP!

I was way beyond exhausted… my teeth hurt… my whole body hurt… I laid Sanji in a safe spot… then I kneeled to see the blur I think it's the castle…

"Haa… haa… haa… we've arrived…", I whispered, panting hard… and I fainted.

From then on, I heard a crumbling noise… and my body started falling down… oh no… WE'RE FALLING! NOOOOO!

Luckily… I felt a saving hand grab me in the nick of time. I felt like being carried by somebody… and the last thing I remember of saying… before everything blacked out was… "Thank you."

* * *

**Brave warriors... saved at the last second by a unknown creature, will now have the medic treatment they need after this truly grueling climb.**

**Who is this Doctor Kureha? What is the secret of her long life? Who's the creature that follows her? Mysteries and lots of questions...**

**Check out the next chapter! I'm waiting for you!  
**


	57. Are you happy, little punks?

**Chapter 57**

**"Meet Doctor Kureha and her blue-nosed reindeer!"

* * *

**

My whole body was under intense pain… My muscles, my bones, my everything were hurting excruciatingly…

Ok, note to self: Never volunteer to climb a mountainous wall without proper equipment again!

"Ow, ow… ouch… huh? Where… am I?"

The first and most important thing I realized when I opened my eyes: _I didn't die_. As for the rest, in a quick glance: I rested in a bed in a room under a ceiling with small ice shards encrusted on it.

"Hmmm? Is it… the witch's castle?"

Slowly, I got up. I rubbed the sleep off my eyes, noticed my shirt was unbuttoned and my belly and members were bandaged.

Soon after, I looked around me. I was sitting on a hospital-type bed, in a quite cold room with poor natural illumination. It's this cold and where are my clothes? I look left and right to find them resting in a sofa on a corner of the room… also, there were two other beds. Sanji and Luffy were still fast asleep. Luffy's snores were so loud at times, like always. He was bandaged from the neck down. Sanji was sleeping more quietly, he also was bandaged on his exposed chest.

"Hmmm… Sanji-san… Don't forget to thank me for carrying you when it's all over, ok?", I whispered while smiling.

In a shelf, there was a pack of tools. Under further inspection, I noticed they were medical utensils. Hmmm… who was the unlucky of us that had to go through an op? Well, that doesn't matter right now.

Because of my wound, at my slightest movement, I could feel the sting, but I also noticed that due to the bandages, the bleeding stopped. I wasn't alone in the room, but since my comrades were sleeping, I slowly stood up in order not to disturb their nap.

Lots and lots of questions filled my head now. But the important thing right now: I'm on bare feet and it's frickin' freezing! I started by buttoning my shirt back, putting my sweater over it and also putting shoes on. I then walked off from the room to go around the castle.

Through all of that, I couldn't stop thinking: Thank goodness I was able to make it to the top… without dying.

Well, let's wipe off that thought for now.

As I walked through the castle, I couldn't help but be in awe with its greatness. Huuuuuuuuge! The place I was standing at appeared to be the central dome. It had several floors and a central pillar with a really long staircase. From where I stood I could see the main entrance. The gate was always open, it seems, so that could serve to explain why the castle was covered in snow. That and the really cold breeze coming from outside.

"Brrr… it's freezing…"

I wasn't gonna stand feeling the breeze all the time, so I had to move.

"Wow… whoever ordered the construction of this castle certainly needed some ego management lessons…", I let the comment slide.

I kept walking slowly until I noticed a strange animal coming my way… and walking on its feet! I then stopped in surprise.

The animal also stopped in my front, but as soon as it noticed I was standing there, it got startled, dropped whatever it was carrying and ran desperately to hide behind a wall… on the wrong side.

"Hmm… hey, you…"

It's a kind of reindeer. It's short, sporting a blue nose and brown fur. It used a pink hat the size of its head, with an X symbol imprinted on it.

"Oh, you're so cute and cuddly… come here, come here! I won't hurt you, I promise.", I tried to baby-talk it, but I noticed the creature kept walking away.

"DON'T COME CLOSE, STINKY HUMAN!"…oh!

"Aahh! You can talk?", I got startled.

The reindeer got even more scared, almost tripped over, but managed to start running away.

"Hey, wait! Come on! I just wanna talk with you!", I then dashed off on chase.

I chased the reindeer for quite a while, but it just wouldn't stop. Since I barely woke up, I was already getting tired of running around, so I stopped and let the reindeer escape for the time being.

Back to the walk. I walked through a room that looked more like a weapons room, although, as I could notice, it was transformed in a kind of makeshift hospital. Another pile of scientific utensils and a variety of encyclopedias, authentic door-stoppers, I might add, shared the place with weapon shelves and trophies. Also, another bed.

Lying on it was none other than our sick…

"Nami-chan!", happily, I came close to her bed.

She was covered under her sheet, neck to toe, also with an ice pack on her forehead.

I then ducked and leaned on the tip of her bed, smiling and staring as she slowly woke up.

"D… Dan-kun… what are you doing here?", she, slowly, turned her head to look at me.

"Aaah… Nami-chan… sorry if I woke you up… I got lost trying to find my way in this castle and ended here by chance. But, putting that aside… are you feeling better?", I asked.

She slowly got up to sit and replied: "Hmm… lemme see…", she then put a hand on her forehead and checked it out. "Ah, yup… the fever's gone down already… I feel better now."

I sighed in relief and smiled.

"We've made it on time, huh…", I said, broadly smiling.

"Thank you… for carrying me up here.", she said, smiling back at me.

"Don't mention it. I'm not the one you're supposed to thank now. Besides, you have to give credit to yourself for having resisted so bravely through this journey. It was far from easy to all of us and surely it was even worse for you too.", I said.

She only nodded agreeing.

"You're right…", she said.

"Also… oh…", I wanted to continue, but I stopped…

Because, while we were talking, I couldn't stop looking at her face and staring at her cheeks, turned pink because of the fever… also, she looked especially cute!

I tried to regain composure, but I couldn't stop giggling… I had to cover my face to keep her from seeing my blush…

"Oi… Dan-kun? Anything wrong? Why are you giggling?", she asked.

"Ah? I… no, it's nothing, really! It's that…", I wanted to sketch a response but I was so embarrassed…

"AAAAAHHH!"

I stopped when I heard an eerie scream coming our way. I looked behind me to see the blue-nosed reindeer, scared out of its wits when it saw we were already awake. It stopped behind a wall, trying to hide…

Nami: "Look… you're hiding on the wrong side."

The reindeer then tensed for a moment and promptly corrected his position.

"Um… you're late now. We're still seeing you.", she said.

"You can come out, ok? We're not gonna bite you or stuff like that. Besides… who are you?", I asked, smiling.

"SHUT UP, YOU! By the way… did you fever go down already?", the reindeer asked, staring at Nami.

"YOU TALKED?", Nami got startled and screamed.

The reindeer was startled by Nami's scream, lost its balance and stepped back. It crashed on the thing(s) standing beyond the entrance. Judging by the crashing noises and billowing dust coming out, the place was entirely messed up.

"Be quiet, Chopper!"…hm?

"Who's there?", I asked.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the silhouette coming out of the shadows revealed itself. It was an old, although physically fit woman, wearing sunglasses, holding a bottle of beer and wearing clothes… I'd say rather inappropriate for the weather.

She then giggled for a bit before turning her eyes to Nami. "Looks like your fever's already down, eh, little girl? You happy?"

Nami had no idea of what to do at that point. The old lady then stood closer and put a finger on Nami's forehead. Then, after a sip on her bottle, she stated: "100.8º F, huh? It's more like it."

Haah? With no thermometer or something, she just comes in and gives a measurement that precise? You gotta be kidding me… unless she's…

She then saw me sitting and gave me a stern glare. "Hey, brat, what the hell are you doing out of the infirmary?", she asked me in a scarily serious tone.

I stuttered, but in the end, answered: "Ah… well, I… I… I-I-I didn't have any idea of where I was so… I wanted to know where Nami was and… well…"

"Oh well… I don't really care.", she then pulled her glasses and asked: "You happy, brats?"

Me: "I suppose you're…"

She then formally introduced herself. "I'm a doctor. Doctor Kureha's the name, but I want you to call me Doctorine, ok?"

She's the witch! We've finally found the so called witch! Well… as a matter of fact, she does look and act like a witch…

"How I stay so young, you ask?"

"No, we didn't ask that…", we replied. Nami went straight to the subject. "Well, there were other two boys with us, where are they now?"

I replied ahead: "They're on the room sleeping like angels… I left the room a while ago and got lost trying to find you."

Nami sighed in relief. "Oh, that's nice."

Doctor Kureha then sat on the bed and pulled Nami's pajama shirt. I covered my eyes thinking the doctor was going to take off her clothes, but, on a second glance, I saw that she only exposed Nami's belly. She had severe bruises scattered around her stomach.

"That's the cause of your illness. You've been bit by the Keschia fly. It's an infectious species of tick that lives in humid tropical forests. The infection starts as soon as the bacteria leaves its chelicera when it bites. That's followed by five days of hell to the host body. Symptoms include over 104 degree fevers, general infection, cardiac arrhythmia, brain and artery inflammations."

I was shocked. "Wow… that sounds pretty serious…"

Dr. Kureha: "Serious doesn't cut it, boy… looking to this wound, I guess it was already the third day. If you let two more days go by, things would be a lot easier…"

Nami: "Well… why?"

"Because you'd be dead meat."…WHAAAT!

Those words made my heart race like never before.

"You mean… in five days, she'd be dead?", I asked incredulously.

The doctor then went on to say: "Nickname: Five-day disease. I heard in the past that this disease had been exterminated like a hundred years ago… you're damn lucky I still remember how to make the proper antidote. Where the hell did you come from? That's just a wild guess, but I don't expect you to have been lounging around the pre-historic islands with your bellies exposed. Only a complete idiot would do that."

That's too specific for a wild guess… and she hit right in the bulls-eye.

"Ah…", Nami muttered.

Doctorine heard it and said: "Does that ring a bell? I can't believe it… you only surprise me, little lady…"

She then shoved Nami back on her bed and recommended: "Lay there and sleep because my treatment isn't over yet. Once it starts, the patient takes ten days to recover. That's also counting with a three-day mandatory. Of course, you can always choose to suffer with pain again and die anyway, eh?"

Nami shot up from the bed as she heard that: "Th-three days? That's too much! We're in a hur-"

Doctorine then lost it, whipped off her scalpel and threatened: "You're only getting out of my treatment in one of two occasions: either you're totally cured or dead. Take it or leave it."

I only got more scared when she turned her glare to me, caught me by the ear and dragged me off on the cold floor. "That also goes for your little friends! Now, back to your bed!"

"O-oi, wait! I…"

The doctor then dropped me, making me hit my head on the floor when she heard screaming and one of the doors suddenly burst open.

"Ow, ow, ow…"…I then sat down, putting a hand over my head. "What was that for?"

From it came running the blue-nosed reindeer, dashing through the room… with Luffy and Sanji attached to its horns. They were running amok from here to there, tugged to each other all the time.

"Luffy? Sanji-san? You're awake already?", I asked.

They then stopped on their tracks and stood in front of Nami's bed. I stood back up and went to them.

"Nami! Dan!", Luffy, happy to meet us again.

Sanji didn't even spare a glance to me, as he was more than happy since his angel was steadily recovering. "Nami-san! I'm really glad you're feeling better! Don't worry because I will fix you a special lunch with venison meat to help you get well!"

"Geh… venison? You're not talking about…", I said, predicting the worse.

Meanwhile, I couldn't help but notice the poor little reindeer trying to escape unnoticed… and failing miserably.

"WAAAAAAIITTT!", the animal then quickly dashed off, with the two loonies hot on its tail.

"Oh, how surprising… they're running around already?", Doctor, surprised.

"A little question… who's that stuffed talking reindeer?", Nami said.

"Who's that, you ask? His name is Chopper. And he's not stuffed, for your information.", Kureha replied.

"But… as for I know, reindeer can't talk.", I said.

She continued: "Well, duh. But he's quite different."

We: "How so?"

"He ate the Hito Hito no Mi. Now he has all the capabilities of a human being. And I pounded into him every bit of medical knowledge I possess.", Kureha stated. I put a hand on my chin and said: "Hmm… Devil Fruit…"

Soon after, I noted the door being kicked open and the little Chopper dragging the two 'kids' back to their beds… knocked unconscious.

Me: "Er… Chopper… sensei… they're…"

Chopper then stared at me and said: "Ah… I had to knock them out. They kept blabbering about trying to eat me but their wounds aren't totally treated yet. Gonna put them in their beds again."

…

After Luffy and Sanji woke up from their involuntary nap, they came back to our room to stay together with us, more with Nami than with me, understandably.

Through that, Luffy came to know the identity of the so-heard-of 'witch' that took care of us and then decided that he had a request to make.

"Please, granny, I beg ya! Come with us!"

"Oi.", the doctor then called him with her finger. "You just called me a granny?"

He: "Yeah, you're really old, so-"

"WATCH YOUR DAMN MOUTH!", she, without so much as a second thought, gave him a roundhouse kick in the face that sent him crashing with the wall. Wow, Chuck Norris would be proud…

"I'm still on my spunky hundred n' thirty.", she said.

"Wow, you're really o-", Sanji blurted out… before also being kicked in the face and sent to the wall.

I had to duck under the table to evade them. As I got back up, I had to butt in. "Oi, oi… nothing personal, but you kinda deserved it. Where are your manners towards older people?"

"So… you come all the way here to ask me if I want to be a pirate? Don't waste your Latin with that. I don't give a rat's ass about those things.", she said.

Luffy then stood up, with his face still bleeding, but he insisted. "You don't have to! Let's just head to an adventure, granny!"

"Oi, oi… where are your damn manners, brat?", the doctor threatened to attack him again.

This time, Luffy didn't argue back, instead, looking to the entrance… where Chopper hid behind wrongly again. As soon as they stared at each other, they jaw-dropped. Chopper ran away first while the two chased after him… again.

"WAAAIT, MEEAATT!", oh, here we go again…

"STOP THERE, BRATS!", only this time, the doctor jumped out of her chair and chased them.

I had to sit in fetal position in my chair, or else I was gonna get dragged as well…

Soon after, I saw the three appearing again and bursting the door open. Sanji then stopped for a few moments to tell Nami: "Wait a second there that I'll be back with venison meat to perk you up!"

"I'M GONNA EAT YOU BEFORE THAT!", oh, I forgot about her.

"THE HAG!"…they then ran the hell away. Let's recap: Chopper being chased by those two… being chased by the angry doctor. They then dashed off through the door.

Nami then spoke to the wind. "I don't care about the food, just be quiet and let me rest already."

"Ah… everywhere we go it's the same thing…", I lamented while adjusting myself in the chair.

The door was wide open and from it came a very cold breeze.

"Snow? But we're inside a castle…", Nami whispered while moving as if to stand up.

"Please don't… I'll close the door. Lie down and get some rest.", I stood up and went to close the door.

"He's right."…hm? As I did that, I saw doctor Chopper come out of the shadows with a wary look on his face, looking right and left. "You're still with a fever."

Nami: "No, I'm not. It's gone down already."

Chopper: "Even so, you should stay in your bed. The fever might've gone down, but the bacteria of the tick are still wandering inside your body. You need antidote and rest. Are those guys still around?"

"No, it's safe… they have things to worry about right now.", may God have mercy on their souls…

"You took care of us as well, didn't you? Thanks.", Nami said.

"You… SHUT UP! I don't need the gratitude of a human! Aheheh… DON'T JOKE WITH ME, stupid… ahahah…", he said that as he swung from grumpy to bashful with the thanks.

"He's the type that can't hide his feelings, huh…", Nami whispered to me.

I whispered back at her: "It seems so… oh."

Or should I say, I would, if I didn't stop to look yet again at Nami's face for a few seconds… and feel a blush on my face… but I couldn't resist it! Looking closely, she's really, really cute!

"What's up? Is there something on my face?", she asked.

I couldn't bring myself to spit it out in front of her, so I hid my blushing face with my hands again while shaking on the chair and giggling non-stop.

"I can't believe I could see such a cute face!", I whispered to myself…

"What did you say?", eek, I guess she heard it…

"You…", I quickly stopped with this voice. I saw Chopper approaching us slowly. "You're… you're pirates?", he said while poking Nami's hand.

I replied: "Yes, we are."

He then poked my leg. "Really?"

Nami: "Like, really."

"You're of the type that has those flags of skulls and crossbones?", he asked.

"What's up? Are you interested in being a pirate?", Nami asked.

The reindeer soon got scared, jumped back, bumped on the bookshelf and got hit by books along the way. "NO, IDIOT! NO, I DON'T!"

She continued, scratching her head: "Ok, ok, I'm sorry. But… in that case, wanna come with us?"

Chopper: "Oooh!"

"To the sea! That'd help me big time. If you come with us, I no longer have to stay here for three days.", Nami said.

"IDIOT! I'm a reindeer! Do you really think I wanna be alongside humans?", Chopper shouted.

Nami got surprised and kept silent.

"By the way… aren't you afraid of me?", Chopper, looking down, asked.

"Why would we be afraid?", I asked back.

"Although I'm a reindeer, I walk in two feet… I can talk… and I have a blue nose…", he whispered.

"THERE YOU ARE, REINDEER!", suddenly, there are Luffy and Sanji, still hellbent on catching the poor animal!

"GET BACK HEEERE!"…the three dashed off once again.

"Oh, come on, give it a rest already, would ya?", I was already getting pissed off with all those disturbances…

A few moments later, the Doctor is back on the room, already tired after running around. "Those two are really fast…", she then walked to grab her chair and sit down while smirking. She then stared at Nami and gave a stern warning: "I'm really disappointed, little girl. Who gave you permission to persuade my assistant?"

Nami: "I'm sorry… but since when I need permission to try to convince somebody?"

The doctor grinned and said: "Nah, forget it. You don't need one. If you wanna take him, go ahead. But it ain't gonna be easy, I tell you. His heart has deep wounds. Wounds that even I'm not able to cure."

She then told us a little story about her assistant.

Everything started when he was born. He was abandoned by his parents and his group. It was all because he had a blue nose. When he ate the devil fruit, automatically got treated as a monster. He stopped being a normal reindeer, but he still wanted to make friends. So he tried to pass himself off with a human form, but it was imperfect as well… because his blue nose was kept unchanged.

He arrived at a village… to be immediately received with gunshots and stones.

"He didn't know who to hate… or what he did wrong… Everything he wanted was to make a friend, but everyone hates a monster.", Kureha concluded.

"Everyone… both reindeer… and humans…", I whispered.

"That's it. Do you think you can fill that void?", the doctor left the question.

That little tale was already enough to make me sad. I can't imagine what it is like to be an outcast both of the group in which he was born and of the group he wanted to get in… all because he didn't fit in neither of them… all because… of his blue nose.

* * *

**Dan: "Being labeled a monster because of unreasonable prejudice... that's just absurd..."**

**Well, I can't help but agree. But wait because there's more to it.**

**Dan: "More!"**

**Yup, my dear friend. The next chapter will bring little Chopper's past to all of you readers. I only leave the warning that it is not for the faint-hearted.**

**Dan: "Gulp... I kinda got a bad feeling about this..."**

**Don't forget to check out for the next issue! I'll be waiting!  
**


	58. Warning: Have a tissue box near you

**Chapter 58**

**"Doctor Hiruluk, the cherry blossoms and the inherited will!"

* * *

**

"The wounds in his heart… do you think you can heal them?"

That question was enough to keep me thinking for a while.

It's hard for me to imagine anything I didn't live or experience. To live a lonely life as an outcast, being called a monster wherever you go… I can only say that if I was in his place, I don't know if I could handle it.

Aaaaand, ok, let's leave it at that. If I go on, I start diving in my thoughts and sulking deeper than I should.

Sanji went to the kitchen to fix something for us, the doctors kept in their respective rooms, making medicines to continue our medical treatments… ah, and Luffy dashed off to God knows where.

All the while Nami and I… got nothing to do at all.

"Hmmm… I don't like this…", I whispered.

Nami heard me. "What?"

Me: "Hmmm… it's as if it was on purpose…"

She: "What's up, Dan-kun?"

Me: "They all left… leaving just the two of us here… and making me get embarrassed with this uncomfortable atmosphere."

She: "Haa? Do you mean you're getting uncomfortable with sitting here on my side? We're comrades, aren't we?"

Me: "I know that! But you know I'm very awkward when I'm alone with women… It's not your fault, it's me, really. It's a flaw of mine."

I noticed she only kept getting more puzzled as I kept blabbering. "You can go back to your bed if you like… Even by myself, I'm just as fine."

I vehemently opposed, stomping the ground. "No way, lady! I'm not as outspoken with women as Sanji is, but I object leaving a woman all by herself when she's weakened."

"You've got plenty of room for misinterpretations there, dude… I don't know even where to start…", she said while sweatdropping.

"Hm? Why?", I said.

Nami: "Yeah… you know the drill, when a man and a woman are together in a room, it's heavily implied they're…"

Me: "Oh, I know… Playing cards, right?"

Shiiiiiiiiiin… silence… she didn't reply… 'what is this, I don't even' must be crossing her head right now…

"Ok, ok, I was just messing with you. Turning off 'weird response' switch now.", I then drew a lever on my head and turned it off.

Ok, quick… small talk… small talk…

Nope.

I then shrugged it off, pulling out my pencil and notepad to start drawing. While I entertained myself scribbling around, I got a great (to me, at least) idea.

"Oh, I know! Nami-chan…", I said.

She: "What?"

Me: "If you don't mind…"

She: "Hm?"

Me: "Can you let me do your portrait?"

She kept silent for some moments.

"Why?"

Me: "One of my favorite pastimes is to do portraits of my friends and keep perfecting my drawing skills. Back then, I decided I would do one of all of us."

"Yeah… now that you mention it, I recall the prank you pulled on Zoro, it had something to do with that. Served you right for him to tie you and drop you in the crow's nest!", she remembered while giggling.

"Those days are already in the past! Note to myself: never try a prank on Zoro ever again…"

"Naa… tell me.", she asked.

"Hm?"

"After you find your Ultimate Adventure… what are you going to do? Get back home?"…gulp. Of all the questions, this one! And out of the blue…

"Well… now that you said that… while we're at the open sea, I find myself thinking about that every once in a while."

She: "So?"

I continued. "Since the day I left my homeland, I was scared wondering if I would ever regret leaving my normal life."

"But when you accepted our offer, you knew full well that there was no turning back, didn't you?", she said.

I nodded and then finished. "Now I know what I'm here for. I will follow you wherever we may go, travel around the world and eternize Luffy in my book as the new Pirate King. This is already my greatest adventure ever. Besides… unless we go round the world, we can't get back home, don't you think? Or you think I can handle the monsters in the Calm Belt all by myself, huh?"

"Heheh… that's right.", she replied, giving a slight smile.

"Oh, since we're on the subject, I have a better question: out of these two, what a greedy person like you would choose? Having every treasure in the world or the best friends in the world?"

"I'd choose the treasures!", just like that, with no hesitation.

"Of course…", I replied.

"Only if I was a complete idiot. Even all the treasure in the world would be worth nothing if I had no one with which to share… the adventures, because I'd keep the treasures all for myself anyway."

"Oookay…"

Nice way to twist and bend the question to your liking, lady…

A chilling silence prevailed again in the room. I kinda suck when it comes to striking a conversation, even when I'm with friends, however, I tried blurting out the first thing I could think of to spark a talk.

"Naa… how about we do a little staring contest?"

She frowned. "Staring contest? That in which the first to laugh loses?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Wanna go?", I asked.

"That's your best suggestion?", far from impressed, she asked, while sighing.

"Yup! Any better ideas… or are you afraid?", I threw the challenge.

She then shot up, sit and stared me straight in the eyes. I was startled, caught off-guard for a second, but I regained myself, staring back. "Bring it!", she challenged while smiling.

Game on. We were staring each other… while I started feeling my face blushing more than ever. Gotta… hold… on… can't… laugh…

All that hard work failed miserably.

Here I am covering my blush once again.

"Oh… you lost already? That's no fun.", she pouted.

"NAAAAMI-SWAAAAAN!"

Oh, finally, someone else! This one-on-one conversation was tiring me out already.

Sanji was coming out of the kitchen with a plate of food for our convalescing damsel.

"Sanji-san! That's a good surprise!", I greeted him.

"Hello, my friends! Nami-san! In order to help you get well sooner, I prepared a superspecial, very nutritious lunch.", Sanji said.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun.", she replied.

"Aaahh, Nami-san… even when recovering, you're wonderfully beautiful!", Sanji swooned over her as always while I saw his slight blush.

"Hey, hey, hey! Brat… you tell me when I gave you permission to use my kitchen."…this voice…

Sanji turned to reply. "Madam, I also made roasted beef to you, rich in proteins related to rejuvenating your-"

He was cut off with a kick sending him to the wall.

"Madam my ass! I'm a blooming flower. I'm still at my spunky…"

"139 years-old, right?", Nami completed.

"Oh, while I'm at it… all it takes is for me to turn my back at you for a while and the lovebirds are flirting with each other? These youngsters nowadays…"

"Ku… doctor Kureha!", as I turned, I saw her silhouette.

That and… "Hey! Lovebirds? Flirting? What the…", I stuttered, feeling my blush and embarrassment intensifying even more. Next I would fume through my ears!

"Bulls-eye?", she asked teasingly.

I stumbled. "Of course not! I would never…"

"DOCTORINE! HELP ME!"

The door burst open all of a sudden, and there was doctor Chopper dashing… yet again. No prizes for guessing why. It was Luffy chasing him and the two of them were running to the other side. Chopper had to break the door while Luffy crashed against it. The reindeer then came out, shoving everything on his way.

"Luffy, enough already, give it a break! Don't tell me you're still hellbent on eating the poor sap?", I yelled.

He replied while running here and there. "Not anymore! He's gonna be our comrade!"

Nami: "Really?"

"I never said that!", Chopper said while hiding behind the doctor.

"Said too!", "No, I didn't!", "Did too!", "DID NOT!"

On that routine, they were running around the doctor… while she was losing her patience with their silly antics. Both of them then ran outta the door.

"Haa… comrade… You have no idea of how heavy this word is for him.", the doctor whispered.

We stared at her. She then turned her head and glared back at us as if deducing 'these brats want an explanation'…

Indeed, I asked her. "Doc… er… Doctorine… I suppose that little story was just a preview…"

She: "Oh, how perceptive… Sit down, story time."

"Um… I'm already sat down… for quite a while."

"He lived all by himself.", she started while grabbing a chair to sit down. "However, there was a man to whom he opened his heart. His name was doctor Hiruluk… he was a quack doctor who discovered Chopper, gave him this name and took him in as his son."

Me: "Ah, so the little one managed to make a friend after all…"

Kureha: "Listen… why do you think this country has no doctors?"

None of us were able to reply.

She then told us. "On your way here, you must have come across a certain guy called Wapol. He made an outrageous law that exiled all the doctors from this country save for the twenty most skilled, which he recruited for his personal medic team, the Isshi-20."

Sanji: "So there were other doctors here after all… I was finding it strange already."

Nami: "Then why can't they take care of the sick?"

Kureha: "These doctors are under the king's rule… and he will only let them do their job if the people kneel before him and beg for their own treatment."

"What?", does she mean this king's capable of throwing the weak to their fates just because… well, let's let her continue.

The doctors are exiled and these twenty are under royal command. The country's only hopes were her and this doctor Hiruluk.

He wasn't a professional and didn't know much about what he was doing. That alone would lead his patients to worsen their conditions after receiving his treatment.

"Hmm… he was the worst quack doctor I've ever met… 'I'm gonna cure this ailing country with my medicine!', he blabbered. How pathetic…", Kureha remembered, snickering.

He lived wandering around, from door to door, and being kicked out of his patients' houses and left at the mercy of the police forces.

In a particularly stormy day, as he walked through a forest, the doctor came across a unconscious body. The creature was fainted, unprotected, under the intense cold of the blizzard… and severely wounded. It was Chopper… who had been brutally attacked by the villagers.

Chopper tried to scare the doctor off, but he managed to earn the reindeer's trust by stripping naked and showing he wasn't going to hurt or kill.

"He then took Chopper to his house and took care of him since. That was the day those two met each other."

Sanji then called for a little coffee break. "Haai, I brought coffee for all of us. Nami-san, Dan, do you want a cup?"

We: "Oh, thanks."

We took a sip then Nami asked. "So, what happened after that?"

Doctorine then smiled more pronouncedly and resumed the story.

From this day onwards, the two knew each other. Between failed experiments and big explosions, the two of them strengthened their ties and formed a kind of father/son bond… and partnership.

They wandered around (and terrorized) the villages trying to cure the sick and, consequently, having to run like hell to save their asses from angry patients or royal guards. Sometimes from both.

"Above all else, this guy was a hopeless idealist."

"Why?", I asked.

Kureha: "He always would walk around telling people the story of a man that had a terminal disease and believed he had been cured when he saw a forest full of cherry trees. From then on, he crossed the country, powered by the idea that there was no disease that couldn't be cured."

It turned out that this guy was himself… and he implanted this belief in his little naïve assistant.

"Besides, Hiruluk was also a firm believer in the pirate flag. He always said the skull and crossbones were something like the symbol of vitality and confidence. However…"

Nami: "However…"

However… the hardships were just waiting around the corner. It was already time to say goodbye. One year later, Chopper was cured and was (this is the correct term) kicked out of the quack's house.

Nami: "So… this doctor Hiruluk treated Chopper's wounds and kicked him out afterwards? That's a little…"

"Wait. There's more to it. Did you catch the part where he had a terminal disease? Turned out that whole cherry tree tale was bullshit all along."

Me: "His days were numbered anyway, right?"

More than numbered. Numbered with his death date already in the notebook. But, before dying, the doctor still wanted to complete his research, something he wanted to do since thirty years ago.

"He didn't stop bugging the hell out of me with his crazy research."

Me: "What was he looking for?"

She: "To make cherry blossoms bloom in this island."

Nami: "That's kinda impossible… This is a winter island."

"Do you think I'd go on without telling him that? I still remember as it was yesterday… I told him with these words: 'what you're trying to do is braindead'. Stubbornness got the better of him and it went right over his ears.", she said.

Therefore, this story was doomed to have a tragic ending…

"When Chopper heard the doctor had only ten more days to live, he was worried… it's understandable. Hiruluk kept doing whatever he wanted… and decided to end the thing himself."

In a day when they wandered around the village, they heard about a particular kind of mushroom that had medical purposes.

Seeing this mushroom as a possible mean to save his dying mentor, Chopper researched his books looking for references… and set off in a lonely journey to find this miraculous mushroom, almost losing his life in the way.

He then got back home, holding the precious mushroom.

"Fate had a trap set, just waiting for him…", Doctorine commented.

Me: "Hmm… I got a bad feeling…"

That story was making me tremble already… but we're going on!

The doctor took the medicine… that had an effect on his luck. He had his biggest surprise ever… when his thirty-year long, trial and error-based research finally was complete!

Although he knew he'd kick the bucket, but he would fulfill his objective! The cherries would bloom in the cold lands!

"I recall the day he dashed off to my house just to tell me he finished his idiotic research… That day, all hell was breaking loose in the country. News coming out of royal grounds were ominous. The entire Isshi-20 was sick. Then comes this guy and blurts the biggest bullshit I've ever heard…", Kureha recalled a day that would be remarkable.

More precisely, Hiruluk asked Doctorine to finish the project he started and to teach his reindeer assistant all she knows about Medicine, since he believed in the potential his pupil had… but mostly because he himself was running out of time to do that.

He tasked himself the mission of treating a country with no doctors whatsoever.

The doctor's patience to stand his petty requests was finally over and she snapped, kicking him out.

Kureha: "I was far from being in the mood to hear his ramblings again, but my reasoning was scaring me. I tried to act, but I think I was late already…"

She told us she went to the quack's house, but only his assistant was there… and everything was revealed.

It turns out, the mushroom that was supposed to bring hope to the doctor and his reindeer…

…was a deadly poison that would dictate death for the ragamuffin doctor.

"Hiruluk knew that all along.", Doctorine said.

"What? So you're saying that… doctor Chopper… unknowingly… poisoned his…"

The reveal was too shocking for me to articulate proper speech…

The fatal mistake was in the books where Chopper researched about the mushroom. In the page with the info about the fungus, there were… _the skull and crossbones_.

Kureha: "That's the international symbol to poison…"

Me: "But… no, that can't be… doctor Chopper thought that to be… a symbol of vitality…"

"Yeah… that's what you get when you take things too literally."

Truth is that the doctor was so touched with his companion's concern that he decided to feed false hope to him by saying that the mushroom was good for him. He knew that all roads would lead to his grave, so he opted for a honorable solution: do a last service for the country and restore the royal doctors' health.

As lies don't last forever, Chopper found out… just when there was no time to do anything about that.

To add insult to the injury, his mentor had fallen in a trap. Turns out the doctors were all ok and agreed to take part in this ambush.

Trapped with no way out, the doctor drank his medicine and enjoyed a last toast… before taking his own life.

"Chopper then saw me as his last hope and begged me to teach him my medical skills. Hiruluk's ideas were carved on him. And the rest… is history."

"Since then, in the last six years, Tony-kun stayed with you…", Nami whispered.

The doctor replied: "Yeah… and now he knows all I know about Medicine."

"Hnn… doctor… Chopper…"

"Hm? Dan-kun? You…", I heard Nami hissing.

I was trembling in the chair, and with a hand over my eyes, trying to hide the tears streaming down my face. I then slowly stood up.

Sanji: "Dan… are you ok?"

"I… no, don't worry, I need some fresh air… I have snow in my eyes…", I bluffed while slowly walking out the room… I bluffed knowing nobody would believe. That didn't matter anymore. I just wanted somewhere to be alone and cry.

That story was too much for me to handle… I had to unload.

Not counting the whole abandonment he suffered from his own group and the violence coming from the fear the humans had of the 'monster', he had an unwitting role in the death of the man he took as his father…

All that while trying not to imagine a despicable king doing nothing but laugh his ass off!

It's too unjust!

"Son… Dan…"

What? Who is this voice…

"Dan… my… son…"

I know that voice!

"Dan! Are you alright?"

I raised my head… and it was Sanji.

"Oh… Sanji-san…"

"What are you doing sitting in a corner?", he asked.

Me: "Oh, I… no, nothing! I needed to be alone for a while."

"You're crying, aren't you?", straight to the point.

"Gulp… er, um… I…", bullseye.

Sanji: "Idiot… stop hiding it! Crying like that, you look bad!"

I wiped the tears off my face while standing up. "You're right… but weren't you moved by his story? It's too depressing!"

He: "Of course, it's a sad tale, but I'm not as prone to crying!"

"What?"

Sanji then gave me a small bit of advice.

"Look, I noticed you're a rather good listener. Be careful as that trait might turn against you sometime. Stay alert."

Me: "What do you mean?"

He: "Somebody can use it to illude you."

We then walked back to the room, only to find out that our peace would end.

"DOCTORINE! DOCTORINE! We got an emergency!", we heard screams coming our way.

The door burst open revealing a distressed Chopper.

"What's up?", Doctorine asked.

"It's terrible… he's back… Wapol's here!"

Wapol? Where did I hear this name again…

Doctorine jumped off her chair and left.

Well, the old tyrant got back to his homeland to reinstate his reign of terror… that's just nice!

"Yosh…", I said. "See ya."

"O-oi, oi! Where are you going?", Nami asked.

"Isn't it clear? I'm going down there! I wanna check what's gonna happen. I have no special connection with this land, but I'll help the little doctor to pound the one who made him suffer this whole time! Besides, the people doesn't deserve a king like that guy!", I said firmly while clenching my fist.

I then grabbed my torn overcoat, my pencil and turned to look at them.

"Sanji, are you with me?", I asked.

"I'm not that concerned with that, but I'm curious. Let's go.", he replied, grabbing his coat. "Nami-san, you're alright by yourself?"

She: "I can't leave… guess I'm gonna sleep."

We then rushed outta the room to the entrance.

"Hey, Dan… tell me… who's this Wapol again, huh?", Sanji asked.

Me: "Huh? Don'tcha…"

In our way here, we bumped on him and his cronies. Right after Sanji got knocked out.

"If you see him, it's gonna ring a bell."

Already there were Luffy, Doctorine and Chopper… and from the looks of it and the snow cloud, our captain had thrown the first punch.

"Hmmm… the party's started already?", I shouted as we got close. Luffy heard me and I greeted him. "Captain, you're here!"

He: "Sanji! Dan! Where were you?"

"Bastards…", I could hear Wapol cursing far away. He was standing back up, helped by his strange henchmen.

"Ah, those guys! They came here?", Sanji exclaimed.

"See?", I said. "Luffy, you started it, didn't you?"

He: "Yup! I could only run before, but now…", he then grinned evilly. "…I have no reason to restrain myself! Shi, shi, shi, shi…"

"Want some help?", I said while cracking my knuckles.

Finally, it's payback time! Wapol and your mooks, get ready because it's go time!

* * *

**Luffy: "Yooosh! Now it's time to pound the crap out of this Wapol guy!"**

**Dan: "Yeah! I'm with you! Let's... OW MY BACK!"**

**Chopper: "Wait! I'll go as well! I'll show you the results of my research!"**

**Luffy: "Can you shoot a beam?"**

**Chopper: "Like hell!"**

**Dan: "Please tell me I'm gonna fight too..."**

**Um... yeah... sure, let's go with that.**

**Dan: "Oi!"**

**Anyway, Chopper now has the chance to defeat the one who killed his mentor! Wapol's infamous Drum Kingdom will finally come to an end?**

**Check out next time!  
**


	59. Go Luffy! Make the evil king fall down!

**Chapter 59**

**"The final battle! The flag of confidence will forever fly!"

* * *

**

Dear friends, you better get ready, because the party's gonna get started… and our enemy's already really ticked off!

"I'm angry now…"…uh-oh… Wapol's awake again! "Straw Hat… I'm gonna eat you up… wait, WHERE IS HE!"

Buuuuut, not now, because a certain someone's missing.

"Oh, wait a second. Luffy went inside to get a coat.", Sanji warned.

In the meantime, Chopper was intrigued by our captain's weird antics and asked us:

"Wait a second… Did that guy's arms stretch just now? Is that normal?"

Sanji: "Yeah, he can stretch because he's a rubberman."

Chopper still looked quite puzzled as to what he meant.

"In other words, a monster!", I explained to him.

He stared at us for a few moments, trying to process what he just heard. Well, sooner or later, he's gonna find out that there are many just like him.

"Lemme see… that thief old hag and the Straw Hat pirates are inside my castle… if I destroy them, I'll reclaim my kingdom. That way I'll end the riots of the citizens! Maaahahahahah!", You're so wrong, man… that's gonna happen only over our dead bodies!

Wapol: "I'm gonna start with you, granny! How daring of you to invade my castle when I turn my back, huh? Even my flag's gone!"

"I burned that trash. Listen up, bud. Personally, I don't give a damn for this castle… but, at the same time, this is Doctor Hiruluk's graveyard. My partner does care about it and he was the one who put that flag there.", Doctorine said.

"That's right. Doctor fought with all he had… and died trying to save this land… he died under the sign of that flag! Here is his grave!"

I could see his determination flowing as he said that. In the other side…

"Maaaahahahahahahahah! Grave, you say? What, of that half-assed doctor?"

…goddamn Wapol couldn't stop laughing his ass off. But after the giggles, he reassumed his serious tone.

"You've gone too far dishonoring my castle with the flag of that shitty doctor! I order that flag to be immediately destroyed!"

That was Chopper's trigger… he started to transform!

"I… will not let you through. Never! I'll never let you take that flag… EVER!"

From four-legged reindeer, he turned into a muscular giant humanoid!

"Wow…", I could only whisper. I then turned my eyes back at the tyrant and his henchmen.

"Maaaahahaha! Then we're invading anyway! Chess! Kuromarimo! Be sure to kill anyone who meddles with us!"

His cronies stepped forward.

I tensed my muscles for an instant. "Yosh… Sanji-san, that's our cue."

"Nice.", he then turned to the doctor. "Granny, are you fighting too?"

"Granny?"…uh, oh… This profanity granted him a kick to the head. "If you brats can't take care of it, I'm in!"

"Oh… thanks.", Sanji said while putting a hand over his newly-acquired bump. I barely look forward…

"GUYS, WATCH OUT!", I had to scream because they've thrown the first boulder! Or… moss ball… whatever.

"DOCTORINE!"

Luckily, Sanji raised his leg and stopped the attack.

"Oi, oi, oi, afroman. Attacking a lady… that's just low!", he said.

"Hahah… you fell for it."

Oh great… the ball stuck on Sanji's leg!

"What, what the hell… it won't come off! What's this? Static electricity?"

"Exactly! Hahahahahah… Wait for it… here's some more for you! Take this! ELEKI-MARIMO!" (Elec-Moss Ball)

He threw two more balls at us!

"Watch out!"

I had to step ahead and take the attack.

Sanji: "Dan!"

Me: "Urgh… disgusting! Take off, take it off! Oi, Chopper-sensei, help us!"

He tried to help, but that only made us pass the mosses to each other. They were hard to come out!

"Well, those mosses might taste bad, but they burn really good!"…burn? Oh shit!

"Guys, be careful, they're gonna try to burn the afros!", Oh, great help…

Me and Chopper: "There."

We left our afros with him and ran like hell.

"OI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?", Sanji shouted.

"It's a distraction plan!", Chopper called.

"Distraction… YOU MEAN, IT'S ME!"…bulls-eye. A flaming arrow went past us, and as I looked behind me, I saw Sanji's leg catching fire!

"SANJI-SAN!", while Chopper attacked, I ran back to help throw snow on the fire.

"What took you so long?", Sanji yelled at me.

"Well, sorry…", I replied.

"CHOPPER!", I heard Doctorine shouting.

I looked ahead and saw what looked like feet swinging inside Wapol's mouth! Chopper's being chomped down!

"Ah… now I'm really fuzzy…"…hm?

I look behind again… to see a straw hat… Nice!

"Sanji-san! Here's Luffy!", I turned to scream.

He replied: "Great! LUFFY! Stretch and grab my leg!"

Luffy did so.

"Yosh! Hold it tight!"

"OU!"

"ARMÉE DE L'AIR… GOMU SHOOT!"

Sanji swung his leg, throwing Luffy forward at such a speed… that made him hit Wapol's belly head-first! It even sent his hippo flying away!

"Yossha!", I jumped. Well, it turns out our joy was short-lived. After taking such a hit… that guy's alive and kicking! He stood back, only with a nosebleed.

Wapol: "Chess! Announce what I ate today, if you will."

The fugly one did so. "Back then, in the ship, your Highness ate a cannon with butter, a roasted cannon and a cannonball salad with powder toppings. In the village, you ate a grilled house."

"Geh… what the hell are you eating?", Luffy commented.

"Cool, that's what you get when you mess with an omnivore…", Sanji stated.

"Come on, doesn't that give you diarrhea?", ok, I know my diet's not that balanced to begin with, but at least I'm not out there eating powder and stuff!

Speaking of which, my stomach started filling with dread as he transformed… hoo boy, that's not gonna be pretty!

"Wapol House!"

"A house?", Sanji exclaimed.

His tummy got a door, there was a chimney on his head, his arms gave way to cannons and he got fatter than he already were. Now, to the finishing touches…

"BAKU BAKU FACTORY!" (Chomp-Chomp Factory)

"Aaaahh!"

"Wha…?"

…Wapol devoured his own subordinates!

"CANNIBAAAAL!", Luffy shouted, terrified.

This guy eats it all… literally!

He swallowed his henchmen, then smoke started coming out of his chimney… he started moving around left and right… stopped, his tummy gate opened to reveal…

"I'm Drum Kingdom's greatest warrior! Behold the miracle fusion! Chessmarimo!", the new… something's… two voices screamed in unison.

It was an… a… uh… I don't know, a giant two-headed, human-looking freak that came out of that bastard's belly.

As Sanji put it: "Oi, they're just piggybacking each other."

"SUGEEEEEE!", Oh, here he goes again…

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE IMPRESSED!", I snapped. I looked ahead and stated: "Oh goodie… they were already ugly in the first place, but now that they fused they only got worse!"

"Keep your guard high, boys.", doctor Kureha alerted. "These guys can't be underestimated. If they were as pathetic as they look, the people would overpower them right away."

"All this talking is wasting my patience! Drum Law's First Amendment: whoever disobeys royal orders will be killed on the spot! Oh, other: I'm the king and this castle is rightfully mine! I had enough of that ridiculous flag, it's dirty!"

He aimed at the flag and shot! The bullet exploded, bringing down the flag.

"That mark…", Luffy whispered. "Hey, reindeer… that's a…"

"Pirate flag…", Chopper was paralyzed, but could utter it. "That… THAT'S DOCTOR'S FLAAAAG!", he then got enraged and dashed to hit Wapol. He was going to do it… but he stopped at the last second.

"What's wrong, Chopper, don't hesitate!", Doctorine screamed.

Far away: "I'm not gonna hit you… if you pack your things and leave immediately!"

Doctorine only got more worried. "What the hell are you saying? This guy couldn't be reasoned with from the very beginning! It's not gonna change now!"

Wapol only snickered before shooting a cannonball right in Chopper's face, making him fall back.

"Bastard!", I whispered.

"HEY, BIG-MOUTH NUISANCE!"

I saw Wapol looking above. I looked as well and there was Luffy! Standing at the flag site… and the flag was still there!

Me: "Whaat? Luffy? He's up there already?"

"You mean a shrimp like you played pirates this whole time? Without risking your life… you're not gonna grasp the meaning of this symbol at all!", Luffy proclaimed.

Wapol tried to bite back. "Mahahahah! Meaning? Does that stupid hall decoration have any meaning?"

Luffy persisted. "That only proves you're a wimp! This isn't a flag you fly just because!"

"Grrr, that's enough! This shit will be gone once and for all!", Wapol finally lost it and shot again! The bullet blew up and formed a smokecloud.

"OH NO!", Chopper screamed.

Somehow I knew that wasn't gonna stop Luffy.

"Chopper-sensei! Don't you worry.", I told him. He stared me back and I then said: "It might not look like it but… as soon as our captain is confident about something, his will is strong as steel!"

From the smoke, Luffy emerged only with his clothing jagged… and the flag was mostly intact!

"I told you… THIS IS NOT A FLAG YOU DESTROY JUST FOR LAUGHS!"

Those words were like a punch to the gut of the three stooges. They're up for some serious ass-kicking right now!

"You're threatening me? If you're so hellbent on protecting this flag… stay put for me to shoot!"

He aimed to shoot again!

"Ok, it's enough already!"

Sanji then rushed ahead. However… his back snapped!

Kureha: "Ow, I told you… you'll pay for you recklessness!"

She then dashed…

"Stop right there! DOCTOR STOP!"

…to kick him right where it hurt!

Well, to say my jaw dropped still is an understatement. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"

Kureha: "Do you want your friend to die? I don't think so!"

"But Wapol's gonna shoot again!"

"Chopper, take care of it!", she called her assistant, he turned into a giant and attacked.

Now… what do I do? Do I let him take on the three idiots by himself or do I rush to help him under threat of a PhD roundhouse? What do I do… what do I do? Now my legs won't move!

Dan, calm down… calm down… I know. Chopper-sensei… they're on your hands now. If you ever need help, we're here!

Chopper took a quick pause to breathe and turned back to normal.

"Hm… you're sure an odd thing! Turns out the abominable snowman that everyone was scared of was you! Creature that lived a lonely life, I pity you! Why do you struggle this much to save this rotten country? Don't make me laugh!", Chessmarimo trash-talked.

"SHUT UP! Even with no one by my side, I have the guts to fight!"

Chopper, my friend, let us tell you something…

"YOU'RE NOT ALONE! YOU'RE OUR COMRADE!"

I looked back to see Luffy stretching his arms… and launching himself to the ground! If he wasn't made of rubber…

"Hey, are you alright?", Chopper asked, scared out of his wits.

"Of course! I'm a rubberman after all!"

They then split. Chopper going against Chessmarimo on the left… and Luffy versus Wapol in the right.

Meanwhile, at the Hall of… sorry, I mean, on the sidelines…

"You… cranky… old hag… let me fight!", Sanji complained whilst gritting his teeth and trying to crawl away from Doctorine's hold.

As he tried to escape, she only kept tightening her stomp. "Don't resist, you squint! You wanna move? Ok, if you decide to give up walking for the rest of your life…"

Doctorine, let him go already, it hurts just by seeing you stepping on his… wait, WHAT?

"You mean…"

She: "Yep. You're not fully recovered yet, so, don't even think of doing any funny stuff!"

Oooook… writing down mentally: I'm not to do anything funny on Doctorine's line of sight. That stopped me cold. I had to watch it all unfold without putting a finger on it.

"Don't sweat it. When the time calls for it, my reindeer's up to the task.", Doctorine told us confidently.

I really hope so…

"Even if Doctor forgave you, you laughed at him and at his lifestyle! THAT I WILL NOT FORGIVE!"

"I'm the one who's not gonna forgive you! Prepare to be crushed!", Chessmarimo answered.

Chopper then pulled out a round yellow pill.

"Rumble Ball! Its effect lasts for three minutes only. But it's enough time for me to beat the tar out of you! It's time to rumble!", he then chewed the medicine and struck a pose.

"YUKIDOKE NO YA-MARIMO!" (Moss Ball Snow-Melting Arrow)

Three minutes! 2:59… 2:58… 2:57…

"Walk Point! Sprint Power-up!"…Chopper then turned into a four-legged reindeer and started sprinting speedily, avoiding the flaming arrows heading his way and rushing against the enemy.

"Devil Fruit, huh?", Chessmarimo exclaimed.

"Heavy Point! Muscle Power-up!"…he then assumed his humanoid form and dashed through!

"Zoan-type… I know it all about its three levels! DOBIKKURI MARIMO: QUATTRO HAMMER!" (Super Surprise Moss Ball: Four Hammers)

Surprise, surprise… four hands, four giant hammers!

"Like this, you won't…"

"JUMPING POINT… Jump Power-up!"

"…BEAT ME!"

Just as the four hammers went down, Chopper transformed again and jumped several feet up!

"He jumped! That's some serious impulse!", Sanji commented.

"If that's enough to impress _you_, how can I say otherwise?", I stated.

"Bastard! Take this!", Chessmarimo turned around to hit him again…

"GUARD POINT… Defense Power-up!"

Chopper received the full force of the blow, but right on time to turn into a giant fur ball (no, really) and bounce back. He came out unharmed.

"Awesome! Awesome!", Luffy jumped up and down.

The afro-chess guy was getting angrier now. Thought you knew it all, huh? "No way! Zoan-type fruits only allow three levels of transformation!"

Chopper then explained. "The trick is that Rumble Ball messes the Devil Fruit's wavelengths. In my research, I discovered four more forms!"

"Se… SEVEN FORMS?"

"SEVEN FORMS? SUGGEEEEEEE!"…Oh, great! What took him so long? As soon as he heard that, Luffy officially went overboard with excitement! Well, it'd be odd if he didn't…

Well, getting back to the fight…

"ARM POINT… Attack Power-up!"

Chopper revealed yet another of his forms, this time it's one with really muscular arms!

With them, he was able to utterly crush the afro-chessman's hammers! One strike and they're dust!

"My steel hooves can break rocks!", Chopper taunted.

"Impudent insect! DOBIKKURI MARIMO: QUATTRO AXE! YUKIWARISOU!" (Super Surprise Moss Ball: Snow-Splitting Four Axes)

A powerful slicing slash that did scratch Chopper's forearms… but utterly thrashed the wall behind him too!

"HAPPOU YUKIDARE!" (Snow Falling Everywhere)

Chessmarimo then dashed forward, swinging his four axes to end it once and for all… but Chopper skillfully avoided all his slashes, alternating between forms.

"What? Where's your confidence now? You won't beat me by running away!"

"Brain Point! Intellect Power-up!"

Chopper's now in his standard form. "I wasn't running. I'm searching your weak spot. This will end right here, right now! SCOPE!"

He connected his paws, forming some kind of radar.

On our side… a certain someone thought…

"He's… he's gonna shoot a beam!", Luffy stated.

"Beam? Doesn't seem like it to me, though…", I butted in.

"WHAT THE HELL? YOU'RE INSANE?", Sanji yelled.

"I'm telling you, frickin' beam's gonna fire!", Luffy insisted.

Uh… let's just focus back on the fight.

"You're analyzing me now? For what? I have no weak spots! A pathetic freak like you won't defeat me!", freak… look who's talking! The greatest freak here is you!

Chessmarimo ran, coming close… and Chopper kept static. Then…

He avoided the slashes, jumping again… or so it seemed.

"Where… where is he?", he's gone!

"Kokutei… ROSEO!" (Cloven Roseo)

Three seconds… two… one… zero!

"Three minutes.", standard form, all over.

"That. Was. Awesome! Incredible, good job!", Luffy hopped happily.

"OH… BE QUIET!", Chopper yelled, but we could notice he was embarrassed rather than angry.

Now the worst's over for the time being. Wait, it's not. I'm getting the feeling we're forgetting something now…

"Oi, where is he?", Sanji asked.

"He who?", Luffy asked back.

Sanji: "That big blik guy, where is he?"

Luffy looked around and found nobody.

"Oh, he's gone! Bastard… but how?"

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO DISTRACTED!", Sanji yelled.

Me: "It would make no sense for him to go down. That means…"

Sanji: "Oh shit! He's inside the castle! Nami-san!"

Luffy didn't waste a second and started sprinting back inside. Sanji crawled behind him. I went after them.

We ran as fast as we could, but no prizes for guessing what we find when we arrive: Nami's been caught!

Wait… Wapol's much leaner than the last time we saw him… oh, who cares, Wapol caught the damsel!

Luffy: "FOOOOUND YOOOU!"

A single kick put Nami out of his clutches. We went inside with Wapol already face-first into the wall.

Super-trio to the rescue!

"Nami, are you alright?", she was crouching, still recovering from the shock. "I'm alright now… WHA?"…she then stared, quickly stood up and bonked Luffy's head.

"Luffy… can you tell me why my overcoat's turned to shreds?"…after all we've been through and that's what she worries about?

His 'oh crap' face needed no explanation.

Nami snapped. "How much do you think this cost me, huh? I'll tell you: 28,800 beri! After I bargained the hell out of it!"

"Look, I'm sorry, ok? That guy was shooting cannons at me and stuff, you know… I had no choice!", Luffy tried to excuse himself.

She only snickered and said: "Ok… it's alright. I forgive you. Besides, I wasn't hoping you'd return it in a good state after all. Therefore, I'm adding a little extra to my 'threefold return'. Let's see… 100,000 beri… that's your debt."

"100k? T-that means it was all…?", Luffy then realized, when it was too late.

She: "Just as planned… Huhuhuhuhuh…"

Nami, you sly bastard…

Me: "Oi, oi… this way we're going bankrupt in the blink of an eye… Well, what matters now is that we're alive, right?"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Or not. Almost forgot that Wapol's gone through a diet… slimmed up and is ready to go!

"Behold! Behind me is the weapons room. It has all kinds of weapons you can conceive. If I eat them, I'll become the weapon-man and be feared by all! Now, let's open the door of despair… wait, where's the key… GONE!"

Silence…

"Oooookay… so much for that.", I broke it.

"Well, see ya!", Wapol ran away. "WAIT!", Luffy chased him right away. I decided to fall behind and leave the matters to the captain.

"Ah, ah… weapons key…", hm? When I look to my side… "I hoped this key would be of some sort of treasure room or something… that's a pity.", I see Nami holding his key!

"It was you?", well, I didn't see that coming!

"Elementary, my dear Dan! I'm not someone who doesn't grab the chance when I see it, hehe…", Nami remarked with a sly smirk.

"Oh dear… she never misses the chance to rob someone…", I sweatdropped.

Nami: "What? Am I wrong, you say?"

"No, of course not."

As soon as I heard a blast coming from above, I dashed off to the outside again.

"O-oi, where are you going?", Nami called.

"I'm gonna see the end of the battle!", I replied. When I arrived, I encountered Chopper looking overhead. "Chopper-sensei!", I ran and stood by his side. "So… it's finally ending, isn't it?"

He: "What?"

"Your suffering! Our captain's gonna defeat the evil king so you and us can set sail together!", I said.

"I still didn't decide that…", he looked down for a second, then glanced back at the top of the castle. "Doctor…", he muttered.

Stay at ease… his spirit will live on forever! As long as someone inherits his determination, there will be hope!

"Look!", I pointed.

Luffy and Wapol were at the top of a tower… and our captain's ready for the final strike!

"GOMU GOMU NOOOOOOOOOO…"

Chopper: "Drum Kingdom…"

"BAZOOKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"…is over!"

* * *

**There it is. King Wapol is no more!**

**All: "YAAAAAY!"**

**Dan: "Chopper-sensei! You're finally able to go with us!"**

**Chopper: "SHUT UP! I still didn't accept!"**

**Luffy: "Oh, come on! It's gonna be fun!"**

**Nami: "That'd help us - especially me - A LOT, you know?"**

**Chopper: "I... I still need time to think about it!"**

**Now it's the time of conclusions and new beginnings, both for the country, and for the little blue-nosed reindeer. It's time to say goodbye for the ever so snowy lands of Drum, set sail and head full speed to Arabasta! A new adventure is awaiting! This story's 60th issue is too! Don't miss it!  
**


	60. The pink cherry tree of miracles

**Chapter 60**

**"Chopper departs! A dazzling miracle before the farewell!"

* * *

**

"BAZOOOOOOOOKAAAAA!"

It's over. Wapol flew by the skies of this land, and his kingdom finally fell down.

"A kingdom has fallen… thanks to the skull and crossbones…", Doctorine whispered and grinned for a bit.

The stern expression that once stared faithfully at the top of the castle and was present in the little reindeer's face, over time gave way to a sincere smile of joy and relief. The ailing, the doctors, well, the entire population of this country has much to thank… to Straw Hat Luffy!

"Ahh… thank goodness, heh?", I sighed and tried to talk to Chopper as we kept staring at the top of the tower, where Luffy stood triumphant.

He didn't reply, but at that time, it didn't matter.

"OOORRRYAAAAAA!", huh?

Ok, let's stop the contemplation now, because without any warning, Luffy stretches and throws himself like a missile head-first to the ground! After the crash and while the snow cloud was dissipating, I ran to the scene to check what the hell happened.

"Oi, oi? What gives? What's going on?", I asked as I got there.

"Ah…"

Luffy was standing back up and adjusting his hat, all with a smile. Near us was a pile of snow under which some poor saps got buried… oh, wait…

"Zoro-san! Usopp-kun!", Our comrades got a… uh…dynamic entry right on their faces… uh-oh, someone's bound to get angry over this.

"WHAT GIVES? WHAT WAS THAT FOR?", There! Told ya! Zoro shot up in the blink of an eye and yelled. Usopp's still knocked out.

"Ah, Vivi-san!", I saw her coming out of the tunnel.

"Hahahah! Ah, so it was you!", Luffy only laughed through it all. "I had seen a uniform like this before so I thought that more of that guy's allies were coming!"

"Can't you stop and think before doing crazy-ass shit? Please, Luffy!", Zoro kept rambling all the time. Thank goodness Luffy's a rubberman…

"Did you get here through the mountain? Usopp-kun, wasn't it you who's afraid of climbing?", I asked.

He quickly got up and bragged. "Hahahah! Don't be silly! I'm one of those who says: 'If there's a mountain on my way, I'll climb it!' …but this one was quite challenging, you know?"

"We climbed on the cable car, Dan-san.", Vivi dismissed Usopp's version.

"Oh, um…", he toppled to the side.

"This one was on the verge of crapping himself the whole time!", Zoro poked Usopp while smirking.

And yet, _I'm_ the one scared shitless of anything high enough…

"Well, putting that aside, Nami-san, Sanji-san, how are they?", Vivi asked us, quite worried.

Her worries were over right there. "They're well better!", Luffy replied, smiling broadly.

"Oh, how relieving! That's great!", Vivi finally relaxed and smiled.

"So, Luffy, what was you doing up in that tower?", Zoro asked.

"Me? I was kicking royal butt!", Luffy replied.

"What?", huh?

"So, that thing flying in the sky a while ago was… Wapol? You mean you defeated him?", this was Mr. Dalton. He had blood-stained bandages around his chest and was struggling to walk. Must've had a tough time down there…

"Yeah! Why do you ask?", Luffy replied.

"No, I just wanted to know… what happened with his two ministers?", Dalton kept asking.

Oh, I got that one. "The reindeer thrashed them."

Dalton then went silent for a few seconds. He looked sideways and it seemed that something dawned on him. He muttered something I couldn't quite catch and… kneeled down.

"I have to thank you… From now on, this kingdom… shall rebuild itself!", Dalton whispered.

"Guys, look! That mysterious creature!", a group of citizens rushed out of the tunnel and pointed towards the trees. Far away, we could see Chopper hiding… the wrong way again.

"Is it a reindeer? No, it isn't… it's a m-m-mo-mons… MONS-"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!", just before someone could utter the M-word, Dalton stepped in.

"MONSTER!"…but he didn't have time to shut Usopp up.

Just as he heard that, Chopper ran away.

That ticked Luffy off and he punched Usopp right away. "DON'T CALL HIM A MONSTER! _That's_ the new comrade I'm trying to bring to the ship!"

Usopp: "Really?"

Me: "Oh, dear… the shock was so great he ran away! How rude of you, Usopp-kun!"

"How was I supposed to know?", Usopp ranted.

"WAIT, MONSTER!"…OI!

"Luffy… not you too!", I butted in.

Our captain dashed off chasing Chopper. They were like cat and rat running on the forest, while we were all giggling. Now that the battle's over, we're going to have a doctor aboard! Yeeeeaaaah!

…

"WINTER SWIMMING?"

"What, don't you believe me?"

While the wounded and sick were being carried away to the infirmary, Zoro told me (after I bugged him so much to do so) what they did down there while we were climbing the mountain.

He was tasked with guarding the ship. He got bored and had nothing to do so, he decided to jump on the stupidly frigid waters and swim and get moving. That in itself is one f**king stupid thing to do.

"Oh, did I mention he was shirtless while doing that?", Usopp duly added.

"Wait, WHAT? It's thirty below zero out here! Are you insane?", I couldn't help but say that.

"I'm the only one with the right to call myself insane! How many times do I have to tell you that? Besides, I don't wanna hear that from you! You almost threw your life outta the window climbing a mountain just for the hell of it!", Zoro ranted.

"Nonsense! That was… um… er… You could have had a hypothermia, ya know?", I switched subject.

"Huh? What's that, can you eat it? Hmph! Like I'd let a disease kill me!", he bragged.

"Um, let's see… having your chest literally _slashed open_: check. Trying to fight with the slash's _gaping_ wound open: check. Attempting to _cut your legs_ in order to escape a trap: check. Swimming and working out shirtless mid-winter: oh, gotta add that one.", I did as if I was writing in a notepad.

"What the hell are you doing?", Zoro asked quizzically.

"Oh, sorry, I'm just keeping track of all the insanities you've done so far. Y'know, just for the record.", I replied.

Usopp: "Come on, give it a break already! Sounds to me that you're just trying to one-up each other on who's the zaniest! That's more childish than me… hahahah, oh wait, that came out wrong."

Zoro then resumed his story. He told me the avalanche caught him in the middle of his workout. Somehow, the mess gathered them by force. They then joined Mr. Dalton and searched for the doctor, however they bumped into the royal army and that's how Mr. Dalton was all battered up. Now he got sent to the infirmary, while Nami and Sanji were also sent back there… by force.

Vivi and me went there to watch over them. Meanwhile, from the Hall of… oh, I mean, from the operating room…

"AAAAaaaAAAAAaaaAAAH… AAahhh… AAAAAAAAA!"

…came out the most horrible screams of pain I've ever heard in my life… Poor Sanji was being submitted to unspeakable atrocities in there… oh, calm down, it's just a medical procedure… without anesthesia. Come on, painkillers are for pussies!

No one saw nothing since the door of the operation-room-turned torture chamber (wait, what?) was closed, but seeing the horrified faces of the citizens was already enough to take a guess of what was going on…

"Wow, thank God I don't have to go through _that_…", I mumbled.

When Doctorine came out, the citizens got even more scared.

"Heheh… As I suspected, he got worse. That's what you get for being reckless!", Doctorine walked out of the room while opening her bottle of umeshu liqueur and chugging it.

"Dalton, do you know where's the weapon room key?", she asked.

He: "Weapons key? What do you want?"

Oh, if I'm not mistaken…

Doctorine: "I do what I want, any questions?"

"Wapol always kept it with him, so I think it's gone flying as well.", Dalton lamented.

Doctorine: "Hmmm… that's troublesome."

"By any chance, you're talking about… this?", Nami interrupted and drew out exactly what they needed. The weapons key!

"Hey, you brat… how?", Doctorine asked.

"I stole it from him… I can give it to you, but only under two conditions: that our treatment is free and that you let us go today.", Nami tried to 'bribe' the doctor into letting her out.

"I never heard such bullcrap! No deal. I want half your gold as payment and you're still with two more days of rest, even if I have to tie you to the bed! How cheeky of you to make demands, huh?", Kureha wasn't convinced and refused.

"You do want this key, don't you?", Nami insisted.

The doctor then stopped and thought for a few seconds, then she grabbed her jacket and walked to the door. She then turned back and pointed to Nami. "Listen: the treatment's free, period. You're still two days away from leaving!"

Nami still complained. "Then give the key back!"

"You stupid brat… Listen, I'm done treating that boy's spine already. I'm now going out to take care of a few issues. There's a robe in the dresser over there. Wear it if you wish. I don't think anyone's gonna watch over, but under any hypothesis you're allowed to go out of my line of sight, capiche?"

She then called the citizens standing in the room and left.

"Hmph… basically she said: pack your stuff and leave.", Nami shrugged and deduced.

"Sounded like that to me too…", Vivi agreed.

"Huh? How are you so sure of that?", I asked.

"Isn't that obvious? She said: 'nobody's watching' and offered me a robe, therefore, she's telling us to go before she's back.", Nami explained.

"Hmmm… really? I still think you should stay and rest.", I stubbornly insisted.

"Oh, come on, I'm better now, dammit!", she resisted.

"I've already screwed myself in the past for not listening to medical advice. I don't want you to do the same!", I got exasperated.

She: "I understand your concern, but give it a break! By any chance, do you really want Vivi to run out of time to save her country, huh?"

Me: "Great, I'm on a tough spot now…"

Before we noticed it, hours passed and it was already night. Full moon was shining intensely in Drum island.

"OOOOIIII, REINDEEER! WHERE ARE YOU! Let's do pirating together, come on!"

Luffy was still with energy to chase Chopper around and drag him into our group. He, Usopp, Zoro and me were outside the castle.

Usopp: "Luffy, just give it up, will ya?"

Zoro: "It's clear he doesn't wanna go."

Luffy, confident: "You're wrong! I wanna take him with us!"

"I SAID, THAT'S WHAT _YOU_ WANT!", Zoro snapped.

Luffy kept calling the little doctor.

"Zoro-san…"

He: "Hm?"

"Maybe he really doesn't wanna go, but maybe he's just hesitating.", I rationalized.

Zoro: "How so?"

"Maybe he does want to go, but he's trying to deny it because what lies ahead of him is a great big question mark. When he decides, there's no turning back and he's uncertain of what will happen from now on, whether he stays or he comes.", I continued.

"Yeah, I can get it… Better let him think it through then.", Zoro didn't say much, preferring to wait for the situation to settle down.

"REINDEER!"

Chopper then came out.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going.", he said directly.

Luffy still insisted: "Why not? It's gonna be sooooo fun!"

"I'M NOT GOING! I'm a reindeer! I have antlers… and hooves… and a BLUE NOSE!"

He said that, but I could notice he was struggling to find valid arguments to stay. Maybe his heart wishes to say otherwise.

"I want to be a pirate, but…", well, he blurted it out. "No human's gonna accept me! Everyone's afraid of me! But…", he tried to calm down. "…thank you for inviting me.", Now smiling, he continued: "I'm gonna stay here, but you can come back and visit me someda-"

"SHUT UP! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Maybe, he just needed a little last push. Seeing that our captain was uber-obstinated on taking him at all costs, he just gave up and tears started streaming down his face.

"Since when does 'shut up' serve as an invitation?", Zoro commented.

"Well, that's Luffy to you!", I happily replied.

That should do it. He'll still be insecure of what to do from now on, but we're here to help him out, right?

After a few moments, Chopper dashed off inside to bid farewell to the person who took care of him for the past six years.

"Well, guys, as soon as Chopper dashes out, we're leaving.", Nami was saying that as she and Vivi dragged the fainted and immobile Sanji.

"Shouldn't we go with him and say goodbye to the witch and that other guy?", Luffy said, while rolling on a giant snowball.

"That's not needed… besides, don't you think it's rude to barge in their final private conversation?", I replied, asking back.

"Yeah, that's true. It's gonna be an emotional moment… you just don't wanna spoil it, do you?", Nami then tossed the question to Luffy before stating: "Doctorine might have that grumpy outer shell, but, in the end, she's very caring."

Some of us then went to prepare the rope for the descent, while the rest of us waited.

It didn't take long for us to sense disturbances on the For… sorry, I mean, disturbances inside the castle.

"Oi, what's that noise? Looks like things are getting rowdy in there…", Zoro commented.

"Did the farewell end in a quarrel?", I wondered.

"How inconsiderate… Can't they keep it shut during a private talk?", Nami ranted.

"GUYS! GET IN THE SLED! WE'RE LEAVING!"

In the horizon, there was Chopper bringing an empty sled and running towards us.

"Guys, get ready!", I called.

"Wait, he's being chased… what?"…someone or something… it's a flail! It landed right where we were standing!

Under further inspection, it was doctor Kureha that had some sort of fit and now she's throwing pointy stuff at us!

Luffy: "The witch's gone nuts!"

Me: "I guess that's international code for GET THE HELL OUT!"

We quickly grabbed our stuff, the fainted one, got in the sled and started the descent!

"Soooo, what were you saying about her being caring?", I asked Nami.

"Ah, you silly. I think she doesn't want him to see her crying, so she's like that.", Nami explained.

"What a hassle… you women…", I mumbled.

"What?", looks like she heard me.

We went down the mountain in the sled, with me in a fetal position all the way so as not to look down and freak out… As soon as we got to safe land, so as to speak, we came past the village and through the white forests.

"Yahoo! That was awesome! Hey, let's do that again!", Luffy screamed in joy.

"Fool, we're already leaving!", Nami corrected.

"Phew… height nightmare's over now.", I said, sighing in relief.

"I thought we were gonna die up there!", Usopp, trembling, said.

"You two, huh… helpless as always!", Zoro ranted with us.

"O… oi… where am I? Who am I?"

Sanji was waking up as we careened down the white roads.

Soon after, we'd see one last gift before leaving for good. The sled stopped as we heard booming sounds coming from the castle.

"Oh great, now what?", I asked.

"Sounds like a salvo of cannon firings to me.", Usopp replied.

"Why would they shoot cannons right now? Is it an attack?", Nami wondered.

"Is it to celebrate Wapol's defeat?", Vivi tried her wild guess too.

A bright light shone on the top of the mountain of the royal palace. The answer would come… in the most beautiful way imaginable.

"Wooooow!"

"Awesome!"

"Doctor… Doctorine…"

Chopper couldn't hold it and started wailing loudly, but we could fully understand why. We were witnessing doctor Hiruluk's struggle's magnificent result!

A giant pinkish cloud was covering the top of the mountain. Coupled with the mountain's shape, we were seeing… a giant cherry blossom tree! The falling snow was now pink-colored, just like the leaves of the blooming flowers! The miracle has happened! After all, cherry blossoms _can_ bloom in this cold land!

"It's… a beautiful view! Oh crap… I think I'm gonna cry yet again…", my voice wobbled as I tried not to bawl my eyes out at the scene. A small tear streamed down my cheek.

"Oh, come on! You gotta stop crying for everything, ya know?", Zoro scolded me.

"Before this there's no way I can't be touched! Besides…"

"That's not my point…", in between Zoro tried to justify himself.

"Besides…", Nami continued for me. "…all the work of that quack doctor wasn't in vain… thanks to the witch…", she whispered.

As we dashed back to the ship, the giant cherry tree was still dominant in the landscape.

"FULL SPEED AHEAD, LET'S SAIL AWAY!"

Luffy gave the order, so we quickly let the sails out and started to head back to our route: Arabasta!

Chopper went to the back of the ship and put himself over the railing, trying to see his home for as long as he could before it's gone. He didn't want to speak with anyone.

"Hmmm… That Chopper boy… he's alright?", Usopp asked whispering.

"Let's just leave him alone for now.", Nami said.

Sanji completed while puffing his cigarette: "He's living the start of a man's journey. It's a tough moment for him."

"He never left his home even once, right?", Vivi said.

I told her. "I guess each and anyone of us knows what it is like to throw away the security of our homeland and dive head-first in an unknown and tortuous path like this, together with strange, well… strangers."

"Doctor… Doctorine… I'm heading out now… my adventure will start!", I heard Chopper muttering.

Drum Island was starting to get smaller and smaller, fading out gradually of the horizon.

When we were on high seas, it was time to start the party!

"Hey, Chopper, you idiot! How long are you gonna sit there and mope?", Usopp screamed happily.

The liquor got the best of him, Zoro and Sanji. Now they can't stop laughing at each other's wild antics.

"Come drink with us!", "Let's sing a song!", "Look, put these chopsticks in your nose!"…the four doofuses kept throwing suggestions left and right… come on, he's still processing what he's just done, he ain't getting in the spirit from night to day, huh?

He then walked away from the mess, heading to where the rest of us were standing. He bumped on Nami.

"Did I surprise you?", Nami asked.

He didn't know how to reply, he was quite puzzled with all that.

"You just joined in... bet you didn't expect to meet such a ragtag bunch, did you?"

He kept silent.

"They might look like a bunch of idiots without common sense, but now they're your comrades for the rest of the trip. You gotta live with that and try to get along, ok?", Nami told him that while smiling.

"Com… rade?", he tried to understand.

I then came close and stepped in. "Excuuuuuse me, but who are you calling an idiot without common sense?"

She then glared at me and replied: "You're also one crazy fellow, ya know? Don't try to wave it off!"

"Geh, thanks for the compliments!", I snidely 'thanked' and turned to talk to our doctor. "Chopper-sensei, don't worry, you're going to get along just fine. Each one of us, in their unique ways, are strange, but we're nice fellas. You're gonna like being here."

He then finally sketched a smile.

"Aaah! Carue!"

We turned to see Vivi, tendering her pet duck that looked blue and pale… oi.

"How did you get so cold?", Vivi looked worriedly.

"Didn't it trip and fall somewhere? How clumsy!", Zoro laughed while saying that.

Vivi: "Be quiet, Mister Bushido!"

The duck tried to speak through the shock.

"He said some guy named Zoro went to swim on the lake, and since he feared something bad would happen, he jumped too.", ah!

"SO IT'S YOUR FAULT!", Nami promptly hit him for that.

"Tony-kun! You can understand him?", Vivi asked with a look of surprise.

"'Course. I was a common animal before so I can understand what they say.", Chopper explained.

"Hmmm… with the powers of the Hito Hito no Mi, you can speak our language and translate what the animals say, is that right?", I deduced with a hand on my chin.

"Yup.", he confirmed.

"Awesome! Apart from your medical skills, you can do that as well!", Nami said happily.

He tensed for a moment before breaking out his silly dancing. "I'm not happy… with your praises… YOU JERK! Ahahah…", his antics betrayed his words.

Luffy and Usopp: "He's happy to me."

"Hey, Nami, what do you mean by medical skills?", Zoro asked.

"Isn't that obvious? Chopper's a doctor. He has all one can know about medicine pounded into his brain.", Nami said while patting Chopper's shoulder.

"EEEH? HE'S A DOCTOR?", Zoro, Usopp and Luffy asked, wide-eyed.

"Oh nice… why did you want him in our crew in the first place?", I asked.

"Seven transformations… cool reindeer.", Luffy replied.

"Emergency rations.", Sanji said flatly.

The poor one got scared.

Me: "Oi, Sanji, you heard his backstory, didn't you?"

"Just kidding!", he smiled.

"AH! I ran away and forgot my medical tools!", Chopper got desperate.

"What? You mean this?", Nami presented him a blue backpack with a white X on it.

"My bag! How…", he asked, forgetting the words.

"It was on the sled. Didn't you pack your stuff before leaving?", Nami asked back.

"If it wasn't him, then…", I left the clue.

"Hmmm…", Nami stood up and looked at the sky. "…Doctorine… it turns out she knew what he was feeling all along…"

His eyes were watery again. He then decided to sit down.

"OI, CHOPPER! COME ON, LET'S PARTY!", meanwhile, the party was rolling over there…

Nami: "Oh great! He's still immersing in but you… Cho… no, don't!"

Before we notice it, he's already with chopsticks stuffed in his nostrils… but then all hell broke loose. Sanji and Zoro were bickering, Vivi tendered her pet in a choking fit, Usopp trying to speak to everyone and Luffy horsing around while we watched it all.

"You know what…", Chopper said. "I guess I'm gonna have lots of fun!"

We all smiled, heading to the party.

The fuss settled down so Usopp could speak.

"GUYS! In the name of everyone standing here, I propose a toast for our new comrade!"

Let's live great adventures together! Nice to meet you, Tony Tony Chopper!

"KANPAAAAAAAIII!"

* * *

**Chopper: "Goodbye, Drum Island... my homeland! Doctor... my adventure's finally starting!"**

**The Straw Hat Pirates have a new member: Medic Tony Tony Chopper! Now that there's someone with the medical skills to take care of everyone aboard, our adventurers can finally head to Arabasta!**

**On the way, they are going to learn more about their enemy... but wait...**

**Dan: "Hey... who's that guy?"**

**Luffy and Usopp: "And... who's THAT guy?"**

**What could be waiting for them when they arrive? Find out on the next chapter!  
**


	61. The wait is over! Arabasta right ahead!

**Chapter 61**

**"The hero of Arabasta and a ballerina on the battlefield"

* * *

**

Yoooosh! Now that we left the brrrrring cold sea currents of Drum island, the sun's shining in the horizon again! Finally I could get rid of my winter clothes and roam around the ship only in basic shorts, a sleeveless shirt and in bare feet!

"Wahoo! The heat's back!"

As soon as I left my winter stuff at the closet, I changed and dashed off to the main deck.

I let the air fill my lungs and stretched myself. I had never felt this good since I started the journey.

The sea was in a state I would describe as a 'peaceful agitation'. The waves rippling and colliding in the ship's hull produced such a soothing noise… sometimes, I find myself stoppping whatever I was doing just to listen…

"Ooorryaaaa!", or I would if there wasn't people with overflowing energy running around…

"I won!"

"No, I won!"

I saw Luffy and Chopper dashing upstairs and tugging each other like children. Looks like they were on a race down the Merry.

"Greetings, captain! Chopper-sensei!", I welcomed them.

They greeted me back and went to stare at the horizon. Luffy sit at the sheep figurehead, something he wanted to do for a long, long time. Chopper stood behind him, widening his smile as he had time to stop and appreciate the beautiful landscape around him. Nami was coming and followed suit, sitting in the railing above the lower deck.

"Ah, that's nice… I'm back to my favorite seat!", he stretched.

"Wooooow! The sea's huuuge!", Chopper exclaimed.

"That's for sure! The adventures on the ocean are the life of a pirate!", a little lesson of life brought to you by captain Luffy.

"Just like I thought… the pirates are really awesome! Hey, look, what's that?"

Chopper pointed to the sky. We then noticed a giant bird with its wings wide open, soaring above the ship!

"Look, it's a seagull!", Luffy identified.

"Seagull? It's frickin' huge!", I exclaimed.

"Unbelievable… it's too big to be just a seagull!", Nami denied.

"HEEEY, SEAGUULLL!"

We should already know what's gonna happen. The bird heard him and soon made its descent… to give a swoop heading right against us!

"See? Told ya it was a seagull.", Luffy confirmed calmly.

"LIKE WE CARE! IT'S GOING AFTER US!", Nami screamed.

"Luffy, do something!", I called.

The waves shrouded our field of vision, but when they calmed down, we noticed a certain someone was missing. When we heard screaming, we stared above to see Luffy taking a ride… on the beak of the giant bird.

"Hey! Don't let it eat you, ya idiot!", Nami screamed worriedly.

"I don't know about you, but I guess he's already used to it…", I commented.

Chopper went pale and dashed to call the others. Meanwhile, up high…

"GOMU GOMU NO… PROPELLER!"

Luffy stretched and twisted his arms, then grabbing the bird's beak, letting his arms spin and bring the dizzy beast to the ship. Landing wasn't delicate, so to speak, and made the ship rock. I tried to run and check it out, but I tripped and fell down.

I soon stood back up and headed to the back of the ship where Luffy had landed. Usopp, Sanji and Zoro were laid in the floor too, as was the bird.

"Luffy, where are… huh?", I'd ask, but I stopped when I saw Luffy coming from under the capture, smiling like nothing happened.

"Hey, Sanji, I brought meat… what? Guys, were you sleeping?", Luffy apologized.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!", the three victims quickly shot up to yell at him.

"Dammit, Luffy, you had to butt in just when I had that great hand?", Usopp argued over his cards.

"Really? Sorry, guys…", Luffy said.

They then turned their eyes to the capture.

"Ah, finally we're gonna have a meal worth its name!", Zoro was anxious already.

"Sanji-san, can you cook that bird?", I asked.

"I'm gonna try.", he replied.

"Wooow… you're… you're awesome!", Chopper's really impressed.

"Ya like it? Let me show you what else I'm capable of!", Luffy bragged.

"Guys, playtime's over. Come on, we have a little meeting to do.", Nami called us.

"Hey, Nami, what are we? Kids in the kindergarten?", I yelled.

"Sooner or later, we'll arrive at Arabasta, we're getting close. We need to plan what to do from now on, come on.", Nami kept calling.

"She's such a killjoy…", Luffy whispered.

We then walked downstairs. Chopper then asked: "Hey, guys… what's Arabasta?"

Usopp replied: "It's Vivi's homeland. There's a evil guy named Crocodile that wants to take it to himself."

Sanji completed: "Crocodile's one of the Shichibukai." (Seven Sea Warlords)

Chopper kept puzzled with all that information. "Shichibukai?", he parroted.

I sighed and intervened: "Hmmm… looks like we have a lot to explain, huh? Well, from the start…"

With pauses in between, we explained the concept of pirates of the government, and that although Crocodile's labeled a hero at Arabasta, he used that to mask his plans. Like a true villain with good publicity.

I myself never experienced a thing like that, but it isn't odd that a crook would use such a scheme to gain the trust of the public kept in the dark. No one's daring to seek the underlying truth, after all…

She continued: "Yes. He's planning a rebellion to overthrow the Royal throne… under the nose of the people… and of my dad."

"So, we just have to beat this Crocodile guy, yeah?", Luffy concluded.

"Well, yes. If we manage to stop the rebellion, we can kick Baroque Works out.", Vivi said.

"Baroque Works?", another question mark on our new comrade's mind.

"Yeah, you know zilch about them too, huh… Actually, I don't know much either. Their system's too complex to me.", Usopp said, scratching his head.

"Complex? How so? It's kinda simple to me, though… right, Vivi-san?", I said.

Vivi confirmed, detailing that there are thirteen pairs of agents working directly under the orders of the chief. They are: Mr. 1 and Ms. Doublefinger. Mr. 2's the only who has no pair.

"No? Why?", I asked.

She said he didn't need it, although she wasn't sure why.

"Then there's that candleman, Mr. 3, huh?", Zoro said.

Vivi confirmed. His pair: Ms. Golden Week. Scrolling down: "Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas. To be frank, I know nothing about those two."

Me: "So here comes the bombman, Mr. 5 and that woman with the annoying laugh…"

Vivi: "Ms. Valentine, yes. Those five pairs are known as the Officer Agents. They all possess Devil Fruit powers. They only move when the mission's important. Below them are the Frontier Agents, from Mr. 6 to Mr. 12. Their task is to collect funds for the organization and to command the foot soldiers. Further down are two hundred subordinates called Billions. The lowest are the Millions, comprised of roughly 1800 units."

Usopp: "That means each agent has… let's see… 1800 plus 200…"

Chopper: "Two thousand men?"

She: "Yes. As they accomplish mundane missions, they wait possible promotions in the case a slot is open."

Sanji: "Almost forgot to mention that back at Little Garden, I found a strange otter and a vulture and they attacked me."

Vivi: "Ah, these are Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday. Nickname: 'Unluckies'. They're the messengers and punish those who fail their missions."

Oh, I remember now! They're those bastards that drew mugshots of us and it's because of them our heads are up for grabs!

"And then there's that mysterious woman that boarded our ship. Let me see, if I'm not mistaken… Miss… whatsername…", I stared at the floor, snapping my fingers, but my memory didn't help.

"Miss All Sunday. She's the boss's right-hand woman. However, he also has a left-hand man.", Vivi explained.

"Left-hand man? What do you mean?", I asked.

"The top's comprised of a trio. Miss All Sunday works together with someone called Mr. Special One. That's all I know… details were classified information I had no way to get. They're directly under the boss, Crocodile, known as Mister 0. This is all that is Baroque Works."

"Yosh! I get it now! All we gotta do is to beat that Crocodile guy, eh?", Luffy said while punching the air.

"You didn't hear a thing, did you?", Usopp complained.

Zoro: "If conquering Arabasta is Baroque Works' final objective…"

Sanji: "…then the most powerful Officer Agents…"

Nami: "…are waiting for us at Arabasta."

Luffy: "Nice! So we positively have to beat this Crocodi-"

"Enough, yeah, we get it! You understood more than we thought.", Sanji interrupted him.

Mr. Special One… Ms. All Sunday… Boss Crocodile… it's soon, really soon. We'll come face-to-face with the top brass of this secret organization. Better get prepared then!

"Ha! Orya! Haa! Hoi! Hya!"

It's already four days since we left Drum. Enough time to rest and rinse the cold away, because things are starting to get hot now! I enjoyed the warm weather and started honing my body movements and skills. Docked at Arabasta are the strongest members of this evil organization… and it's guaranteed that they won't be easy to take down. So, in order to not die during this one, once we are on land, I gotta be alert at all times!

Hmmm… gotta think about some new neat skills to my pencil… like new weapons or… elemental control or… both? Who knows! Well, I don't. Gotta stop and think about it sometime.

Besides… Oh, look, let's talk about it later, ok?

"Orya! Hya! Uhya! Hoi!"…I breathed in and out while kicking and punching the air.

"Dan-kun, what are you doing?", hm?

Before I realized, I was already sweaty like a pig! Time flies really fast when you're focused onto something…

"Ah, Nami! I'm just doing some training…", I said while walking to where she and Vivi stood.

"Training?", she parroted.

"Baroque Works' top members are uber-powerful, aren't they? Well, we have to be a proper match to them if we wanna help Vivi-san save her country. You never know, there's always the possibility of all of us having to fight… including you, Nami."

She: "God forbid it, but it's highly likely…"

Me: "Surely there's also the chance that the rest of us won't be able to have the 'Monster Trio' around to save our asses… ow!"

She slapped me in the forehead before I knew it.

"It's not time to keep worrying and hesitating just because we're unsure of what's to come. We gotta muster our courage to keep going! Of course, I'll try to hold my own when the time calls for it. Otherwise, I'd rather blow my legs and run the hell away!", Nami spoke confidently.

Erm… not the best way to put it though, but she was right anyway.

"IT! WAS! YOU!", hm?

We heard a bang coming from below. When we went to check it out, there was Luffy lying down on the other side.

"Hmph… dammit… see, Nami-san! My giant mousetrap failed! Please, can we buy a refrigerator and a lock?", Sanji asked with a cutesy tone. Even the smoke billowing out of his cigar was heart-shaped…

Nami replied: "Yeah… I'll think about that… our lives may be at stake…"

We looked to the side, where Usopp, Chopper and Carue were fishing… and chewing very suspiciously…

"Well, well… let's try to fish something for the sake of Sanji and friends!", Usopp said kinda nervously.

Sanji approached them, making them tremble even more. Don't tell me…

"Frankly… I can't look the other way for a second? Come on!", he said while knocking out the three of them. Deservedly, because they ate the bait that was supposed to go to the fish! To add insult to the injury, Luffy devoured the food we had stored to eat in Arabasta! That means we're officially hungry!

I sighed, having to accept it. "Huh… the sea's no good today… Guess I'm gonna take a shower."

Nami: "Uh, go on, you're stinky! Ah, remember not to spill water on the floor, ok?"

"Haaaaai.", I walked inside, going downstairs.

While I did the stuff people do in the shower, I started noticing a strange smell.

"Hmmm… what the hell?", I turned the shower off and sniffed my armpits. No, not me.

"Aaaaah!", it's coming from above!

"Something's going on!"

I rinsed my body and rushed out of the bathroom. When I arrived at the rail of the cabin, I couldn't see a thing ahead! The smell only got stronger, moreover…

"Wah! Is this sulfur? What the…", oh, that's it.

"Hold on a bit more! We're going out soon!", I heard Nami announcing.

After a dose of horrible sulfur smell, we were out. And…

"Phew… what the hell was that?", I asked the wind.

"Ah, that was just a… AAAH!", she tried to reply, but when she looked at me, she immediately turned around screaming.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Vivi was bright red. She then pointed to me… and then I noticed that I was naked with only a towel covering my privates.

"Ah! Micha iyaaa~n! (Don't look!)", I felt my face heating up… how embarrassing!

"PUT CLOTHES ON!", Nami ordered and shoved me back to the cabin while facing the other way.

I recovered from the shock, putting pants, a sleeveless shirt and a short-sleeved shirt over it. My white jacket's so torn up that it's beyond repair.

"Sorry, guys, I heard screaming so I wanted to check if everyone was alright, so…", I tried to explain myself.

"I'm gonna pound you if I see you in your birthday suit again! Do you think walking naked around here is funny?", like I said, I wasn't gonna do that… and I was wearing a towel, for God's sake!

"No comments…", I said.

"Guys, we caught something!", with what, sir? You ate all the bait, remember?

Me: "Ah…"

Yeah, um… I don't know exactly which of these I should call out first: the fact that they're using Carue as bait… or the fact that what they caught doesn't really look like a fish…

"Oh dear! Why am I hugging a duck I've never met until now?"

"Like I care about that! Hey you, don't just stand there, bring us in!"

Usopp and Luffy stared blankly at each other while the "captures" fell back to the water.

"Heeeeeeeeelp! I can't sw-…"

Usopp and me had to dive and rescue them. With a little struggle, we were able to bring them back to our ship. The first was dressed with a navy blue trenchcoat and dark pants, had long black hair and a gray scarf. The second… had a quite… unusual "swan ballerina" style. Note: this is a _massive _understatement.

"Bon! That's what I get for sticking around with you!", the short one complained.

"Quit your complaints and thank them!", um… Bon?

The outlandish: "Thank you for the help! To be saved by pirates I have never met before… I shall never forget your good will!", he then bowed.

"Ah, listen, can we have a bowl of hot soup? Please?", the other one asked.

"LIKE HELL! WE'RE HUNGRY AS WELL!", we yelled.

"Hey, Wan, don't be rude!", the taller one bonked the other in the head.

"Sorry to interrupt, but who exactly are you?", I intervened.

They then looked at one another, nodded simultaneously, stood up and made a pose. In unison: "Sorry for the lateness.", they then formally introduced themselves.

One: "Gracious as the dancing swan! My name is Bon!"

The other: "Swift as a shadow, brief as any dream! I'm Wan!"

Both: "Together, we're the Bonbons!"

"Wait, what the hell am I saying?", the other bonked the one and they started arguing.

On our side…

"Oi, are they a manzai duo?", Usopp wondered.

"Beats me… but they're really weird.", I replied.

Luffy asked: "Can't you swim?"

Bon replied: "Both of us are hammers, for we ate the Fruits of the Devil."

"Which ones?", Usopp asked.

Bon: "Since we have to wait for the ship to come back, how about a little demonstration, Wan-chan?"

Wan: "I don't really care. You go first."

Bon: "Hmmm… OK! Soooooorya!"

He then slapped Luffy, sending him rolling backwards! What the…?

"Wait, wait, waaaaait right there! It's just a little show! Cut the jokes already!"…hey, it was the Bon guy's mannerisms, but… with Luffy's face! How? "If I touch my face with my left hand…", he was back to normal. "Hooray! I am back! See? This is the power of my fruit, the Mane Mane no Mi! (Copy-Copy Fruit)", he then danced around and touched our cheeks.

"The face… the looks were exactly the same!", Usopp commented.

"Well, although I don't need to punch anyone to begin with…", Bon said.

He then, in quick succession, transformed in…

Me…(!) "As you will see, it's simple…"

Usopp… "…if I touch my face…"

Zoro… "…with my right hand…"

Chopper… "…I can copy the appearance…"

And Nami… "…and imitate anyone! Both face… and body!"…he then unbuttoned his shirt, revealing… breasts!

Cue furious nosebleed and miserable attempts to cover it. Also, cue a punch and a giant lump on Bon's head.

"Oouch…"

"You deserved it. Who told you to show something inappropriate?", Wan came from behind and scolded him. "Yosh, lady and gentlemen. Behold! Nothing in my hands…", he showed his palms, then he closed them. After that, there was a flower!

"That's exactly what you're pondering. The powers of the Shoku Shoku no Mi (Plant-Plant Fruit) that were bestowed upon me allow me to produce every kind of plant available."

Chopper, enthusiastically: "Really? Even medicinal plants?"

"Of course!", he then grew orchids, roses, sunflowers and whatever else. He then gave them as a gift to each one of us.

"However… the most precious jewels, without fail, if tampered, they lose their charm. Preserve those flowers with your lives!", he then turned to Nami and said: "Especially you, dear lady, save your beauty, for it will wither away someday.", he, out of nowhere, gave her a bouquet.

"Bon! Unfortunately, that is all we have to show.", Wan said.

"Indeed, Wan-"

"ONE MORE TIME! ONE MORE TIME!", Usopp, Chopper and Luffy shouted begging for an encore.

I decided to step away and let the group enjoy each other. The Bon guy then decided to show the faces he had stored in his memory.

"They're energetic, huh?", Nami found it strange.

"Hmmm… they've met only for a few minutes but are partying like they knew each other for so long… Heheh, these youngsters of nowadays…", I put a hand on my chin.

"Quit the jokes, you're freakin' 18 years old!", Nami butted in and sighed, she could do nothing about it. "Do whatever you want…"

"Look, there's our ship!", Bon pointed. He and Wan jumped from where they stood to stand on the rail of our ship.

"Looks like it's time for us to leave, right, Wan-chan?", Bon said.

"All that is good is short-lived.", Wan completed.

"PLEASE DON'T GO!", Usopp cried of sadness.

Bon comforted them: "Don't be sad, my dears! Journeys and farewells walk together."

Wan, to end: "Brave warriors, value your friendships, no matter what happens!"

Their ship approached ours, and they jumped aboard.

"LET'S MEET AGAIN!", Luffy shouted.

"My dears! We are going!", we heard Bon's command.

"Aye, aye! Mr. 2 Bon Kurei-sama!", they replied accor-oh, wait…

WHAT?

"MISTER 2?"

"Wait, I remember now! That man is Mr. 2 Bon Kurei!", Vivi put her hands on her head.

"So you didn't recognize him?", Luffy asked incredulously.

"No! I had never met the Mr. 2 and Mr. 1 pairs personally!", Vivi leaned back and bumped her back against the wall, nervously. "I only heard rumours about him… that he was a tall man, behaved like a ballerina, was loudmouthed… and used a swan trenchcoat… with 'Bon Kurei' written in the back…"

Hey, that description is a little _too accurate_ to just go by unnoticed, Vivi! Although that's kind of a big deal, it shouldn't be such to leave her so desperate and upset as she was. After Luffy asked her what was wrong, she revealed:

"It's that between the faces he transformed to… there was… my father! The King of Arabasta, Nefertari Cobra!", that's more than enough to get upset about…

Wait, if he's able to transform into the King, he can use this disguise to do unspeakable atrocities and go off unpunished!

"We let such a dangerous guy escape right under our nose…", Usopp lamented.

"If he becomes our enemy, it's gonna be hard to deal with… after all, he can use his memory to transform into anyone of us. We'll end up suspecting each other.", Nami said.

"Hmm… oh, great… how can we act now?", I left the question.

Zoro only grinned and replied. "Calm down, guys, I got a trick up my sleeve. I say that we were lucky to find him, because that gave me the chance to think of a countermeasure."

Me: "What about the other guy, the Wan? Vivi-san? Have you met him before?"

She: "No, I didn't meet him either…"

"He said his name was Wan… wait… Wan… One… could it be that he's Mister 1?", Usopp deduced and went pale.

"Maybe… maybe not…" We had two shots. He could be either Mr. 1 or that Mr. Special One. To me, it makes sense in both cases, what only shrouds his true colors. Truth is: we bumped into our enemies even before touching solid ground! His demonstration was inconclusive at best. That façade doesn't convince me.

I stopped thinking about that when the ship rocked again. Suddenly…

"Yooossh! Our first meal in four days!", Zoro shouted while drawing out his swords and running to the back of the ship.

"What? FOOOOOOOOOOD!", Luffy rushed after him.

I run as well and then gawked… it's a giant seacat! At first, I was too hungry and my stomach rumbled with the presence of possible food… but it's cat meat we're talking about here.

"Food! Food! Fo- huh? A cat?"

Zoro: "Yosh, it's running! Dan, Luffy, let's get'em!"

I refused. "I don't eat cat meat."

"Don't let it go! Be sure to kill it dead!", Sanji was coming to the party.

"STOP!", I felt a broom swooping down my head… "You must not eat it under any circumstance! At my land, these are sacred animals!", ok, tell that earlier!

"Vivi! The climate's stabilizing… we should be there any moment now.", Nami announced while coming from the front.

"It's right. The seacat's presence is proof.", Vivi replied.

"Also the ships coming behind us in the horizon. Look.", Zoro pointed.

When I looked more thoroughly, I tensed when I realized they were Baroque Works' ships! Must be the subordinates heading back "home"…

"The Billions are coming too." Vivi confirmed. "Baroque Works' army elite. They're at a higher level than the ones you fought in Whiskey Peak.", that doesn't matter to me.

Me: "Should we care about them, Zoro-san?"

Zoro: "They're weaklings. If we ignore them, it'll be fine."

Sanji: "If we steer away from our main goal, it's game over."

Time to strike back. Zoro got a piece of cloth. When he got back, he tore it in little pieces and shared with all of us, to tie around our left arms. That way we can confirm our identity and attack possible imposters. Two birds, one stone.

"Hey, guys! Land ahead!", Luffy shouted, announcing.

"Let's stop on the port at Nanohana. That'll hide the ship.", Vivi said.

Luffy then gathered the rest of us on a circle, straightening out his arm and saying: "Yosh! From now on, this strap on our left arms… is the symbol of our friendship!"

* * *

**Arabasta's sandy terrain already is on our adventurers' sights. It's time to prepare everything and get our minds ready! As the crew explores the lands and finds out more about Vivi's country, a new adventure will start!**

**Keep around for the next issue! I'm waiting for you!  
**


	62. Desert, sand and wacky hijinks!

**Chapter 62**

**"We're on the desert kingdom! Lost and found in Arabasta"

* * *

**

"We're almost there. It's not good to be all excited about it, but I gotta admit that it's asking too much of you at this time… Do you have the strength to stop the rebellion?", Nami asked while approaching Vivi, who stood near Merry's figurehead.

"I have what's available to me. That doesn't include assurances of peace in the short term, though.", Vivi replied with concern.

More and more, the port of Nanohana was coming closer of our sights. We've arrived at the great desert that is Arabasta.

Still far from the city, we anchored the ship in a sandy region of the coast. The golden-yellow color of the mountains and rocks was dominant in the landscape, although a colorful point made its presence known in the distance.

Beauty aside, it's time to revise what to do from now on.

"Guys, I'll say this only once. From now on, we must behave carefully.", Nami spoke with a serious tone.

"YEEES, NAMI-SAN!", Sanji replied as cheerily as ever.

"Does that matter right now? Er… 'cause, Nami, the person you should worry about the most is already off.", Zoro said while pointing…

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"…to a Luffy running like crazy away from the ship and into the desert! Seriously, we can't look the other way for a second 'cuz he just dashes off on his own? But hey, what am I rambling for… it's Luffy, after all.

"GET BACK HERE!", Nami shouted to deaf ears.

"It's official, he's not from our world…", Usopp commented.

"What can we do about him?", Vivi wondered worriedly.

Sanji tried to calm her down. "Relax, Vivi-chan… we just need to look on the noisiest places. He'll be there for sure.", just like that, he hopped off the ship.

Nami facepalmed in frustration. "Grr… everything we say just enters an ear and goes out the other… I hope he remembers there's a bounty hanging on his neck!"

"It's no use to talk about that now…", I said.

"Just leave him be. What about we eat a little meal and stop to think about that later? He's gonna be alright.", Zoro said while going down the ropestairs. Chopper, carrying a full backpack soon followed suit.

"Yeah, that is… if he doesn't end up lost in the deserts…", I said.

"Oh, forget it! Now that you said that, it's guaranteed he's gonna do just that.", Nami and her pessimistic predictions.

"I'm sorry, but Carue and I can't follow you.", Vivi said.

Usopp: "What? Why? Is anything wrong?"

Vivi: "My face would be recognized by too many people…"

Me: "Hmmm.. she's got a point. We don't have much of a choice then…"

"Don't worry! I'll buy all the food you need, Vivi-chan!", outside, Sanji replied with a smile.

Suddenly Carue started screaming from the front, attracting our attention. When we went there to check what was going on, I quickly regretted it… because right in front of us laid Mr. 3's personal ship! Didn't we finish him off back at Little Garden?

"If I'm not mistaken, that ship's powered by the Doru Doru no Mi.", Vivi said.

"Hmmm… that doesn't really help, Vivi-san… we could barely move freely even before arriving, now if he bumps into us, we're screwed!", I stated.

Usopp then turned to us and said, confidently: "Fear not! 'Cause I got a trick up my sleeve!"

He then dashed off to the cabin, scavenging left and right. We heard rumbling noises meanwhile. He then got back, holding a strange, old-looking light green tarp.

"Umm… I'm afraid to ask but… what's that for?"

He: "Whenever out of appropriate disguises, we're sneaking inside the city under this protective tarp! That way we can walk to a safe spot without being noticed."

"Without being noticed by exactly who, sir? Is there anyone _so_ distracted to not be tipped off by a giant, moving, green tarp?"

Although Nami was openly reluctant about it – well, to be frank, she's not the only one – we followed Usopp's zany plan anyway and, with the exception of Sanji and Chopper, we arrived at the city under the green tarp. While crouch-walking, I couldn't stop hearing the continuous mumbling from all directions…

"I told you!", Nami whispered.

"Relax, relax, we're just going to pass through and stop somewhere.", Usopp tried to tranquilize us.

Me: "Do you even know where are we going, to begin with?"

After walking a bit more, we took off the tarp. I noticed that our "hideout" was a wall formed by the remains of a building.

"Yosh! It's safe! Pass through without being noticed: Success!", Usopp jumped.

"_That_ would be a miracle…", Nami still complained.

"I could just draw fake moustaches for all of us, it'd be the same!", I said while kicking a pebble.

"Anyway, we can rest now, since Vivi-chan can be free of curious eyes for the time being.", Sanji said. "Hm? Hey, what's the matter, Vivi-chan?", he noticed that she kept looking to the ground, seeming insecure about something.

"Oooi, Vivi-san?", I waved a hand in front of her face.

"Yaes! Wha-what's up? What's wrong?", she instantly woke up from the trance.

"_I_ should be asking that. Are you under some sort of hypnosis to keep frowning all the time?", I said.

She looked away, then closed her eyes while apologizing. "I'm sorry… I've been thinking… when I took a glance at the situation, I believed that everything is alright… I know I can't relax just like that, but… I think I still have time.", Vivi said while always looking to the ground, clenching the tarp harder and harder.

Must want to channel her worries on something.

Nami: "That's true… Murmuring aside, the city looks safe, at least for a while."

"Vivi.", Zoro called. "You said you have the strength to stop the rebellion, didn't you?", Vivi nodded, confirming. "Now what? What are you planning to do? Also, what do you want _us_ to do?"

"Hm?", Vivi blinked for an instant, then spoke. "You're right, but… you just promised to leave me here and-"

Nami interrupted, bonking her in the forehead. "Ok, that's enough. You're still talking like that? We traveled together all this time, do you still think we're gonna just pack our stuff and abandon you?"

"Nami-san…"

Usopp: "She's right, Vivi. Don't be so reserved, especially now!"

"Vivi-san, there's a little lesson I learned… guess I should teach you. With these guys around, there's not much to think about.", I said, confidently. "Hmph… I found myself thinking that Luffy was just a simpleton, but in the end, he's kinda right. As long as we defeat Baroque Works, the country can return to normal."

"Looks like that Crocodile guy's strong… now I'm quite interested.", Zoro said while smirking.

"You two, that was unnecessary!", she turned to us with an angry face. Then she talked to Vivi. "About you, it's already time for you to stop hesitating and go ahead! After all…"

"…if this country gets crushed, my payment for bringing you here is gone. Capiche?", Vivi only got even more scared with the dark aura Nami emanated as she said that.

"O-ok."

"As long as you understand, that's fine.", Nami smiled.

"Go to hell already!", Zoro said.

"My pleasure, thank you!", Nami replied without a flinch.

They went back to their squabble over Zoro's "debt" back at Loguetown. It's already at 400k and counting! Well, sucks to be you, Zoro!

"Women… you gotta be kidding me… leeching our money and kicking us ou-", I mumbled, but I stopped as I felt a disturbance around.

"Did you say something?", geh… can't I mumble to myself without getting caught? Holy super-hearing, Bat… er, I mean, Nami!

"No, no-nothing! Fi-first of all, where do we go now, Vivi-san?", that question was more to evade Nami's greedy aura.

"First, I wanted to go to the oasis of Yuba, northwest from here. The rebel army is stationed there. I want to talk to their leader and stop the rebellion.", Vivi said. "However, if we want to get there, we must cross the desert. Before that, we got to gather enough food and supplies, but…"

"Ah, in that case, just let Sanji-san and Chopper do the job for ya.", I intervened.

"Eh?", she turned to me with a puzzled look.

"Mr. 3 didn't see them, did he? Well, I think people won't raise an eyebrow on them.", I continued.

"That'd be a great help. Chopper, since I'm gonna buy a lot, I need someone with enough strength to help me carry it all, ok? I'm counting on you.", he called the little reindeer for the duty.

Usopp: "Are you gonna be alright? Chopper, you were complaining about the heat back in the ship, weren't you?"

Chopper: "I'm gonna try to hold out for as long as possible. I'll do whatever is needed!"

"Well, if you don't mind… could you bring some clothes?", Vivi said.

"Clothes?", Sanji parroted.

She continued. "So we can look no different than a normal citizen."

"Ah, can you bring some perfume?" Nami joined the talk.

"Haaaai, Nami-swan! Vivi-chwan! Just leave it to me!", Sanji happily listened to their requests.

Then they walked off. May the Force be… oh, sorry. Good luck, guys.

"Anyway… what about our idiot captain? Where the hell is he now?", Nami asked quite angrily.

"Please, so long as he's not lost in the middle of a desert…", I prayed to the winds.

"OK, STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT!", Nami snapped.

A loooooooooooooong and boring wait followed.

Two seconds of silence and that uncomfortable feeling already filled my mind… come on, guys, talk about something! I hate silence!

I hadn't noticed in the beginning, but the heat was already starting to make me sweat. It's like just sitting here is already an ordeal… that's the desert for you!

"Haa… uh! It's so hot! Nami, I don't know why the hell you asked for a perfume… we're gonna sweat like pigs once we start our walk!", I said while waving my hand like a fan.

She: "No, we won't. After all, didn't you hear Vivi asking for clothes? Besides, I always want to look good!", that won't matter once we're fighting, Nami…

Me: "Tch… clothes… Vivi-san, a little question…"

"Hm?", she turned to me.

Me: "It's something I've only imagined until now. In such a hot atmosphere, how can the people living in the desert live and function while walking around wearing those lots of clothes?"

She explained: "The blazing heat makes us sweat and lose our water quickly."

"At least I know that, thanks."

She: "Normally, the material used to make the clothes of those who travel through the desert is an insulator. That property repels the outside heat while keeping our body temperature stable and normal."

I'm all ears, go on.

"The heat of the desert can induce hyperthermia, heatstroke and a quick dehydration without proper garments. Another curious thing is that the travelers almost always use white clothing to reflect the solar beams.", Vivi concluded.

"Heh… you sure know your stuff, Vivi-san!", I put a hand on my chin. Then, I made a little request. "Vivi-san, since we're together for this long, do you let me draw your portrait?"

"Eh? Portrait? You're an artist?", she asked quizzically.

"It's just a pastime, though. I mostly write about fantastical stuff, that's what I can do best.", I explained.

"Writer? That's weird… pirate ships don't usually have writers onboard…", Intrigued, Vivi wondered.

"Truth is, this one has and he's no slouch, I can assure you!", modesty aside, is it wrong to brag about yourself once in a while?

"OOOI, NAMI-SWAN! VIVI-CHWAN! Rest of the idiots, we're back!", hm? Already? Oh great, the talk wasn't finished… Sanji and Chopper came back full of supplies for our travel.

After a big change of clothes… we're dressed appropriately and ready to tackle the desert! Us men as authentic Bedouins (or almost) and the women… dressed as the most beautiful belly dancers of the land! What, with their pretty hairstyles, and their clothes adorned with those ornaments that jangle when they move around!

"How nice! I like my style!", Nami smiled while checking her new looks, head to toe. Well, Vivi stood at the embarrassed end.

"Wow! Sanji-san, good job!", one big thumbs up! Kudos to him!

"Ah… Sanji-san… these aren't quite the clothes I wanted to…"

While the rest enjoyed their meals, Sanji and I (him more than me, though) couldn't stop ogling and appreciating the beauty of our very own odalisques!

Vivi: "I asked for citizen's clo-"

"Buuuuut… dancers are citizens too!", Sanji said, smiling broadly.

Vivi: "What about walking in the dese-"

"Buuuuut… if you get tired, it'll be my pleasure to carry you!", he just couldn't stop swooning… I can understand him, though.

"Guess it's useless to talk to him now…", Vivi gave up.

"Nami-chan, if you're troubled, you can count on me too!", I said, smiling.

"I'm alright by myself, thank you."…geh… rejected once more. Uh, that sounded like I'm trying to hit on her… how embarrassing!

Poor Chopper was lying down in a corner all the while, covering his nose. That must be because of the perfume, since his nose's more sensible than ours.

"Like this?", Nami poured some over her shoulder, making Chopper cry for mercy… on the other end, though, Sanji's love deepened once more…

"Guys… before all else!", Usopp somehow stopped the fuss. " We have the supplies already? Let's go now!"

"Everyone… the travel will be tough. I'm still concerned over what will happen, but… I just want to ask one more favor… guys… lend me your power! It's the only way to bring peace back to this country! I beg you… please!"

That goes without saying, Vivi!

"I was waiting for you to say that, Vivi!", Nami smiled and blinked.

"We're already used to dangerous adventures, Vivi-san.", you don't tell me…

"Guys… thank you!", Vivi finally smiled.

"Yosh! Let's head to Yuba!", Usopp stood up, shouting and raising his arm up high. We'd do the same if he didn't remind us of one rather unsettling flaw in our plan: "Er… guys, someone's still missing…"

A quiet moment… "Luffy!"

"Yeah, I almost forgot about that… that idiot! Where the hell is he?", Nami got angry again.

"Looks like he won't be back anytime soon… guys, I guess he's officially lost in the dese-ow!", I'd lament, but I got interrupted.

"Desert, desert, desert! Stop the bad omens already!", she hit me. You can't scold me for _that_, Nami!

"So… while he's away, how about a little stroll around the city?", Zoro proposed. "Maybe we can bump into something interesting."

We followed his suggestion, going on a walk around Nanohana. The city's mostly composed of blocks and castles of traditional architecture. Domes and buildings that looked like towers were imposing and dominated the urban landscape. When inside the city, the contrast of the bustling, colorful city with the yellow becomes more apparent. We walked through a commercial zone, full of stalls selling all kinds of stuff.

Left and right, we were bombarded with the screams of merchants trying to attract clients.

One of them caught our eye with the offer of a magical golden apple. He said that one bite would prolong the life of a mortal to roughly a millennium. Chopper and Usopp stopped there, gawking at the tale.

"Let me see…", I held the apple, noticing no particular supernatural properties. "Are you sure, sir? This apple can really grant me more 982 years to live?" Hmmm… it's really odd… smells fishy… like a scam.

"Of course! I found it in an excavation to ancient ruins! If you're still unconvinced, I offer one of those for the special prize of 1000 beri!", Umm… ssssure, let's go with that.

"1000 BERI? We'll buy it, we'll bu-ouch!", the fools were so happy, but mean Nami went and bonked the joy out of them.

"Oh, please… what are you thinking?", Nami called them back to earth, dragging them out while Zoro exposed the "magic". Run-of-the-mill apples soaked in gold paint… amateurs!

We walked off with the naïve duo dragged by their necks, with Zoro and me walking behind.

As I strolled, minding my own business, I noticed Zoro starting to fall back. I turned to see him looking to the side.

"Whazzup, Zoro?", I asked.

"Look… that guy. With a hat.", he pointed.

Hat, hat… hat, oh! Found it. Far away, I noticed a man wearing nothing beyond a adventurer's hat, knee-level shorts, stylish shoes, walking around with his upper body exposed. He was talking to a mystic. Also, he carried lots of gadgets and sported a tattoo with the letters A, S crossed out, C and E.

"Sorry, I'm looking for a guy named Monkey D. Luffy…", huh?

Monkey D. Luffy? Not good…

From then on, I heard nothing else, because the subject walked away. As he disappeared, I couldn't stop staring at a strange purple mark on his back. I don't know why but, something's telling me I saw that mark before…

"Who was that guy? He looked strong…", Chopper said.

"He said he was looking for Luffy… Is he a bounty hunter?", Nami wondered.

"No…", Zoro, vaguely. "That mark… as a former pirate hunter, there's no way I'd forget that mark."

"Can you explain?", Nami asked.

"He's… huh? Oh no… that's…", all of a sudden, he paled.

"Hey, Zoro, what's wro-", I stopped when I noticed a blue-haired lady wearing casual clothes, a sword on her waist and holding a small book.

Me: "Could she be… Ta… Tashigi-san!"

"Crap, crap, crap! That woman… what the hell is she doing here?", Zoro only got more unnerved… what's so special about her? Well, she's cute and all, but why's he so nervous about her?

Once she turned around, Zoro hid behind a barrel.

"Hey, Zoro, what's wrong?", Nami asked.

As he didn't respond, I took his place. "Yeah, he's hiding from a girl we met back at Loguetown. For some reason he won't tell, whenever she's around, he gets all emba-"

"Will you shut your mouth?", Zoro yanked me and force-shut me up as I was talking.

"Nuh, uts dut u dhushd wuntud tu lut thum nuw…", translation: No, it's that I just wanted to let them know… with mouth covered. Zoro soon uncovered it, then I talked. "Wait… if that woman's around… it means…"

"Oi, Tashigi!"

"Captain Smoker!", exactly. The smoky uncle from Loguetown is back! He came carrying one men in each shoulder and throwing them to the ground, just like that.

It was hard to hear him, but… "We have no news of the arrival of that Straw Hat Luffy. Don't even think about lowering our guard! I'm sure he will get here sooner or later."

Usopp: "No way… don't tell me he chased us all the way to here?"

Zoro: "Looks like it…"

Me: "And… he must be more obsessed than ever on catching Luffy! Where the hell our captain's gone? What if he's lost…", I shut as I started feeling evil presences around…

"Tell me that you think he's lost in the desert again and I'll kill you right here!", Nami, _you_ said it now.

Her death glare made me shrink in a corner. "Ok, I'll shut up now."

"How about rushing back to our base while nobody's looking?", Usopp suggested.

We soon followed suit, walking like nothing is happening, but always keeping an eye on possible marines. Thankfully, we managed to get back to our hideout, where Sanji, Vivi and Carue watched over our supplies.

"Nami-san!", Vivi called.

"Hey, guys, bad news… this place's full of bad vibes!", Usopp said.

"Bad vibes? What do you mean?", Sanji asked.

"The Marine's here!", Nami explained.

"What? Oh great…", Vivi in sarcasm mode? How curious…

"We gotta find Luffy somehow, pack our stuff and leave right now!", Nami said.

"Hide, now!", I felt Zoro shoving us behind the wall.

"W-w-what's going on, Zoro-san? Somebody's coming?", I asked. After that, we started noticing screams and loud noises coming our way. "Hey… is it me or there's a big mess going on over there?"

Zoro: "Bullseye… it's the marines."

Sanji: "Probably they're making a hell of a noise, because of some crazy pirate running around…"

Crazy pirate?

"STOOOOP! STRAW HAT!"

How come that description _doesn't_ fit Luffy to a T?

"Hey, guys! So you're there!", he noticed us and ran to our hideout, only making a little misstep… he forgot to _outwit the marines chasing him_!

"Straw Hat Pirates! Let's arrest them!", uh-oh…

"What do we do now?", Usopp, trembling.

"Like we have a choice! This is the code to GET THE HELL OUT!", right, get our stuff and dash off! Now!

The hot pursuit continued. Those pesky marines…

"White Blow!", I look behind to see a smoke punch coming near…

"Heat Haze!", I look forward to see a stream of fire connecting and cancelling said punch out…

"Heh… stop right there. You may be smoke, but I'm fire. Therefore, a fight's utterly pointless."

Well, it turns out that he's none other than that guy with wild hair and the strange mark we saw a while ago! He's also a Devil Fruit user! Also, he's got fire up his… b-b-body! (Whew, last-second word swap!)

"Who's that guy? Why is he helping us?", Usopp wondered.

"Ace!", Luffy exclaimed.

"You never change, Luffy…", the boy turned around to talk to our captain.

"Since when you got a Devil Fruit running on your system?", Luffy asked.

"That's since I ate the Mera Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit), a long time ago!", the Ace guy replied. "Anyway, I'd love to stay here and contemplate my navel, but I've got some marines to take care of. Go ahead, I'll catch up with you guys later! C'MON!", Ace said.

"O-ou! Guys, let's run!", well, no questions, start running!

"Hey, Luffy! Who's that guy!", Nami showed us that asking a question while running is fine.

"Ah… that? That's… my big bro!"

Silence… wait, what?

"Big bro?"

* * *

**Dan: "Eek! Marines! Run for it!"**

**Ace: "Don't worry guys, your backs are covered!"**

**As our fiery adventurers make their escape before the Marines set their asses ablaze, a new, burning character makes a hot-blooded entrance! In the scorching heat of the deserts of Arabasta, we find out more about Ace, his flaming backstory, his incensed motives and more!**

**Nami: "Stop the hurricane of puns already!" **

**Usopp: "Nobody's laughing, you're failing miserably!"**

**O-ok, I'll stop now. *clears throat* Next issue, the Straw Hats leave Nanohana to continue their journey through the sand country!  
**


	63. The ruins of an once glorious city

**Chapter 63**

**"The Green City… or just the carcass of what it once was"

* * *

**

"Now what… what's happening?"

"What's that?"

A bright light was shining behind us, practically "obligating" us to stop and look at it, just for the giggles. After all, Ace and Smoker had started fighting. Their powers already collided, forming some kind of tornado melding together a mix of fire and white fumes agitating in mid-air.

"It doesn't impress me that you have a brother, Luffy, but what's he doing in the Grand Line?", Zoro asked.

"He's become a pirate too. He set out three years earlier than me searching for One Piece.", Luffy was smiling as he said that.

Back to the fight:

"They're like oil and water… if that Ace said that fighting Smoker would be useless due to their powers, so why the hell are they fighting anyway?", I asked.

"Well, I think he's, uh, I don't know… _buying time_!", Nami: sarcasm mode on. "So how about getting our asses back to the ship before the soldiers catch us, eh?"

Usopp: "Nice idea, let's run!"

Better stop asking questions and run already. It's time to leave the fireworks for later and keep running towards the coast. However, the city's so crowded and the streets are so confusing, it's like a maze!

"Guys, bifurcation ahead!", Nami alerted. "Everyone to the left!"

Left, hey-ho!

"Guys, let's keep up this pace because… our ship's right there!", the Merry's already on our sights. As soon as we got there, it's our cue to get up and get the supplies onboard, but the running won't stop there.

"Store it all on the right places! I want this ship off the coast by yesterday, ok?", Nami ordered.

Zoro, Usopp, Sanji and me were running left and right, carrying the bags of food to their places, lifting up the anchor, preparing the sails and positioning the helm, doing what it takes to get this ship off and running.

Yosh! Everything's ready, let's set sa-waaaaaait a minute…

"Guys!", I skidded to a stop, looked around and counted the people aboard: "One, two, three… four, five, six… seven, eight.", after stopping, I gave a desolate sigh. "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

"Probably yes.", Zoro replied wearily.

"One, two…", after the count: "Luffy's missing.", I and Zoro said at the same time. Oh, great minds think alike after all, huh? Well, people think alike all the time. But hey, that doesn't really matter right now!

"That moron! Where is he this time?", Nami asked exasperately. When we arrived, he was all about causing troubles. Now on our departure, it's the same story. It's time to get used to it already, I guess.

"I can't believe he doesn't know what 'left' means!", Sanji complained to the winds.

Well, guess that is what's happening…

Fantastic! Now he's gonna run around the town in circles searching for us.

"At least I hope he does assume we're still running back to the ship…", I and my weak hopes…

"Anyway, we can't keep loitering around for too long. We have to go right now.", Nami suggested impatiently.

Chopper objected. "How about Luffy, are we just leaving him?"

"He has to find some way to get back here later. If we stay, we're certainly doomed to have lots of Marine ships around to capture us.", Nami replied.

Without time to wait or to think, there was no other choice. The ship left the port, gradually sailing away from the coast. It's decided that we would try to find another port to hide the ship until things calm down, and start searching for Luffy.

"Oh, bummer… this captain of ours keeps making us spin around and around and waste time and…", I could hear Usopp's mumbling from the cabin.

Well, he has a point. What a reliable captain I followed, eh?

"There must be a little coating around here. That way we can get around inconspicuously.", Vivi advised.

Nami volunteered to climb to the crow's nest, grab the binoculars and search for signs of any idiot wearing a straw hat and strolling on the coast. Fortunately, it didn't take too long for her to find any.

"Hey, guys! I found him!", she screamed.

Sanji soon confirmed it. "It's him! That goofy look on his face is unmistakable… wait… what's he going to…"

Soon after I saw something approaching us. It was a hand grabbing the rail of the ship… oh, crap, I've seen this pattern before!

"Sanji-san, Chopper-sensei, brace for impact!", I anticipated.

"Huh?", unfortunately, the two of them wasted time looking at me, not seeing when Luffy let his arm yank him back to the ship and crash-land on the two. The three of them got entangled around each other on the terrace of the cabin.

Zoro facepalmed out of annoyance. "Seriously… can't you be more delicate?"

"BASTARD! Can't you grasp your own strength? I should throw you out and let you drown just for the shits and giggles!", Sanji quickly shot up and yelled at Luffy. Chopper's still down and dizzy.

"Yeah, he's right, Luffy! Do you have any idea of the trouble you're causing?", Nami asked while getting down.

"Hey, sorries!", Luffy was all smiles.

"Please, stop fooling around and at least try to act like a responsible captain for once!", Nami's scold.

"Well, we're talking about Luffy after all, so that's kinda impossible for him…", I commented while arriving at the crime scene.

"Oh great! Ace's still there!", Luffy stood up, running and leaning on the rail of the ship, searching for his brother.

"You were together?", Zoro asked.

"Now what, are you gonna leave him behind? Can he make it on his own?", Usopp asked as well.

Luffy turned to us and smiled as he said: "Of course! He's gonna get out, it's fine."

"Is he strong?", Chopper asked.

"Listen bud, he's incredible! Even before eating that Devil Fruit, every time we sparred, I could never beat him.", oh, so the power's running on the blood, eh?

"You? Never beat a normal human?", Nami asked disbelievingly.

Usopp: "I knew it… the older brother of a monster can only be a supermonster…"

Me: "Wow, I'd never expect _you_ to say something like that, Luffy…"

Wait a second, he's not finished. "But hey, if we fought now, I'd win for sure! Hah!", he started laughing.

"What you say…", speak of the devil… "…who you're gonna beat again, eh?"

…and he doth appear. Crouching on the rail of our ship, comes the incredible Ace! The older brother of our loony captain!

"Oh, Ace! These are the guys I told you about!", Luffy introduced us.

Ace got startled, but recomposed and introduced himself formally. "Oh, greetings to you all! I'm pretty happy that my little bro's under your care.", oh, I'd never see that coming!

"Oh, it's nothing.", we all replied and bowed to him.

Ace: "I assume you've been through hell with him already, right? Yeah… I'm sorry about him, he doesn't behave well, he's got nothing even remotely resembling tact, so he gets in trouble quite regularly."

"Yeah, it's true.", we replied.

"Looks like you got nothing to do for now, don't you? Wanna stay for a while? I can make you some tea.", Sanji offered.

"Ah, that's fine, don't worry about the tea. Thanks for the consideration.", Ace thanked for the invitation. Then he snapped his fingers, magically lighting the cigar of our blonde cook.

"Wow, that's… really unexpected.", Usopp was astounded.

"Yeah…", Zoro too.

"Hey… I thought the guy Luffy was talking about was an even more arrogant and selfish idiot…", Usopp said.

"Hey, Usopp-kun, that's rude!", I called him out. "Ah, please, don't be offended, er… Ace-san.", I stuttered. He didn't mind.

Nami, equally surprised: "Now seriously, I find it impossible for a person so polite and bearable to be Luffy's older brother."

"Brotherhood's such a beautiful thing…", Chopper's voice trembled as he said that.

Sanji: "Another one of the sea's mysteries… That doesn't make sense."

"Seeeee, aren't they cool? My crew!", Luffy said happily.

"Guys, looks like we have to do the introductions later. Look!", Zoro called our attention.

He's right, based on the Baroque Works ships sailing right in front of us.

"Now what: do we fight or do we run?", I posed the question.

"Wait right there. You won't need to move a finger.", huh? "I'll take'em."

I noted Ace yelling while hopping out of our ship and in a small boat he probably used to get here in the first place.

"What's he gonna do by himself on that little boat?", Nami wondered.

"I don't know… let's check it out. What the captain of Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division can do.", Zoro said with a little scoff.

"Hey, Zoro, how exactly do you know that much about him?", I asked.

"Remember the mark, Dan. I'll tell you more later.", he replied.

Getting back to what matters right now, the boat turned out to be powered by Ace's fire. It moved very close to the giant Baroque Works galleons. A true duel of David versus Goliath.

After that, Ace takes balance and jumps outside his boat, several feet up in the air. He does some flips and turns his flames on, forming a kind of propeller.

Not-quite-flying like a falling star, he goes right over the vessels while evading, or even better, burning the incoming enemy shots coming from below.

Finally, he landed back on his small ship, charging his attack!

"Fire… FIST!"

He shot a huge flaming stream that literally _ripped to shreds_ all the enemy fleet galleons. In. One. Hit! One after another, the ships in the fleet were destroyed and swallowed by the flames. An authentic massacre… now I lost track of who's David and who's Goliath in all of this…

Ace only admired the spectacle, reverted his flames, slightly adjusting his hat.

"Incredible!", Usopp exclaimed. Luffy was astounded just like us, hopping up and down in enjoyment.

Nami: "Aboard that little boat… he destroyed the Baroque Works galleons… in one punch!"

Me: "He's damn lucky… looks like we met another winner of the Devil's Fruit Super Power Lottery!"

As soon as he got back to the ship, the usual trio started partying with mugs and lots of drinks!

"To this delicious drink: A TOAST!", they did.

"To the delicious food: A TOAST!", another one.

"How 'bout the sand? It's awful!", not to celebrate though, but they toasted again anyway.

"Yosh! Awesome! Ace's our new addition!", Usopp shouted. He, Luffy and Chopper toasted yet again after that.

"Hey, who's addition of what again? When did I say that?", Ace retorted.

"Don't mind them. They just want to find something to toast and drink.", Nami said, chilling out.

"Anyway, changing subject… who'd imagine we'd have one of the Whitebeard Pirates here…", I said, spacing out.

Turns out that mark symbolizes the person's filiation to a group widely known as the Whitebeard Pirates. They're more than a simple crew, they are a true militarized pirate organization, rivaling or even surpassing Baroque Works and they are, according to Ace's version, the strongest pirates in the world. Although part of that was Ace purely bragging about where he belongs.

"Whitebeard… that name sounds really familiar to me…", I said while putting a hand on my chin.

Usopp asked: "Ace, why are you wandering around all by yourself?"

Ace: "I'm searching for a man. He's also from my Second Division. His name is Blackbeard."

Me: "Blackbeard?"

Vivi: "The one who assaulted Drum Kingdom?"

Yeah, the one who… huh? Hey, no one told me about that! " Drum? Hey, Vivi! That Blackbeard guy was in Drum? What are you talking about?"

She: "I'll tell you later."

Oh goodie, new facts appear and cross with each other at such a pace that's driving me crazy! Well, let's think about that later, though. Ace, go on.

Ace: "Blackbeard was my subordinate… 'til the day he committed a pirate ship's ultimate crime: to kill a comrade and abandon the ship. So, as a Division captain, I was tasked with the mission of finding him and delivering deadly punishment."

"So that's why…", Usopp said.

Ace continued: "I came to this country because I got information that he was seen around the city of Yuba."

Yuba… hey, that's where we're going!

"Right now, we're entering the currents of Sandora River.", Vivi brought a map with the locations of the main cities. She then used a finger to "draw" our path.

"As soon as we're on land, we'll first pass through Erumalu. Then we have to cross the inlands to arrive at Yuba. There is the rebel leader."

"Understood… so we can combine business with pleasure, so to speak.", Ace concluded while glaring at the map and grabbing his mug.

Luffy: "Nice, we're going to the same place! Let's have a kick out of it, Ace!"

Usopp: "With him and his fire powers around, this trip's gonna be peanuts!"

Ten mugs full of chilly drinks and it's time to toast for our new guest! Fire Fist Ace!

Hmm… fire? Hey, fire powers… that's a really good idea! I've gotta think more about that later.

After the ship sailed a few kilometers, still quite near from the coast, we enjoyed a great time eating a tray of rice balls. Then, the ship had to do a quick stop on land for a special mission.

Our onboard princess's dear pet duck has to go through the desert all by itself and hand over a letter written by her to her father, none other than the King himself.

Everyone save for me, Ace and Zoro hopped out to see it.

"It's written here everything I and Igaram found out about Crocodile and his conspiracy with Baroque Works. I'm also confirming that I'm alive, I'm well, that I'm back home and that I have people with willpower to help me on this mission."

Vivi then assumed a serious tone. "Can you do it?"

Carue cried and saluted, showing that he's ready for the task. Then the princess handed him the precious document while giving her last advice. "When you're in the desert, be careful about when and how much water you drink, ok?"

No one but Chopper understands what Carue really says, but that doesn't matter because his actions prove his availability. Everything ready, Carue soon dashed off, stopping to take a sip, then dashing full-throttle through the dunes.

"Take care, ok?", Vivi shouted while watching and waving her duck goodbye. "Carue… I'm counting with you.", she whispered.

"Yosh! Let's go!", Luffy shouted, then we hopped back inside the ship.

"I already knew that this Crocodile guy was in this kingdom. Hmph… a pirate trying to take over a country? Sounds like a bad joke. A pirate just lowers his anchor and goes sedentary? Inconceivable to me.", Ace spoke his mind.

Neither I nor Zoro replied.

"I don't think he wants the throne just to rule or something like that. There's something behind all of this… like, a deeper motivation.", Ace's thoughts on Crocodile's actions.

A deeper motivation… what would it be? Maybe if we go further inside this country, we might find out more about this mysterious character.

Again let's leave the answers for these questions to their proper time, because the ship will lower its anchor once again, but this time it's for real, because our journey will start!

"AAAH, NAMI-SAN, WHERE ARE YOUR DANCER CLOTHES? AH, VIVI-CHAN TOO! WHY ARE YOU ALL LIKE THAT?", Sanji shouted desperately as his odalisques' skins were completely covered. Yeah, covered, I tell you! How's that possible? Who's responsible for that… oh, sorry, I got carried away.

Truth is they covered themselves for obvious reasons, because the desert and its fifty degrees of day temperature are unforgiving for the ones who leave their skin exposed. But hey, Sanji can't take all of that into account now as he's sulking and rolling left and right…

"Hey, Sanji-san, you don't want their delicate skins to get painful sunburns, do you?", I told him.

"What? No way, that's unacceptable!", he quickly shot up.

"So, think about these clothes as a protection. When we cross the desert, your pretty dancers will be back!", I tried to perk him up.

Now, it's time to disemba-oh, wait…

"Hey, what's that?", I asked while I saw waves rippling around our ship as something (or somethings) emerged from underwater. An animal that looked like a strange mix and match of a turtle's shell equipping a seal.

"Kung Fu Dugongs!", Vivi identified.

So they're dugongs, that's the name I was looking for. One of the little critters stepped ahead and gestured as if talking. According to Chopper's translation: "Fight and beat us before even thinking of putting a foot here. Or, if you're scared, get lost and go land somewhere else, cowards… that's what it said."

"Coward? Look bud, I'm not gonna keep quiet after this! Here I come!", Usopp jumped defiantly off the ship…

"No, wait! Usopp-san!", Vivi tried to stop him, but…

…our longnose was utterly (and surprisingly) pounded by the alpha-dugong. Just seeing already hurt.

"Their name's not just a show-off! These creatures can fight for real!", well, for someone with goddamn _Kung Fu_ for a surname, I guess no one expected anything different… however, we have another winner!

"Alright, I won!", somehow Luffy hopped off too, fought another dugong and beat him to a pulp.

"Winning's also not good!", hey, can't we do anything at all about them then? "Dugong's law determines that if someone's been defeated, he must become a disciple and follow the winner around as his master!"…oh great…

"Now, listen! All of you, get in position!"

As we were talking, Luffy somehow managed to turn all of the dugongs in his loyal disciples! They were already lined up and training under his commands!

"Yosh! Everyone, Yuba awaits us, let's go!", full of energy as always, Luffy voiced his preparations… with the dugongs lined behind him, ready to follow… the master!

"Don't tell me you plan to take them all with you!", Zoro yelled.

"You can't, Luffy!", Nami alerted.

"The dugongs wouldn't handle the heat of the desert, Luffy-san.", Vivi said.

"Besides, it'd be pretty difficult to enter the city inconspicuously with a party of… roughly a hundred and thirty-six!", and that's just an estimate because the exact number is: too many to count.

Even with our objections, the dugongs outright refused to leave their master behind just like that… even managing to sway the girls' opinions about them… for acting too cute to handle. Yeah, gotta agree to that, though…

Chopper had to intervene with his bright idea to donate part of our food to the dugongs for them to shut up and leave us be… after almost being stomped by them as they were splitting the food amongst themselves.

Finally, after such a hassle, the dugongs agreed to let his master go on his own, bidding their farewell with the sound of drums!

What matters is this: in this entire skirmish, our food stock dropped.

Well, at last we could give our first steps in the scorching sand. It didn't take long for us to arrive at a city… or what was left of it.

"Vivi-san, we're at…", somebody complete my sentence, please.

"…Erumalu, Dan-san.", oh, thanks.

Luffy: "Erumalu? We're not at Yuba yet?"

Vivi: "No… Yuba's still far away. This is Erumalu, a city that was once called 'the Green City'. By looking at this city, you can have a perfect look at what Baroque Works has done to this country… and at how much the people suffer because of them."

Ruined buildings. Dry and withering trees. Everything entirely destroyed and buried under mountains of sand. According to Vivi's story, I suppose this was once a joyful and lively city, until disaster struck. Now it's succumbed to the claws of villainy.

"Woooooow, it's really desolate!", Luffy, surprised with the landscape.

"Truly a ghost town…", I was also in awe, but not for the best reasons.

"It never rained much in this area but, by collecting the water in the times it did rain, the people could prosper, one way or another." Vivi told a little about their lifestyle. "However, the last drop of rain fell in this area… three years ago."

"But hey, even without rain, there's that river we went by a while ago, right?", Zoro suggested.

"What if they drained the water out of that river, wouldn't that be an alternative?", Usopp asked.

"Oh, the answer to that lies right ahead.", Vivi replied.

We walked a little more while Vivi resumed her story about Erumalu and their times.

She told us that a complete drought had never struck Arabasta since thousands of years ago. However, there was a particular place where rains were frequent.

"Capital Alubarna. The site of the Royal Palace.", Vivi said.

She also said that many had considered this the Royal Miracle. Until an incident brought the truth to light… I can have a guess at where this is going…

"Dance Powder?", Nami commented.

"What? You know about it?", Luffy asked.

"Yes. I only heard about it, though, but… I know what it is. It's nicknamed the rain-calling powder. It's said to have been developed by a researcher of unknown origins… it's a kind of smoke that goes up the atmosphere and creates artificial rain.", Nami explained.

Luffy then came to realize that… "It's the mystery powder I saw before! It tastes really awful!"

"It's not food, you idiot!", Nami talked, disgustingly.

"It's just a powder that brings rain, Luffy.", Zoro talked while passing by.

Luffy got annoyed because nobody believed him, but he was ignored.

"So, if this powder calls rain, isn't it perfect for this place?", Usopp asked.

"Well, basically, yes. People in the land where it was created danced around in joy because of the rain, hence the powder's name. However, the powder has a glaring flaw: the drought it caused in the nearby villages. It works like this: Dance Powder takes the clouds that would normally flow with the winds, turns them in rainclouds and causes precipitations.", Nami explained.

Usopp deduced the hard part. "The ones that were supposed to rain naturally on the outer villages, right?"

Nami: "Exactly. That was enough to cause wars between neighboring nations. Since then, the World Government has strictly prohibited possession and fabrication of the powder."

"It's a double-edged sword, then… So, thanks to the Dance Powder, the rain that should fall on the farther cities…", I said.

"…would come to fall only in the capital Alubarna.", Vivi completed.

Well, we can already guess that that was enough to put the blame on the King.

"Of course, everything happened unbeknownst to my father… I found out great shipments of this powder inside the Palace."

Zoro: "Conspirators infiltrating the Royal residence…"

We then walked to a road whose sides had disturbing similarities with the margins of a river.

"Here used to be the channel that the people of this city used to get their water from Sandora River. For some reason, it's been dried completely. With no channel, with no rain as an alternative, soon the water stock dropped to zero."

Then, as people started getting thirsty, suspicions about the King grew alarmingly… until the armed conflicts started. Those who still wanted to avoid weapons would migrate for other oases scattered throughout the desert.

All of it right under Crocodile's plans…

"Finally… the Green City… dried.", Vivi finished, looking desperate.

Suddenly… as the winds got stronger and agitated the sand around us, we could notice a sound… the reverberation of the winds in the remains of buildings produced a strange noise… resembling a voice. Wailing voices, to be precise… it was kinda like… the city itself… was crying.

A more imposing gust of wind was coming at us, shaking the very air around us and jamming our sight. The mere force of the wind produced a strange and unsettling illusion of light. It all happened fast.

"What… the hell… was that?", a still astounded Usopp asked slowly, still recovering from the shock.

"Guys, right ahead!", Luffy spotted a tarp fluttering far away.

Could be someone… but when we went to check, it was just a skeleton.

"What… just what did I do? What wrongs did my father do? To just go around destroying the lives of those who fight… against all odds to survive… Why? What right has he to do something like this… Why?", Vivi kept asking, every 'why' of hers more desperate for an answer.

One thing is certain. Criminals don't care about rights or wrongs. When they set their eyes on something, they're more likely to step on everything else and do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.

"He acts like a hero to the people, like a Shichibukai… that way no one can realize that he's the one bringing the country down! I'll never forgive that man!", Vivi was losing her grip…

"Vivi, we're wasting our time here! Let's move forward!", Luffy called her while stretching.

As she stood up, looks like she realized that wailing about the country's difficulties isn't a solution. "You're right. We need to go ahead… there's a long way to go. If I tell the truth to the rebels, a pointless bloodshed will be avoided for sure!"

That's what we're here for! Onward to Yuba!

* * *

**The desert, it's many stories and dangers... Our adventurers are in the middle of it and they are guaranteed to have a tough time out there!**

**What, with all the scorpions and stuff... wait, scorpions?**

**What will they find lurking under the sands of the desert? You'll find out together with them in the next issue!  
**


	64. How's lizard meat for lunch? Delicious!

**Chapter 64**

**"The desert creatures and the dangers underneath the sand"

* * *

**

"Aaaah… I'm tired…"

We're still far, far away from even half the way to Yuba and it looks like the desert will take its toll sooner than expected. All because Luffy's 'aaah's become more frequent… and are getting on my nerves.

"Aaaahh… I'm burning… I can't even sweat…"…great… I'm fatigued as well, but at least I'm not this annoying!

Luffy whined nonstop. He barely could stand straight. What about walking? Well, only with a wooden cane.

"Hey, Luffy, could you stop being such a pain in the butt? By whining you're just wasting more energy.", Nami said while waving her hand like a fan.

"Aaaaaaaahhhh…", Luffy simply didn't care, as he was that tired.

"He can't even listen to me anymore…", Nami muttered to herself.

Our captain isn't the only one on a bad condition. Chopper had fainted a while ago, now being dragged around in a makeshift cart. Usopp couldn't walk without a cane as well, although he wasn't as annoying as Luffy. And that's really helpful.

"I'm weak against this heat… sorry guys, I can't walk anymore…", Chopper talked while panting.

"Take your time and rest… since we could make something to carry you around, just sit back and enjoy the ride. For someone coming from cold lands, dealing with such intense heat right off the bat can't be easy…", a little quip to him, although I couldn't quite expect a response.

"It's because of that much fur… come on, when are you gonna take off your costume?", Usopp still had the guts to come with such a remark…

"WHAT'YA SAID, PUNK? It's not a costume! Who the hell do you think I am, huh?", that made Chopper get ticked off and expand.

"AAAAAH, A MONSTER!", Chopper's humanoid form scared Usopp out of his wits. Looks like he still didn't get used to the idea of sharing the boat with a shapeshifter. That's what you get for your rude mouth, Longnose…

"Chopper, keep it down, will ya? I can't pull you if you're this heavy!", An irritated Zoro yelled at our reindeer while trying to pull the cart. He then grabbed Chopper, forcing him back to his normal mode.

I wasn't quite comfortable myself as well, but I still had strength to keep walking instead of complaining. Even though my throat was drying up by the second.

"Hey, Vivi, I thought the deserts were supposed to be flat! It's like we're climbing a goddamn sand mountain!", Usopp kept bugging, this time, complaining about the dunes.

"Exactly. Dunes are meant to be sand mountains, Usopp-san. This is an old desert that has been modeled by the winds for thousands and thousands of years. So much so that some dunes are 300 meters high.", Vivi explained.

"That much? Oh, for the love of…", Usopp didn't want to believe.

"Hmmm… shaped by the force of the winds… sounds like Mother Nature has an artistic touch just like any of us, huh?", although I say that, sometimes I wonder that sounding like a poetic smart-ass is worth it.

"One hell of an artist! A mad artist that wants us dead for sure! Plus, you couldn't choose a more inappropriate time to sound all poetic and stuff…", according to Usopp, looks like it isn't.

"How rude! What's wrong about saying a few beautiful words once in a while?", I retorted, although I wasn't quite in the mood for quarreling.

"Ah… aah… throat… dry… water… Namiiiii~nn…", Luffy's so tired he can't even articulate a full sentence…

Luckily, Nami was able to piece together the keywords and decipher his riddle. "I got it, Luffy. Just one sip, ok? Make it enough to fill your mouth, will ya?"

He then did so… but Nami forgot he can stretch his mouth as well. His cheeks were stuffed and that ticked us off (myself included).

"Hey, that's unfair! Just because you're made of rubber you can't drink that much!", I complained.

"YOU'RE DRINKING TOO MUCH!", Nami snapped and hit him.

"That's your eighteenth gulp already, Luffy!", hey, you took the effort to count?

Just to add insult to the injury, because Nami and Usopp hit Luffy in the head, they made him spit all the water out!

"Yeah, smart move, guys! Go ahead and make him spit all of it out… what a waste!", honestly, they could at least let him hydrate himself instead of hydrating the sand!

"Wait, he just drank, it's my turn now!"

Sanji joined the squabble and then all hell broke loose. The four got entangled around each other in a big sad ball of violence, just like it always happens when, for whatever reason, we're all pissed off at each other.

Anyway, after the time wasted dealing with this and future little skirmishes, our trek got underway again until nightfall, when we had to make a stop and set up tents to sleep.

Surprise, surprise… the day was out and so was the scorching heat!

"Guys, is it me or it's getting fresher now?", the sunset in one side of the landscape made a beautiful contrast with the night coming in the other side. That all while I felt the fresh wind of a sunny afternoon breezing past my body. "Ah, it's much better now!"

Later, I'd realize I was deeply mistaken. All that is good doesn't last.

"Brrr… it's freezing… what the hell… I thought the cold was gone for good…", the all-too-familiar fetal position was my only safeguard against the cold breeze.

"The day was so hot… it doesn't make sense! What's happening, Vivi?", Nami asked while trembling.

Funny thing is Vivi, a native and someone supposedly already used to the weather, also was freezing the hell out. "During the day, the sun hits the ground head-on and at night, there's nothing to trap the dispensed heat, so…"

"…the days are scorching hot and the nights are freezing cold… oh great… it's the fun times in Drum all over again…", I said while shaking wildly my hands against each other and shivering from time to time.

All of it while watching the rest of the bunch fooling around a small fireplace until their batteries were out. Then all of us retreated to our tents to have a nice sleep.

Sleep mode: Activate!

Zzzzzzzzzzzz… Sleeping…

Zzzzzzzzzzzz… Sleeping…

Zzzzzz-what?

As I felt myself starting to boot up again, I couldn't help but notice a strange noise getting louder and louder.

"Hm… what's with this noise?", I asked myself, still heavily drowsy. I then waved it off my mind to get back to sleep.

I couldn't. The sound kept getting louder. That does it. I'm awake now.

"Hey, guys, what's with the no-"

While I slowly got out of my tent, I was warmly greeted by nothing other than a freaking _sandstorm_ just passing by our temporary base.

It goes without saying that I got thrown back a few yards by the sheer force of the wind, with tent and everything else. I jolted right and left, luckily managing _not to hit my head in any rocks_ until the sand finally halted my progress.

"Ow, owie… what… I feel we're gonna have one hell of a day coming ahead!", I said while popping my head out of the sand.

"What the heck was that?", Zoro slowly rose from the sand as well.

"Just when we were sleeping…", Sanji, quite upset.

"Guys, I'm terribly sorry, I forgot to tell you… deserts are fertile with sandstorms. They're utterly unpredictable and can strike anywhere in this country.", Vivi explained.

"Vivi-san… two things… First: It's one damned coincidence to get a sandstorm to strike right at us… second: You could stop and, y'know, tell us what we can find around here… _beforehand_, ok?", I reminded.

Although the sand was strong and blew the tents to shreds, there was a consolation on the fact that our luggage was mostly intact. Fortunately, we were able to get our stuff and resume our travel.

Unfortunately, fatigue would strike yet again… and Luffy would soon start the whining marathon. All. Over. _Again_.

"Nah… nah… naaah, guys, let's stop and eat our meals, shall we?", Luffy would suggest.

"Not yet, Luffy! We barely started walking and you want to stop again? Hang on for a while!", only to be quickly shot down by Sanji.

"We still didn't walk a third of the distance to Yuba, Luffy-san.", what? We walked this much just to find out we didn't? You've gotta be kidding me…

Luffy frowned. "Tch, tch, tch, Vivi. Haven't you ever heard of the proverb: 'If thou art hungry, thou shalt eat'?"

No, because it has been made up right now. Not surprisingly, Vivi sighed at the idea. Surprisingly, she agreed. "If we find any rock formation around here, I guess we can make a brief stop, ok?"

"Yosh! Guys! I have an idea! Let's do a round of rock-paper-scissors, the winner has to drag all our stuff!", Luffy ordered, in a quick dash of energy.

"Isn't it the _loser_ who's gotta drag our stuff?", Sanji wanted to correct him, but…

"Ok, let's go!"…Luffy went ahead with his bet anyway.

"Jan… ken… pon…"…now loading… "I WON!"

There! Now you have to carry our stuff, thank you. As soon as I put my luggage in the cart, I felt such a relief on my shoulders… now it's a whole lot easier to move around! Yeah, that somehow made me remember those skiers that have to walk around with shotguns on their backs all the time…

"Aaah… ahh… it's hot… if I won, why am I carrying all the stuff?", it's official. Our captain has the memory of a goldfish.

Sanji looked back and recalled, as Luffy seemed to stay behind. "Exactly! You won, so shut up and carry our luggage, will ya?"

Moments later, Usopp put his goggles on, to find something amusing. "Guys! I'm seeing rocks right ahead!"

"Rocks? YAHOO, BREAK TIME!"

I barely had time to react as I saw Luffy speeding past us, running like crazy to the rocks ahead.

"Out of the blue, he sure goes out of his way to find new meanings to 'running like hell'…", Usopp commented tiredly.

"What, are we going to run after him?", I asked.

"Of course not! He's full of energy to waste… and it's more than enough!", Nami ranted.

Luffy sometimes makes me recall my little brother Kenny… since Mom and I quite "adopted" him he was always energetic. Since he found out somebody who cared about him, he could be a child again.

Speaking of which… how is Mom doing back at Brush? I so want to know…

"GUUUUUYS!", hm? Better think about that later, 'cause Luffy's back already. Without our stuff. "EMERGENCY! There's a bunch of birds dying! Chopper!"

Our doctor quickly stood up and followed Luffy back to the rocks.

"Birds… hey, wait! Luffy!", all of a sudden, Vivi's face paled and she tried to run after them.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?", things happen at such a pace I feel confused…

"Come on, let's check it out too!", Nami tugged my arm and dragged me.

"How come I have this bugging bad feeling about all this?", Zoro told his omen.

First: I don't want to be mean, but why would we stop to help some birds? Second: even at the desert, I don't think that leaving all our stuff unguarded would be a smart move. I guess.

"Aaaahh!"

"OUR LUGGAGE! WHERE IS IT?"

Nice… now I regret so much thinking about that… our entire luggage is gone! We're screwed… we're royally screwed!

"I SWEAR! There were birds suffering right here!", Luffy insisted.

"I'm sorry… I should've told you before…", oh crap, what is it this time, Vivi?

"Those were Warusagi. A flock of mean egrets, nicknamed 'Thieves of the Desert'. They fool naïve travelers and steal their goods.", for the love of goodness, warn us _before_ these things happen!

"Drat! Those birds fooled me!", Luffy got conned by a bunch of birds! A facepalm isn't enough to cover that up…

"LUFFY! Just ranting you've been fooled doesn't cut it!", an angered Sanji grabbed Luffy by the collar. "Those backpacks had supplies for three days! How do you expect us to cross the desert with no food or water?", he yelled. "Seriously… being outsmarted by a flock of birds! What an idiot!", Sanji vented his frustration.

"It's not my fault, they fooled me!", Luffy tried to apologize, but that only ticked Sanji off further.

Sanji: "Yeah? So you admit you're dumber than a bird?"

Luffy: "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Both soon forgot the words and put them in their fists.

I didn't want to look at the scene, so I sat on the ground, sighing and trying to massage a little headache.

"All of that started with that stupid bet…", I mumbled to myself.

"Hey, the two of you, stop fighting!", Zoro wanted to put them apart, but Ace put a hand on his shoulder and told him not to.

"Don't bother with them. It's better that they settle it themselves.", Ace said calmly.

Zoro paused to think for a moment, then sighed in agreement, tiredly sitting down in a rock. "Yeah, you're right. The heat's getting to them already. Let's do something about the food from now on."

"Although it's gonna be a real miracle if we find something edible…", I commented.

"You're not going far with this attitude, y'know? We're not gonna starve to death, Dan. Something will come around sooner or later. 'Til there, let's stop and think about what to do.", Zoro replied.

"HALT!"

I looked far away, just to find the egrets with our backpacks!

"Ah, there are the little sons of a…!", I stood up angrily. Time to beat the tar out of these little sons of a…

"GET BACK HERE!", ah, forget it. The sight of Luffy dashing off like crazy, running after the egrets (probably in vain) tired me out instantaneously.

"Y'know, screw it, I'm gonna rest now.", I sit in the ground again.

"Luffy! Don't go after them!", Vivi tried to call him back, hoping he would listen from far away.

"How the hell are you gonna get back?", Nami shouted, also in the hopes he would respond and turn back obediently. Nope.

"What a moron…", Sanji snorted.

It's useless, every time he sets his mind on something, he's like a horse, can't look anywhere but ahead. Also, he runs as fast as one.

A looooooooong wait followed suit. A silent one. Once in a while, we would hear the wind fluttering around and breezing past our bodies. I don't like that.

"Luffy… he's taking too long!", thanks for breaking the ice, Usopp.

"He goes out with no idea of where the hell he's going, what more do you want?", Nami couldn't do anything but lament.

"Forget about it, Nami… if he wasn't a pirate, he could be one hell of a sprinter, don't ya think?", since I also couldn't put my finger on the matter at hand, I might as well just talk for the fun of it.

"Sprinter? Yeah, maybe. He always had a knack for running around recklessly… and getting in trouble for it. I'm sorry, guys… my little brother's always that rash about everything when nobody's looking.", Wise words of someone with years of experience regarding Luffy's antics.

"It's like that even when we're watching him, Ace-san.", I said.

We had to stop our little chat when the ground started to shake, we heard screaming from far away, and… surprise, surprise?

"A storm again?", Usopp put on his goggles to find… "Hey, no! Wait… that's… Luffy! And a camel!"

Luffy riding a camel and having to save his ass from… something huge.

"A GREAT SANDORA LIZARD!", oh, now we know what it is. Not that it changes anything though. A colossal purple lizard sporting sharp claws and teeth. And that's all I want to know and relate… ah, what a wonderful day.

I stood up, although quite lazily. "Zoro-san, Sanji-san, how about that? Can you take care of it?"

"Yeah, I've got that one.", Sanji replied.

"Don't hog all the prey, I'm on it too. Sheesh…", also sighing, Zoro stood up and prepared his swords. "Honestly… under which star was I born to get so much trouble around me?"…I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with the matter at hand?

Who cares. Anyway, Zoro drew his swords out, Sanji prepared his stance and then they joined our captain. Take care of it, guys.

"GOMU GOMU NOOO…" / "TATSU…" / "ÉPAULE…"

"MUCHI!" / "…MAKI!" / "…SHOOT!"

Only one team attack was more than enough to slay the wild beast.

"Wow! Kudos to the Monster Trio!", I cheered.

"They hadn't to go that far, though…", Usopp commented on the scene.

"I pity the lizard for going up against them…", Nami said.

Suddenly, behind me, I start to hear crumbling and feel the ground shaking again. I look back to see coming out of the sand… another giant lizard!

"There's more?", Nami looked back, getting startled.

"I'm sorry but I forgot to tell that the Sandora lizards hunt in pairs!", Vivi, please, stop forgetting important stuff like that… it's a pain in the ass!

"Mou! Now I'm angry! You're gonna pay! ENPITSU… YARI!"

First thing: I always keep my pencil with me at all times. Hey, you never know when it's gonna be needed, huh?

Ace stood up as well, preparing his flame powers. "How bothersome… what's up, liz? Wanna play with us?"

"Ace! Lend me your fire!", I asked.

"Huh?", he turned to me with a puzzled expression.

"Quick! You won't regret it, I'm sure! Aim a stream at the blade of my spear!", I continued.

He didn't quite understand, but did it anyway. I then grabbed it as tightly as I could, channeling my ideas. I planned to condense the fire gathered at the blade. It became incandescent.

"What do you plan to do?", Ace asked.

"See for yourself! I introduce my new attack…"…I then dashed to leap ahead as high as I could. "FIRE… CROSS… SLASH!"

Two slashes sending burning waves in the shape of a cross. They left burning marks that exploded in small columns of fire in the back of the beast. Although it still tried to resist, it'd end screeching and falling down.

I used the lizard's head to jump off to the ground, where I landed, doing a little pose, turning my spear back to a pencil. "Ace-san, you can fry it up now!"

"Nice!", Ace replied with a thumbs-up. "Hiken!", he then finished the job with a stream of fire.

"Dude, since when can you do that kind of stuff?", Usopp asked me.

"Hmmm… probably… since about now.", I replied. "If I want to face the tough guys of Baroque Works, it's necessary that I develop one or two new skills, don't you think? Y'know, for a change?"

He replied, snarkily: "I guess the Monster Trio's now become a Monster Quartet…"

He's probably counting Ace on… wait, he's talking about me? Oh, how flattering!

"Don't mention it…", I responded sheepishly with a hand behind my head. I prefer to be humble about it…

"Hey, Dan, that pencil of yours, it transformed… how does that work?", Ace asked. It's rare for anyone to ask me that at this point in the journey, but it's quite understandable. After all, I had so few chances to show what I can do.

"Let's say that this pencil is the vessel that lets my imagination run around.", I said while showing it to him. Ace took hold of it, looking quizzically. "How so?", he said.

"For example…", I took it back.

I then pulled out my pocket sketchbook, something I acquired a while ago and it's also essential to keep around at all times. I then tore off a piece from the first page to draw a little flower on it.

After a few seconds, it materialized. "There. Clarified? Here, you can have it. I can do this as well.", I tore another piece, this time to write this character: 花(flower). Another one materialized. "You can have this one too."

"Gee, thanks… it's like witchcraft… these things have lots of uses, did you know?", he was quite amused.

"Yeah, I get told that a lot. I still have… um, let's see… nine-hundred and ninety-nine to go!", I said with a giggle.

"Hey, guys! It's lunch time!", Sanji shouted. He and Chopper were cooking meat in a rock-turned-frying-pan.

There's those experiences where people get so busy doing something that they don't notice some other thing, no matter how glaringly obvious it is? Yeah, I realized that just happened to me since I got so distracted to miss (until now) the fact that the camel that brought Luffy back _is still here_.

It's probably tamed, since it's equipped with a saddle and a back seat.

Later, Chopper started to talk with it. Maybe they've met before.

The transportation advantages are quite evident, since it's a desert creature, can spend a long time without water and all that stuff. But it's damn sure it won't carry all of us.

Luffy tested that theory… only to get booted off.

"I'm a headstrong, gentle, freedom-loving camel.", Chopper translated what the camel was trying to say. "Thanks for saving me from that mess, but I don't let men ride me."

Hey, that's unfair!

Luffy: "You bastard!"

Usopp: "You did let Chopper ride you, right?"

"Chivalry.", the camel said, trying to look cool.

"Stop showing off, you damn camel!", some of the guys spent a little while beating the crap out of the camel for such impudence.

"Ooooh, forgive my friends, you widdwe one… they treated you like dirt, didn't they? How mean!"

"Uh, please count me out from that, will you?", I interrupted.

"Such a cute little guy… how should I call you?", Nami cuddled the poor camel… poor my butt! Trying to look good just to carry the girls around!

"I get it! Your name is… Eyelash!"…uh, what?

"You have no naming sense whatsoever.", Zoro quipped. That's an awful name for a camel! I mean, he could be Abdul or Anubis (wait… that's a dog…) or something more appropriate… but Eyelash?

"HEY, WAIT!"

While I pondered the possibilities, the girls would set off and leave us behind! Yeah, out of the blue, just like that… they mounted the camel, riding off to the sunset!

"Hey, boys, come on! Quit lagging behind already!", huh, you hypocrite… now that you don't have to walk, it's easy to talk!

"WAIT!"

* * *

**Nami: "Hey, Mr. Author, what the hell?"**

**Usopp and Luffy, panting: "Ahhh... help us..."  
**

**I know, this chapter's a bit crappy... there's almost no action whatsoever! What with all the sand mountains, cold nights, sandstorms, thief birds, giant lizards, pervy camels and... it's pretty uninteresting. But what can I do? You're on the desert, I mean, if anything, you're the ones who must make a little story, otherwise, there's no chapter!**

**Nami: "Still, you better get your stuff right next time!"**

**Haaai...  
**

**Dan: "I'm starting to feel this walking is getting old quite fast..."**

**You have no right to complain, ok? I had to come up with a new attack, so be grateful and get going.  
**

**Dan: "Awww..."**


	65. Desert Pirates and the Rebel Fakes

**Chapter 65**

**"The Desert Pirates and the heart of the Rebel Army"

* * *

**

"GIANT WAAAAAVE! EVERYBODY RUN, WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

"Oh man… I knew it… I knew it'd be a bad idea."

"Hey, Usopp, what's wrong with Luffy?"

After the ladies simply ditched us for no particular reason, Luffy's on some sort of random outburst and now he's having strange hallucinations. Looks like he ate a poisonous cactus a while ago.

"WE'RE GONNA DROWN! ALRIGHT, I'M GONNA PUNCH IT!"

Oh great… he started swinging Chopper's cart dangerously, then he shattered it to smithereens in his random angry bout.

"GOMU GOMU NOOOOOO…"…shit, he's gonna punch _us_!

"Tranquilizer!"

Fortunately, doctor Chopper acted quickly, drawing out a syringe and injecting instant-knockout sedative. It sent Luffy down and out, sleeping like a baby.

"Chopper, good job!", Sanji did a thumbs-up.

Well, let's see: Luffy's now sedated, sleeping and snoring his ass off; don't ask me why or how it happened, but we kinda lost track of Ace and have no idea where the hell he is, and the camel carrying Nami and Vivi supposedly left footprints for us to follow but they're nowhere to be found. In other words: we're officially… LOST IN THE DESERT!

"We're screwed… Lost, with Ace gone and no traces of Nami and Vivi… now we're royally busted!", I said, getting uneasy. Every bit of optimism serves for jack in a situation like this…

"When did Ace vanish again?", yeah, I'd like to know that too, Usopp…

"Did he get lost?"

We stopped on our tracks, to find out that our son of a bitch of a captain is awake.

"Dammit… my big bro's such a bumbler, eh?"

That does it! Just for that you deserve to be freakin' lynched!

"WE'RE THE LOST ONES HERE, LUFFY! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

After we spent a while beating the living daylights out of our captain, Usopp looked left and right. He seemed to be searching for something.

"Guys, can you hear this?", Usopp said.

I tried to sharpen my ears to catch something worth my attention, unsuccessfully. I then saw Usopp walking and crawling towards the top of a quite high slope.

"O-oi, Usopp-kun, wait for me!", I went after him.

I climbed it as well, but when I managed to get there, I saw nothing besides golden sand. However, the noise was getting louder. Sounded like something crawling through the sand. But where did it come from? Where would it go to?

"Look, over there!", Sanji would point forward after a while.

I'd witness the presence… of a pirate ship!

"Unbelievable… a pirate vessel?", the five of us exclaimed.

"Guys, do you see what I'm seeing?", I know it's a stupid question, but it probably makes sense when you think about our surroundings, right?

"I am for sure…", Zoro said vaguely.

"Is it an illusion?", Sanji tried to rationalize.

"Doesn't seem like it, because there's people on board!", Usopp saw through his goggles. "And… oh crap! They captured Nami, Vivi and the camel!"

"ORRRRRYYAAAAAA!", as soon as Luffy heard that, he shot up and zapped past us, going down the hill and running to the ship!

"Luffy, come back! Oh drat, he can't listen… Guys, let's go too!", I said.

"Ou!", the others agreed so we went down too.

"GOMU GOMU NOOOOOO… HITTAKURI!" (Gum-Gum Grapple)

Luffy outstretched one of his arms, spinning it several times around one of the ship's bigger masts, before launching himself, crashing against the mast and snapping it in half!

On our side, we had to stop on our tracks. That was kind of… jaw-droppingly pointless.

"Oh shit… not good, not good!", I said.

"Now what? What are we gonna do?", Usopp asked confusedly.

"We can't stop to think now! We don't know what are those pirates up to, they got Nami and Vivi as hostages and to make matters worse, Luffy practically handed himself to them! We can't keep standing here, let's move!", Sanji, talking quickly.

"Then, let's go already!", Zoro dashed off with determination.

"NAMI-SAN! VIVI-CHWAN! I'LL RESCUE YOU!", focused on saving his precious damsels, Sanji dashed as well, notably faster.

"Sanji-san, wait!", I tried to call him to reason, in vain.

Anyway, the five of us jumped dauntingly aboard the unknown sand ship!

"Alright, you punks! These three are with us and we're not gonna let you-"

I stopped my trash talk when I noticed Luffy wasn't bound nor gagged, instead, sharing a laugh with a giant, bearded man sporting a little umbrella on his head. Must be their captain.

"Our group, the Barbar Sand Pirates has a saying!", the big man stated.

"Saying?", Luffy parroted.

"Save for our comrades, there's nothing on the desert that can't be eaten!"…even the sand counts?

"Hahah! No prob, then! I don't let even food on the floor go to waste!"…eww, that's gross, Luffy!

"You're gonna catch diarrhea that way, boy.", the big man warned.

"I'll be careful.", Luffy stated plainly.

The giant man then laughed before formally introducing himself, sitting down in wooden boxes laid out on the deck. He wanted to have a little talk with our captain. "I'm the captain of the Barbar Sand Pirates and Barbarossa's the name, thank you! You're the Luffy, right? Sorry for being rude to your fellows. So… you were starting to starve over there, huh?"

Luffy: "Hahahah! Don't mind that!"

Nami stepped in to hit him for that comment. "Like you had the right to say anything!"

"But Cap'n. We don't have enough planks to fix the main mast and without it, we're staying here forever! If it stays like this, we're gonna perish sooner or later.", said a man that looked like the ship's second-in-command.

That was enough to send the other shipmates to a despair fit. "WE'RE GONNA DIE IN VAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT!", they cried in unison.

"Come on! If we are meant to die, at least, let's die honorably, boarding our Sand Ship! For it was here we were born and it's here we will perish! To think about leaving our ship… it's inconceivable!"

"HOORAY! WE'RE GOING TO DIE IN VAIN ABOARD THIS SHIP!", funny thing is captain Barbarossa's inspiring words did change the mood of his underlings in a whiplash, but it didn't change the fact that they're _still going to die_.

"Seriously, what's wrong with these people?", Usopp wondered aloud.

"What happens will be our destiny!", Barbarossa stated confidently. What a strange fellow he is… "However…", he then stood up, walking to the snapped portion of the mast. "I just thought of a plan. If anyone of us can make it to the Oasis of Melias, is going to find tons of wood."

"Where's that? I'll go there!", Luffy quickly volunteered.

"Let's see… the flow of the sand has been strange lately… it'd be too much of a risk for a foreigner like you.", Barbarossa alerted.

"I'll take the responsibility! Let me go!", Luffy insisted, though, in a rare bout of commitment.

The giant, while smirking, finally accepted our captain's determination and conceded a pass. He then ordered to ready two sailboats specially made to use in the sand.

"My best subordinates, Zaba and Rasa will guide you all the way to Melias. You're going with somebody else?", Barbarossa asked.

"I sure can go alone!", Luffy replied.

"You and your thoughtlessness! Can you even drive this thing around?", a worried Usopp asked.

"Hmm… nope, but I gotta work my way around it!", Luffy said.

"Looks like it's gonna be hard work… isn't it better that-"…I stopped when I saw a strange blade pass right above my head… going towards Vivi!

"VIVI, WATCH OUT!"

Instinctively, Vivi ducked out of the way of the sharp projectile that stuck itself in the ship's hull.

"Hey, who's the little son of a…", I searched everywhere as I said that, until I found… a rather female-looking silhouette standing right next to the snapped mast. She then leapt forward, revealing her identity.

"Wow, nice! Rasa!"…nice? She just tried to kill Vivi!

"The others look like foreigners, but I'm sure you belong to this kingdom.", said the young lady with a grumpy tone of voice. "You look like you can drive this sailboat around. Come on, I'll escort you.", same tone.

"Hey, Vivi-chan can't do something that dangerous!"

"It's too much!"

Sanji and Nami voiced their concern. I admit I also had reservations, but none of us had seen a boat like that ever before and being able to pilot it is whole other story, totally out of our league.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine.", she turned to us. Then she replied to Rasa's offer. "Alright. I'll follow you. Luffy, can you come here, please?"

Luffy walked to meet her. They then started talking about the boat's details. More precisely about how the hell they're gonna move that thing. Quite interesting.

"Vivi-san, do you know how this boat works?", I asked while getting close.

"I know a little. I used to ride one when I was a kid. Luffy-san, pull that rope if you will.", Vivi replied.

"Yeah, ok! It looks just like a sea boat… yosh, I'm gonna pull this and…", Luffy slowly tugged onto the rope, lifting the sails. Suddenly, a strong wind gust breezes past and… "WAAAAaaaaaah!", in one moment, Luffy was here. In the next, he was far, far away.

"Woow!", those standing on land exclaimed with awe.

Moments later, we saw a little point coming back. Luffy dashed to bring the boat home as fast as it sailed away. "I'm… I'm back!", he then collapsed from exhaustion afterwards.

"DON'T WASTE YOUR ENERGY WHEN IT'S UNCALLED FOR!", Sanji, Usopp and Nami shouted right next to me…

Our captain was then dragged and laid inside the boat while Vivi took care of the driving. Another strong gust and… they sail away!

"Good luck!", I waved them goodbye.

"Well, what are we to do now?", Chopper asked.

"While we wait, let's eat the camel!", Barbarossa suggested to the joy of his subordinates and much to Eyelash's chagrin. "Just kidding…", soon the party was over.

Nami: "It didn't sound like you were kidding at all."

Anyway, since Luffy and Vivi sailed off, we expected them to take quite a while to return. I had books on my backpack. However, due to the sheer stupidity of a certain someone who I shall not name because he's not here to defend himself, they were stolen. That officially leaves me with nothing to do!

While taking the sun's heat on my body with little to no refraction, I had to move around. I walked around the ship, up and down. It practically had the same basic structure of Going Merry, only being two to three times larger (I'd say even more) and two main masts.

"Huh… what's that?", huh?

During my little trek, I noticed something billowing dust far away and a noise getting louder. Something was coming.

I went to the rail on the right side to check out…

"They're coming!", one of the sailors called out, making everyone else hurry their preparations.

They were camel-riding troopers, coming right at us!

Who are they?

"They're the desert bandits. They roll around trying to steal us. How pathetic… Lately, the country's been in a civil war… and those assholes keep trying to get us.", Barbarossa explained.

"COMRADES! LET'S GET'EM! DON'T LET ANYONE OF THOSE RASCALS ESCAPE ALIVE!", Barbarossa raised the spirits of his brethren to the battle coming ahead.

Heh… looks like the wait ain't gonna be so tedious as I thought… but what's that far away? A… ball?

"Great Dung Beetle on sight!"

Huh? Dung Beetle?

"Does anyone mind to explain?", I asked.

"Huuuge! It's a dung beetle! It's a beetle that rolls his own feces around."

"Usopp-kun, do you know?", I asked again.

"I know about the normal, fun-size version but I never saw something that huge!", he explained while freaking the hell out.

Barbarossa completed… "There's more to it! These things' turd balls roll over around a hundred or so people per year!"…while the ball did just that! It ran over some of the bandits with camel and all else.

"It's coming right at us! I will stop it!", Barbarossa jumped out of the ship, running to catch the giant dung ball.

Even though he's larger-than-average, he's still tiny compared to the ball. He tried to stop it with his bare hands… only to be crushed right after. It's time to act!

Zoro jumped out as well, immediately drawing his swords out. He slashed three times, tearing apart the big crappy ball. Sanji and I stayed behind to take care of any incoming stinky debris.

"Owwuuh… how… gross!", now come on… who in his right mind wants to kick shit?

Nevermind. The desert thieves just gave up from the sack and ran away. A warm applause to such display of bravery…

Sarcasm Fail.

After the little fuss was settled, we sat down and watched the landscape. Barbarossa shared a bit of his experience as a sand pirate. "Everything that lives in the desert has their troubles. I, in the past, used to believe that the desert belonged to everyone. Today, I changed my mind. I think that all this wilderness belongs to nobody. As such, it can give us the freedom we need to live in it."

"Can we say the same about the sea?", Nami asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. Only you, seafarers can find that out.", Barbarossa's poetic words.

"GUYS, WE'RE BACK!"

That voice… Luffy!

Now the wood the pirates needed so much are now at their disposal! Now they can fix their ship and set sail again!

Before we parted ways, however, captain Barbarossa left important information. "There's a village called Ido somewhere near here. You can find water there and… food, if you're lucky enough."

"What about you, won't you come with us?", Luffy asked, also possibly inviting them.

"No, we can't accept, thank you. We'll stay here.", Barbarossa refused.

"Why not?", Luffy insisted.

"Our lifestyle in the sand is ingrained in our past and future generations. The desert's a free land and here's where we want to stay. Although there's that bunch who wouldn't handle its perils. The village belongs to them. From now on, we're living as we always did, sailing through the desert!", y'know, every time he opens his mouth, something awesomely rousing comes out!

"As for us, we're going to conquer the seas!", Luffy, getting full of energy!

"Wonderful!"

Both shared a laugh together and like that, we walked off waving a hearty goodbye to the Barbar Sand Pirates!

"How nice they are, eh…", Luffy said.

"New buddies in the middle of the desert… Has to be you and your special charm, eh? Captain!", I grinned.

Luffy: "Charm? Do you eat that?"

Nami: "No, you dolt."

Luffy: "Anyway, let's speed to that Udon village, shall we?"

Me: "Ido."

Luffy: "Idon?"

Me: "Ido!"

Ok, corrections aside, we marched forward to search for food and recharge our batteries for what's to come.

However… there's something bugging me since a while ago. How do I get the feeling that all this walking is boring the hell out of me… we walk, walk, walk but it looks like we're not getting anywhere!

To top that off, Ace's still missing!

"HEY, GUYS!"…oh, speak of the devil…

"Ace!", and he doth appear… Luffy jumped as soon as he saw his brother coming to meet us. He was riding a strange, multicolored gecko… but more importantly, he brought food!

"Hey, they said some Sand Pirates were coming but turns out it's you!", Ace hopped off the gecko.

"Sand Pirates? Ah, those. We waved goodbye to them a while ago.", Luffy said.

"Really? Oh, ok, whatever. Well, guys, behold! Jump in joy for I brought food and water to your hungry tummies and thirsty mouths!", Ace presented a loaded cart.

"Oh, thank you very much! Looks like we won't have to worry about food for some time!", a happy Sanji came to check the goods.

"Awesome!", Usopp was impressed too.

"True! Totally unlike a certain someone who is his little brother.", Nami said.

"I'm sorry… Ace-san…", he turned as Vivi called for him. "I don't think you had the money to pay for all that, but… I also can't think you sacked the village… did you?", she was careful with her tone of voice.

He didn't seem to mind. "Ah, no, no, far from that. I received these goods directly from the Rebel Army."

What? Does he mean…_ the_ Rebel Army? I mean, what else he could possibly… oh, nevermind.

"Although I was certain they were nothing but fakes. Thieves that named themselves rebel soldiers. The villagers were so glad that they didn't think twice. They hired them as bodyguards and fell for the act.", Ace explained.

Nami argued back. "What if they got into trouble? The lie would come crashing down, right?"

Ace explained: "Doesn't seem so. Seeing as the thieves run like wusses every time they hear about the Rebel Army… Also, it suits them, since the village's been peaceful since they arrived there."

I noticed Vivi lowered her head as Ace said that. "Vivi-san. What are you planning to do? Should we teach them a thing or two?"

She then went silent, thought for a few moments, then an idea dawned on her. "The royal government is in no shape to protect all villages, so if the citizens can manage to guard themselves, it's a great help. It's decided: I'm going to test them."

I'm all ears. Please elaborate.

"If these fake rebels are really willing to protect the villagers, I don't think it matters what they call them.", Vivi said.

Ace: "You wanna test their hearts, huh? Nice!"

Vivi nodded, then made a request. "If it isn't much of a bother, I'd like to ask your help."

She then detailed her plan of _acting_. Yeah, that's kinda it.

"Huh? Acting?"

"ACTING?"

"Ihihihihih… that's interesting!"

Vivi explained that we had to look like evil pirates to check out their reaction. Luffy liked the idea right off the bat. Zoro, on the other way, got embarrassed.

"I-I can't quite act, you know!", he said.

Vivi: "You don't need to, Mr. Bushido. Give them a mean look and wait for their reaction, that's all."

With such a naturally mean-looking face, it shouldn't be that hard for him…

"Heh… an act, right? Let's do it!", I put a hand on my chin.

We walked to a nearby gate.

"Here. It's the entrance.", Vivi pointed.

Nami: "We're gonna stay behind and look how you're doing. Usopp, when we deem necessary, we're gonna beam it to you and retreat, ok?"

"Understood!", Usopp confirmed.

"Yosh, boys, get your mean glares ready!", Vivi and Nami moved away.

"Ok, mean glare, mean glare.", while I waited, I practiced my evil grin.

Let's see who's gonna come out.

"One… two… three!"…the gates opened to reveal four guys. They tried to run, but stopped on their tracks as soon as they saw us.

Just as they realized what kind of trouble they're in, they started trembling nervously.

"Who the hell are you punks? Rebel Army?", Luffy tried to sound like a tough guy. That made me fight a giggle.

"Eh? Eee… uh, no, no, w-w-w-we, we are, I mean, we're just passing through-"

"YOU'RE NO MATCH TO THE REBEL ARMY! THEY'RE GOING TO POUND YOU ALL, SO GET READY!", Suddenly, a chubby man appeared on the top of the gate and shouted it out loud. After that, a bunch of citizens joined him.

"CAN YOU STAY THE HELL OUT OF THIS?", the "rebel" leader yelled at them.

Hmm… it's just like Ace told us… they're nothing but a bunch of cowards.

"Go, Kamyu-sama! Get them!", the villagers started shouting words of support to the impostors.

"OI!", Luffy called them. "Are you the so-called rebels or not?"

"If you don't respond, then we won't give a damn and bring the whole house down!", I tried to go along and tough it up.

"Giku…", they were scared out of their wits! Oh, another giggle coming! Mustn't laugh… Mustn't laugh!

The four looked left, right and behind, trying to find an opening. However, finally their leader would speak.

"LISTEN, YOU JERKS!", the Kamyu guy stood up. "We're not the only rebels in this village! I'll call my… hundred million comrades to beat you up!"

…

…

…

That's the pitch?

"Ha… don't make me laugh! Even a child can lie better than you!", Usopp scorned. In a scale from one to ten, I guess he'd rate it, uh… minus 169.

"And that's coming from a certified liar.", Sanji whispered.

Me: "Hahah! If you're thinking we would fall for that bluff, you're squarely mista-"

"HUNDRED MILLION?", Oi!

Me, Sanji and Usopp: "DON'T FALL FOR THAT, LUFFY!"

"It's clear they're bluffing, Luffy!", Usopp snapped.

"WHAT? IT WAS A LIE?", of course, you dolt! But keep going, this theater thing is awesome!

"Yes captain! Such underhanded tactics! They're trying to fool us!", great chance to unleash my acting mad skillz. Of which I have none.

"You bastards! I'll make you pay! GOMU GOMU NOOO… PISTOL!"

Luffy punched out their leader, sending him flying back away from the gate.

"Hey, Luffy, wasn't that a bit too fa-"

"Haha! Serves you damn right! Show them, captain!", I shouted.

"Shut your trap! Wanna make things worse? Besides, you gotta be trying real hard to overact like that!", Usopp yanked me aside.

"What? It's just a little act, isn't it? Can't you enjoy and go along with the spectacle?", come on, that's getting interesting! Besides, it's not like Luffy will actually go there and beat the crap out of…

"Heheh… You better get ready!", oh goodie. Luffy walked slowly towards them. Keep the act, man, don't beat them for real!

Without their captain, the three other fakes got even more terrified.

When Luffy tried to lay his hands on them, he got stopped! Their leader dashed back to the scene to defend his fellows, even all beat-up and bleeding from the nose.

"I admit. We might be just a bunch of impostors… but that's how we roll! I have… I always had the dream of being as strong as the great warriors of this land I idolized since I was a kid.", Kamyu gathered his spirit to give voice to his thoughts.

"Even if my dream doesn't come true… I won't let you steal the dreams of the children of this country! Even if I can't defeat you… those children will surely fight and work hard to get back at you! If I'm to be remembered as a bandit, as a nobody, I'd rather die as a hero… right… NOW!"

He then mustered his courage and punched our captain right in the face!

"Aah… captain! You punks, you're gonna pay… huh?"

One of Kamyu's henchmen decided to join the mess.

"I'll fight too! Big bro's dream is my dream too!", he too gathered courage to stand up and face us. "I've never did anything special since I was a kid… but my bro always stood up for the weak! I'm with him! DOSUKOI!"…he did a sumo stance and struck the ground, forcing Sanji to fall back a foot.

"BIG BRO, I'M GONNA BE A HERO, JUST LIKE YOU!", he screamed while crying.

"He's right… even if it's in vain, I'll fight too! I'll show the power of my faith!", the swordsman of the group got ready too.

"After all, we wouldn't have any other choice even if we wanted to!", the shortest one, sporting boxing gloves went along with the spirit.

The pace changed all of a sudden! The so-called rebels actually have a heart and are ready to fight for this village!

"Hey, guys, time to retreat!", Usopp hissed.

"What, already? It's getting nice now, Usopp-kun!", I whined back.

"That doesn't matter anymore! Let's back away, the girls are calling us!", he replied.

Aww… that's a shame. Time for the final act!

"PIRATES OR WHATEVER, BRING IT ON! YOU'LL ENTER THIS VILLAGE ONLY PAST OUR DEAD BODIES!", Kamyu shouted out loud.

"What… impossible! Such determination!", how fun!

"Heheh… that's the spirit! Now I'm even more eager to beat Crocodi-"

"We have no time to waste, let's run for it, captain!", before Luffy could blow our cover, Sanji dragged him off the 'stage'.

"Someday we'll get back and make you pa-"

"Come on too, you ham, let's go!", Usopp yanked me as well. Awww… mommy, it's over!

"Damn you Rebel Army!", Sanji screamed.

"I've never seen such tough guys in my life!", Usopp shouted.

"I… I can't say stuff like that…", you didn't have to, Zoro.

"Wait for meee!", Chopper followed us.

It was decided that that village would be under the protection of the imposters.

An example of how willpower moves mountains!

* * *

**How's that for ya, huh? Did you like it?**

**Dan: "Ladies and gentlemen... welcome to the wonderful world of... filler!"**

**Everyone else: "Nooooooooooo!"**

**Oh, come on! I know, it's a bit filler, but it isn't that bad!**

**Zoro: "Does that mean that we walked two chapters worth of space to nothing?"**

**Please, God Oda made you do that in the anime as well, so don't whine about it! Or... do you want me to pause the plot even further... with a FLASHBACK? *dun dun duuu~n!* *bonk from Nami* Ow! What was that for?**

**Nami: "Don't. Please. Don't! Got it?"**

**Ooooookaaaay...  
**


	66. Stories, bad puns and lumps in my head

**Chapter 66**

**"While Yuba's still away, just sit back and enjoy a good story!"

* * *

**

Ayayayayay… this. Desert. Is. Freakin' endless!

Lots of things happened since we left Ido… even though I thought the walk could get any more boring!

That if you don't take into account the traditional fuss the guys make every time they do anything together, even while drinking water! Every frickin' time it ends in a big sad ball of violence for any parties involved and don't ask me why.

Now that everyone has their own bottle of water to drink whenever it feels like… but noooo, they simply won't stop bitching at each other!

Well, it's better to get used to it right now, but come on guys, give it a break!

'Ah, you're spilling too much!', 'Hey, don't drink too much!' and stuff like that.

It's best to ignore their antics, which I did once I sensed Vivi would start telling a little story at the front of the pack.

She told Nami and me about moments of her childhood. I don't remember all of it, but I know she told us about the time she spent with her friend Kohza.

At first, whenever they met each other, it would end in a fight. As time went on, they stopped bickering, managed to understand each other, finally building a friendship. Kohza, since an early age, was concerned with the safety of his village and the other kids considered him the leader of their group, the Suna-Suna Clan.

"Heh… Every once in a while Igaram and my father would take the effort to hide and follow me around just to check on how I was doing.", she recounted while giggling. "Every time I got in trouble, Igaram would get so annoyed he had to be constrained by my father, or else, he'd do something stupid…"

"It's only natural for him to worry about the Princess, don't you think?", I asked.

"Of course, but I guess sometimes he took his job too seriously.", Vivi said.

The country still lived in peace a few years ago, although there were hard times already. Drought would strike particular places once in a while and the King often listened to complaints from the people.

As for the Suna-Suna Clan, they had a principle: that their members must protect each other.

With a princess amongst them, everyone, especially their leader Kohza, considered this to be a golden rule of their group. To nobody's surprise, thugs from nowhere attempted to kidnap the princess.

"Kohza has a fiery heart… to him, it didn't matter who he had to face. He always said he'd try to protect me, even if it cost him his life.", Vivi said. Back then, that disposition of his to face death for the sake of his friends deeply concerned Vivi. Just as a bunch of other things.

"Eeh… how unusual… you got involved in such serious business even though you were just a child…", I said, surprised. "Being part of the Royal family must be tough…"

Great powers demand great responsibilities… and I imagine her dad must have a big heart and respect his people… Baroque Works and Crocodile have no right to trample over a kingdom just because! We won't let them!

Oh well, going on, there was a day when Kohza decided to leave the capital together with his dad, carrying an important mission. Build a city literally from scratch and make it prosper. That city is Yuba.

Well, what does that have to do with the Rebel Army, you ask?

"The Rebel leader… his name is… Kohza."

That's right. Turns out we're going to meet Vivi's childhood friend, now the leader of those who oppose the King.

Aah… I do like to hear a good story…

Our travel still goes on, but first…

We stopped around some rocks to "rest". Put emphasis on the quotation marks because the doofuses started yelling at each other if anyone wanted seconds.

Meanwhile, the girls couldn't help but bring about the stark contrasts between Luffy, bickering, fooling around and trying to steal the lunches of others, before running away on his own _yet again_… and Ace, who as soon as he was finished, didn't ask for seconds, even cleaning his dish.

After lunch, two kids appeared out of nowhere, trying to fetch something to eat. They were two boys who asked Ace to go after some guy named Scorpion.

Turns out Ace knew about him, saying he's a bounty hunter known for having defeated Blackbeard.

If that's true, it's a real shock, because judging from the photograph the boys gave us, he was a quite normal man.

Who'd guess he was closer than we thought? And that he was just making stuff up?

That Scorpion man relied on his weapons to do the dirty work. Not that he was mean or evil or anything like that. He's just weak. It wasn't a duel, Ace practically handed him his ass on a plate. He just invented that rumor to attract Ace.

In a way, that actually worked…

The boys turned out to be his children, coming out in the nick of time to stop his father before he harmed himself doing something brain-dead.

Scorpion then told us he is a mere farmer that threw away his bounty-hunting past to take care of his children in a dry land. After they fought so hard to survive, he tried to plant some hope in his kids, saying he would set out on a journey to fight the "greatest battle of the world" and come back triumphantly, even though he knew full well that was a lie.

Amidst tears, Scorpion still tried to launch a last-ditch attack, but ultimately gave up. But irony would strike as the bazooka he carried fired on its own against a rock, causing an explosion and almost crushing him under giant boulders. Fortunately, Luffy and Ace acted on time, saving him.

As the sun set, Ace bid farewell, as he found out Blackbeard isn't in Arabasta anymore. Before he left, though, he gave Luffy a small piece of paper that, as Ace told him, would allow them to meet again. He also left a small advice.

"When we meet again, I want to see you at the top! Goodbye, Luffy. See ya later.", then, Ace disappeared with the wind.

After once more stopping to sleep, on the following day, we were back to the trek.

I sincerely hoped the walk would be more pacific from now on, but I should know better. With Luffy around, you can pretty much throw that word in the trash can.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! WAAAAIT! CROCODIIIILE!"…here we go again…

"What's wrong with him this time?", Sanji asked.

"I think he's gone nuts now…", Zoro said tiredly.

"Maybe… maybe he ate that weird cactus again…", oh come on, Usopp, he can't be that bone-headed! Or can he?

"Oh for the love of Pete! Can't he stay quiet for five minutes?", Nami's ticked off. That's her normal state, believe it. "Chopper!"

"Hmm, Nami… it's better not to. Our doctor's out.", Chopper was back at the cart, panting, without strength even to stand up.

"Grr… good grief… oh no, not again! Do we need to issue a restraining order for him to stay put?", his wild antics started to piss me off too!

As that suggestion is impractical, I tried the second most logical option: materialize a strait jacket!

"Dan, what are you going to do with that?", Sanji asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Imma gunna bind our crazy captain!", I started walking towards Luffy.

"Don't count on it, he's not gonna let you do that so easily.", Zoro said.

Hey, I didn't try it yet…

"Ah, how lucky I am… Zoro, take care of that, will ya?", Nami said without a care.

"WHAT? Me? Why do I have to deal with that?", Zoro… aren't you forgetting something?

"Want me to remind you of your… debt?", there, game over. Nami 2, Zoro 0.

"You damn… if you're not falling to Hell, I'm going there to push you down!", Zoro with a hell of a grudge, still went there to deal with the issue.

"Ooo… I can barely wait! I'm sooooo scaaared… Heheh!", Nami you sly bastard…

Seriously, women can be so evil when they know they have complete control of a man… I can imagine his pain. Thank goodness I never asked her to lend me money.

"Ok, guys, let's go!", Nami called.

"Hey, isn't it better for us to wait for them?", Vivi disagreed.

"Can't they just follow the footprints?", Sanji argued. Yeah, speaking of which…

"Don't you remember what happened last time? We got lost exactly because there were no footprints to follow!", I interrupted angrily, after that pointing to the ladies. "Besides… great friends, eh? Thank you for just ditching us back then!"

"Hey, you…"

Out of the blue, Sanji kicked me.

Me: "Hey, what was that for?"

"Don't talk like that to my precious ladies!", uh oh, he's in love-mode again… now he's after me!

"Catch me if you can!", time to run now!

"They went ahead 'cause if they waited, we'd never move!", he yelled while running.

Nami: "Oh no, not you two!"

He tried to catch me around the camel until Nami hit us both and ended the dispute.

"We're moving right now!", Nami ordered.

"Ow, ow… haaaaai… incredible… you little bastard, just because you don't need to walk… you're so bossy…", I whispered angrily.

"Did you say something?"

"No… no, nothing…", grr… come on! Can't I just hiss to myself without getting caught? Sheesh!

Objections overruled. We left Zoro and Chopper behind.

"They have plenty of energy to catch up later. Let's just find somewhere to rest.", Nami stated.

"Aaagrreeeeeddd…", Usopp, more tired than before.

Once again, here we are, marching through the desert. Now only with a greater dose of boring.

Boring.

Boooooring…

Boooooooooooring…

"Boooooooooooooooooo…"

"Can you stop whining?"

Wait, I was saying that out loud? Hey, I totally didn't notice… I must be so bored that even my brain goes to sleep mode… being surrounded by sand doesn't really give me much to do.

Hmm… silence… not good.

Stuff to break the ice… break the ice… I get it? Jokes! But wait, I'm not good with stuff like that… either I stutter and screw things up or the joke screws itself up because it isn't funny. Y'know, damn it. I won't lose a thing for trying!

"Hey guys, do you know why the artist dropped dead?", here goes nothing…

"Umm, no… why?", Sanji asked.

The answer: "He couldn't draw his own breath!"

Cue some groans and blank stares.

"Did you just try to make a pun?", Nami said in disbelief.

"What? Is there anything wrong with that?", I replied.

"Apart from the fact that it feels awkward, no, nothing.", oh great… now I can't even tell a joke without sounding awkward?

There. Five minutes later…

"If you get shot with a bow, would you have an… arrowing experience?"

…

…

…

"Ummm… what?"

"Could it be said that you… axed for it?"

"Oh, bad puns again…", Nami groaned.

I ignored, taking the joke to the end. "Of course, that's not a knife thing to say, and I don't want any quarrels with you, so I'll… spear you the details!"

"Umm… are you done?", Sanji asked innocently.

"Please don't launch such a hurricane of puns without warning.", Nami's advice. "You could get pun-ished… uh…"

Before joining the others on the groan for this joke, she unwittingly let out a pun of her own!

"Hahah… serves you right!", I laughed.

"What's wrong with him?", Nami asked.

"Beats me…", Sanji said vaguely.

"Probably… the heat's getting to him.", Usopp stated.

"How rude! I'm perfectly fine, thank you. Seriously, can't I try to entertain myself anymore?", irked, I let it out. "Fine, if it suits your liking, and before any of you threatens my life, I'll shut up now.", I pouted.

Fortunately, and much to Usopp's relief, because he was already tiring the hell out, we found a nice spot with shadows to rest. We were at what looked like ruins of some ancient building.

Ugh… time to sit my ass down again. To be fair, I was tired myself too. I couldn't stand on my legs anymore. Also, the sun's so bright it gave me a headache…

"Ah… how fresh! Phew… I'm worn out! Let's stop for a while, shall we?", oh you hypocrite! Spending all the damn time sitting your shapely butt on the back of a camel must be soooo tiring, eh?

"Look… who's… talking!", Usopp, while panting, kinda voiced what I was thinking.

"Oh, what? Ah, you poor sap, you look terrible!", Nami trying to act cute.

"Thanks, Eyelash. You're awesome!", hey, that's not fair!

"What's wrong, Vivi?", hm?

Wait, better stop ranting now. Vivi stood on a corner, looking away. Her posture made it clear that she was concerned with something.

"Will they figure out we're here?", she wondered.

"It's gonna be fine, don't worry. Since these rocks stand at the top of this dune, they probably can see it from far away.", Nami comforted her.

"Vivi-san, I'm sorry to ask but, how more will we take to get to Yuba?", I said.

"Now that you mentioned it… let's see, since we're already in these ruins, I believe we should be there by nightfall.", Vivi replied.

"Finally, we're almost there…", Nami sighed in relief.

"Wait, these are ruins?", what, Sanji, if they weren't, what would you expect a bunch of bricks to be doing in the middle of the desert?

"Yes, and I think they're from a very distant past.", Vivi explained. "Thousands of years ago, a civilization was installed in these lands. Several kingdoms formed and as time passed, they vanished. People migrated from one place to another searching for water… sometimes waging wars against each other, exactly for that. This kingdom is full of mementos from our ancestors… shrouded by many, many mysteries."

"Then, 'Lord Time' shapes this kingdom and he'll make it vanish sooner or later, huh? It's a pretty interesting story… sounds like a romance, right?", Sanji said.

"Sanji-kun!", Nami called him out.

He then stuttered and realized he might have offended Vivi. "Ah, I'm sorry, Vivi-chan… I didn't… I mean, that wasn't my intention… I just wanted to say…"

"It's fine.", Vivi calmed him down. "Sometimes I find myself thinking about that too. What exactly is a country? Even if the ruler changes, the people will simply move forward and live their lives. Just like the costumes and the culture will move ahead. Even if the kingdom changes but those traditions keep ingrained, there would be no need to protect it. Maybe… we need to protect… something completely different."

Civilizations develop during thousands of years… and they change over time. Society's values change as well. For better or worse.

"After meeting the Sand Pirates and the Rebel impostors… I started thinking about that."

She then noticed her words were taking her away and caught herself. "Ah, sorry, guys… sometimes even I don't know what I'm talking about… I have no answers to myself."

This concern… y'know, sometimes I look at her to see myself… then I look back, to the time I didn't have a care for the rest of the world, but I walked around worrying about everything and didn't make up my mind.

"You're not the only one, Vivi-san.", I decided to talk to her.

"Huh?", she turned and made a look of someone demanding explanations.

"Until a while ago, I was still confused about my future, I'd ask but I would find no answers. I have a dream I want to fulfill, but I didn't know how to get started…"

"Dream… Dan-san, did you go in this adventure for some special reason?"

"Each and every one of us is here for a reason, Vivi-chan.", Sanji replied before me.

Me: "Heheh, you stole right what I was about to say. I left everything I had, the comfort of home, the warmth of my family to chase a dream… it was a tough call. Even when I left, I was still concerned if I was going to regret it. Now what I want is clear. Beyond writing my Ultimate Adventure, I want… to know where I can go. Test my capacities, know more about myself… oh, I think it's off-topic already."

She smiled slightly. "No, Dan-san. I can understand that… I'm going to need courage if I want to stop Baroque Works.", she started to talk more confidently. "Even if I'm not remembered for the best reasons, I will stop Crocodile, whatever it takes."

"Righto… let's get going?", huh?

We turned to see Usopp standing up all of a sudden.

"You're healthy again, Usopp-kun?", I asked.

"Ok… it's not the time to lounge around anymore. Now I'm filled to the brim with courage!"

Really… even his legs tremble with excitement! Oh no, wait. It's just fear.

"You liar…", Sanji snarked.

"You shut up!", he made a brave pose, clenching his fist. "I will show them the courage of the manly Usopp! Nobody's gonna make me kneel that easily!"

Cue Sanji clipping him in the knee… and me laughing my butt off!

"DON'T YOU LAUGH!", Usopp got angry. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"

"Look, you're kneeling already!", Sanji smirked maliciously.

While they fooled around, I prepared myself. This rest was especially refreshing.

"Vivi, let's get going?", Nami called.

"What about Luffy-san?", Vivi asked.

"You're such a worrywart, aren't you? He's gonna be fine, trust me!", Nami put her hood on.

They hopped back on Eyelash… and it's time to get back on the road!

"Oh wait, let me tell you another joke! It goes like-"

"Wait a second. Now it's my turn. Do you know about this saying that starts with 'come here' and ends with 'ow'?", Nami cut me off.

"Huh? What do you mean?", I asked quizzically.

"Come here."

Suddenly she hits me and I fall face-first to the ground.

"Ow! Wha…"

"Hahahaha! You fell right for it!"

Uh, I'm the strange one here?

Well, it's the scene. Walking 'til the sunset. With the catch that… we're almost there!

"Oooh… ow… not again…"

"Hey, Usopp, where's your manly courage?", Sanji looked back. Our token longnose was falling behind… again.

"I just… I just said… what I'm feeling…", he said while breathing heavily.

"Ah, man…", I went to aid him. "Come on. I'll carry you.", I offered to piggyback him 'til I got tired myself.

"I'm fine… it's… alright…"

"No. When there's a friend in need, I'll be there.", I told him with a smile.

"Thanks.", he said.

"Guys, sorry for the… hm?", I noticed they were standing still.

"You… you're incredible…", Vivi, what are you thinking about this time? "How is it possible for you to believe that much on each other?"

"How, you say… to be honest, I don't know myself…"

"Wow, that's even more incredible… I know nobody who can trust his friends so deeply…", Vivi got surprised.

Nami continued. "Maybe it's because each of us knows that the others do whatever they can to help, and knows that has to do the same."

"Hm…"

"Luffy said something to me a while ago… when they were at my homeland… 'I don't know jack shit about swords, you asshole!'", Nami mimicked Luffy's speech pattern. Cue a 'confused-the-hell-out' look from Vivi.

Quick context. "We were fighting against some enemies, but that's a whole other story. Go on, Nami."

"'I can't cook… I can't walk around without getting lost… I can't lie… I can't write a damn thing… I just know I have the courage to admit I need help if I want to survive!'…he said. From that day on, those words were always with me. Then I thought… 'Ah, so that's how pirates roll around'."

Sanji joined the conversation. "People have limits. An example, your case, Vivi-chan… no matter how hard you'd try, you wouldn't go far by yourself. Just like any one of us wouldn't be here alone."

"We need each other and that everyone do their part or at least, something.", I finished.

She looked to the ground, thinking for some moments. "Thank you."

"Speaking of which… the rest of the guys, where the hell are they?", Usopp asked.

"I have no idea, but at least they know we're heading to Yuba.", although that doesn't help at all, Nami…

"Well, it's not like they're going to crash land around here anyway!", oh please, don't commit that offense, Nami…

"Huh…", I sighed. "Three… two… one…"

"What's with the countdown?", Nami asked.

"Look behind you."

She did so and gawked at a black dot… coming our way!

"aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!"

"Hey, wait… they're… Luffy! And Zoro and Chopper!", Usopp saw through his goggles.

"Dan-san, how did you know?", Vivi asked incredulously.

"Hahahah, don't underestimate the clairvoyance of a writer! I know when I'm about to witness a cliché! What happened was that Nami just tempted fate by saying that she didn't believe they would be flying and land here. Well, this is Mr. Fate's payback!", I said.

"Impressive!", Vivi stared at me wide-eyed.

"Also, I looked behind before everyone else.", I stated plainly.

"Oh.", Vivi's face dulled again.

"Who cares! Let's tend to them!", Nami then sped up Eyelash's pace.

Anyway, let's get going already! It's the final stretch, Yuba is right there!

* * *

**There! Another one right back at ya!**

**Nami: "At least we advanced..."**

**Vivi: "Hang on for a little more, guys... we're almost there!"**

**Dan: "Please tell me we're gonna get there in the next chapter, please, please, pretty please!"**

**Dan, my dear. You should know that as a writer, the last thing I'd do is to tell what happens next.**

**Usopp: "Can't you at least be cryptic about it?"**

**Nope. Telling the plot in an overly enigmatic way is the same as telling nothing whatsoever. Also, I have no fancy words to type right now.**


	67. Luffy and Vivi's violent argument!

**Chapter 67**

**"Arguing in the group! To stop the rebellion or to stop Crocodile?"

* * *

**

"Guys, look there! What's that?"

"Are we there yet? I can't see anything with all this sand!"

Night came and with it came the cold, cold breeze.

A strong whirlwind dragged the sand around, lifting it and pretty much blocking our path. I lifted my scarf to cover my face. I barely could open my eyes, struggling to look far away. I tried to figure out what stood beyond the curtain of sand bursting right in front of us.

Turned out it's the silhouette of a city. Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, finally Yuba's on our sight! But wait…

"Something's wrong in the town!", Vivi shouted. She took a step ahead to try to see better. As soon as she did that, she went pale. "A storm! The town's being attacked by a sandstorm!"

Once again, a sandstorm bumps into us. We're really lucky, huh? If I'm not mistaken, it's the third already. Although I don't care about counting that.

Anyway, our already slow pace came to a complete halt and we had to wait until the sand calmed down to resume our walk.

When we arrived at the city, the scenery was far from beautiful. Everything was buried under a large layer of sand. Shriveling trees, buildings with cracks or totally destroyed and an overall landscape that brings to mind the expression 'severe drought'. Just like what's going on Erumalu.

"Oh no, not again…", I said, weakly.

The worst of it all: nobody around.

No signal of anything even resembling a Rebel Army base or camp or something like that. I have a grim feeling about all this…

"Another ghost town? Unbelievable…", Zoro added, incredulously.

Luffy walked around with his tongue sticking out, searching for any signs of drinkable water. Although, before such a landscape the chances of finding water are very close to zero.

"Hey, isn't this city supposed to be an oasis, Vivi-chan?", Sanji asked while glancing around.

"The ground level rose due to the sand… The oasis is being swallowed…", Vivi replied. She looked depressed.

The desert's truly unforgiving. Whenever it feels like it, it just eats everything in its path, destroying all that those who live in it built with so much effort.

"You're travelers, aren't you?", eh?

I stopped digressing when I noticed an old man, his back turned to us, inside a hole, digging with a shovel.

"You must be tired after traveling so much, don't you?", the old man said. "I'm deeply sorry, youngsters… the city's a little dry at the moment.", he turned to look at us. "Well, at least I hope you're able to get a little rest before going."

Vivi covered her face.

"If you wanna stay at an inn, there are many around here.", the old man kept digging. "After all, we're known for that."

"Excuse me…", Vivi approached him, quite timidly. "We heard that the Rebel Army was stationed here…"

"What do you want with the Rebel Army?", that question angered him. Bad move, Vivi.

"DON'T TELL ME YOU WANNA JOIN THEM!", he snapped and started hurling everything he could grab at us. After Luffy got hit with a barrel on his head, the old man got tired out and calmed down, probably because he ran out of things to throw.

"Those idiots aren't here anymore!"

What? No… it can't be! IT CANNOT BE!

"WHAT'YA SAY?", Luffy shouted in desperation.

"You saw that storm a while ago, didn't you?", he said, still digging. "This three-year drought made the sand lose all its humidity. Once storms started, they came one after the other. Slowly the great oasis of back then became this you're seeing. Soon the circulation of goods would stop and the city became unable to support the base anymore. Then, they left."

"So, if you don't mind, where are they?", I asked.

"In Katorea.", the old man said.

Vivi heard that and tensed. "Ka… Katorea?"

"Where's that, Vivi? Is it around here?", Luffy asked.

"No… it's an oasis near Nanohana!"

WHAT? Oh for the love of… No… no, tell me this isn't happening!

I put my hands on my head. "No… we came here… we walked that much… FOR NOTHING!"

We crossed the desert for three freakin' days now we have to do it all over again to go back?

"Katorea… Hey, guys, that's the city where I got lost and bumped into Eyelash!", Chopper recalled.

The camel started speaking, then Chopper translated. "Ah, now I remember. When you saved me… I was delivering weapons and goods to the rebels in Katorea."

Does that mean _the camel_ knew where they were all along?

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US BEFORE, YOU SHITTY CAMEL?", Usopp, Sanji and Luffy snapped and smacked the camel down.

"All that walking… for nothing…", slowly, I lost my grip. I kneeled, still with my hands on my head.

I can't believe we're trapped in a game of cat and mouse, and it's not gonna end soon!

"Hey… youngsters… did I hear what I think I heard? Vivi… I heard you say Vivi.", I turned to see the villager approaching us.

"HEY, OLD MAN, VIVI'S MOST CERTAINLY NOT THE PRINCESS!", Luffy shouted.

"THANKS A BUNCH, LOUDMOUTH!", Zoro smacked him in the head.

"Great way to keep secret, captain…", I said as I rolled my eyes.

However, the villager didn't seem to be furious or even ticked off upon hearing Vivi's name. He approached her. "Vivi-chan… is it… you? Is it you?", he put his hands on her shoulders. "You're alive after all! I'm so glad!"

His voice trembled. He sounded like they've met before. "Vivi-chan, it's me! Don't you remember?"

She stared at him, trying to recall who he was. As nothing could ring a bell, he sighed in resignation.

"I understand… I've slimmed up through these years…"

Those words hit Vivi hard.

"Toto… mister Toto!", Vivi was visibly shocked. She put a hand on her face, trying not to cry.

"Yes! It's me!", tears streamed down Mr. Toto's face.

"No, it can't be…", Vivi was about to cry as well.

"Vivi-chan, doesn't seem like it… but I still have faith in the King. He's not someone who would just betray his country, right?"

Mr. Toto then let his tears roll down. His crying was the only water we could find in a radius of several kilometers.

"This rebellion is ridiculous! Those… idiots…", Toto sat down. "So, not a single drop of rain fell in three years. So what? I still trust the King. And I'm certain most people trust him too! So much… so many times I tried to convince them to stop… nobody would listen! They won't stop!", he ranted.

"The rebels are already at their limit. They plan to end it all with a final attack. They're cornered… now they're willing to die!"

Vivi flinched. The bloodshed is imminent.

"Please, Vivi-chan… stop those bastards! Only you can do it!"

Vivi calmed down, pulling out a handkerchief. "Mr. Toto… don't worry. I will stop the rebellion.", she handed it to the villager.

"Vivi-chan… thank you!", the old man smiled. "Thank you all very much!"

…

…

As the city's empty, we could choose where to stay. So, we decided to stop and rest there to get back on the road in the next morning.

While it's true we'll be able to recover and get back to our journey, all this thing of having come here just to find nothing and have to walk back to the start is tremendously absurd…

But hey, how were we supposed to know that in adva-oh, wait, yeah, the damn camel knew that and didn't tell anybody.

You know what, it's better to just forget it all and get a good night of sleep. The way back's not gonna be easy to handle! After having learned the hard way, at least, I _know_ what we're going to find out in the desert.

We entered a room with bunk beds. All of us then prepared to sleep, save for Luffy who decided to hang out in the streets for a little longer.

"Yaahh… ladies and gentlemen, good job! Surely the day's been tiring, huh? Well, for now, let's just rest and recharge our batteries for tomorrow!", Usopp said, strangely cheerful. Then he jumped right to the bed. "Sleep tight!"

Just as he turned to pull his sheet, Zoro threw a pillow on his face. "You slept all day!"

Usopp then stood up. "Oh you… don't put me together with monsters like you!", he turned back and stroke back at Zoro.

"Wanna fight, huh?", Zoro's murder face.

Usopp took the chance to hurl another pillow at Chopper. "Speaking of which, the prize of Lazy-Ass of the Year should go to you, blue-nose!"

"I CAN'T STAND THE HEAT, DON'T YOU GET IT?", Chopper snapped and grabbed him.

Then the whole situation got worse. Chopper threw a pillow back at Usopp, who replied and in the crossfire, hit Sanji who was trying to sleep in the same bed as Vivi.

"Guys, guys, ah come on! Y'know, screw it… I'm gonna sle-", just as I was ignoring the fuss and going to sleep, someone hit me with a pillow.

"HEY, WHAT GIVES?", I yelled angrily. "WHO'S THE SMART GUY?"

"Oh… whoopsie! My hand slipped!", I turned to see Nami trying not to chuckle like a little troublemaker girl. I then grabbed my pillow, chucked it at her, missing miserably. Oh, she now had the chance to throw it back, which she did. I ducked, all the while being hit by stray pillows caught in the tangle.

In the meantime, Vivi also got hit by one stray pillow right in her face, but she didn't seem to get pissed or even care about joining the fuss. She merely smiled and enjoyed the view.

Before we could notice, the boys were already ensnared with each other and the absolute chaos would eventually reign.

"Ok, guys, that was fun and all but we gotta sleep because tomorrow's gonna be tough!", Nami soon calmed everyone down.

We went to choose our beds. I chose one in the top bunk, with Usopp in the bottom. So, we went to sleep.

I spent the rest of the time alternating between staring at the ceiling and staring at the guys, always silent.

After some moments, Nami ordered Sanji to turn the lights off, which he promptly did. Nap time, everyone.

I pulled my sheet but I found myself quite insomniac and staring silently at the ceiling. That fuss of before somehow kept me awake. As my eyes got adjusted to the darkness, I'd unwittingly dive back in my sea of thoughts.

I reminisced on the events so far… and cringed. I remembered we were to walk back all the way to Katorea… all over again… because the damned rebels are there instead!

But wait, Mr. Toto said he tried to prove them this rebellion would be in vain and bring nothing but blood stains and deaths left and right. His effort was futile.

The rebels are at their limit, and preparing a last-ditch attack.

A civil war is imminent.

What to do?

"Anyway, we have to beat the crap out of that Crocodile, right?"

Suddenly, just like that, I recalled Luffy's words way back… and I questioned.

"Will it be that simple?"

Wait, why am I asking that? Vivi probably asked that question on her head a zillion times!

Before I noticed, those thoughts made me get sleepy. I decided to erase it out of my mind and go to sleep.

Sometimes it's just better to not think about it and get some sleep to the new adventure that's gonna be getting back to Katorea.

Zzzz…

Zzzz…

Zzzz…

"Be strong… my son…", hm? Who's there? "Never forget… friendship's the key to success! If you have people to help you, anything is possible."

Who's there, dammit? Dad… dad, is it you?

"Your pencil… keep it with your life! You have the potential to unlock… your true strength! Use… your imagination!"

Dad… dad!

"DAD! Wha…?"

I suddenly opened my eyes, glancing at the dark ceiling.

"What… just a dream…", I whispered, still recovering from the shock.

I got back to sleep.

…

…

…

"Waaaaaahhh…", one great big yawn to start a new day! "Good morning, guys…"

I usually don't mind the dreams I have, since most of them are goddamn crazy, but, every once in a while, there are a few ones that make me pause to think. Like this one.

I'll need to be creative if I'll make it alive… well, it's not good to stop and worry now, let's get going!

I was one of the last to wake up, but I jumped off my bed. We were up already quite early in the morning. After leaving our temporary base, we walked to the gates of the city.

"I'm sorry, Vivi-chan… to let you see the city as bad as it is… how embarrassing…", Toto was deeply ashamed.

Vivi didn't mind. "Don't worry, mister. As for us, we're setting off. We have a long journey ahead."

"Ah, wait, before I forget, I have one last gift. Luffy-kun… take this with you.", Toto walked to our captain, offering him a small barrel.

"Wah! WATER!", Luffy got excited. "You found it?"

"Of course! You dug that much and just after you fell flat, I continued and ended up getting to the water level!", Toto said, smiling all the while. "Then, I gathered all that I could find and distilled it."

"Wooow! Sounds complicated but thank you anyway!", Luffy said happily.

His determination paid off…

"I'm sorry, my lad… that's everything I have to offer you.", Toto apologized, probably knowing he didn't have to.

"I'll drink it carefully!", Luffy said that like a little obedient boy.

"I sure hope so!", Toto smiled.

We then waved goodbye to the once prosperous land of Yuba and Mr. Toto, its only inhabitant.

It's time to get back on the road! Katorea, here we go!

While we walked, I couldn't help but notice that Luffy was falling further and further back. All the while with a deepening frown. Sure looks like he was bored out of his mind. It continued until he suddenly stopped and sat down, leaning on a withered tree by which we passed.

"Hey, guys, wait up!", I called.

"Huh?", Usopp turned to ask me and noticed Luffy sitting in the tree. "Ah, Luffy, what the hell are you doing?", he pointed.

Our captain sat down with his arms crossed on the back of his head. He frowned and kept silent, strangely thoughtful, methinks.

"Hey, Luffy, are you feeling alright?", can't you tell? He's perfectly fine! Only he paused to think and _that's_ weird.

He still didn't say a thing. The pause continued until he finally declared:

"I'm out."

…

…

Um… eh?

"Huh?", we grunted confusedly.

"What do you mean by 'I'm out'?", Nami asked quite redundantly.

"It's exactly how you heard it! I'm out.", Luffy insisted.

"Hey, Luffy, we don't exactly have the time to stop and listen to your nonsense! Come on, get up.", Usopp got exasperated and tried to snap him out of it.

Sanji got increasingly angry. "Yeah! If we don't stop the rebels, one million civilians are going to fight and chaos will run wild, get it? Now come on, let's get go-"

He went to try to get Luffy to stand but I put a hand on his shoulder and told him to calm down. "Wait, Sanji-san, let him talk."

"But Dan!", Sanji grunted.

"Let's hear him, shall we? Luffy, what are you thinking?", I said calmly.

"Vivi.", Luffy called. "I want to beat the tar out of Crocodile!", Luffy got annoyed. "If we stop the rebels, are we going to stop Crocodile in any way? Even if we walk all the way to Katorea, what the hell are we going to do there?"

Vivi couldn't find the words to reply.

"We're pirates. If you want to go by this peaceful, diplomatic way, go by yourself. You're better off without us.", Luffy said firmly.

"Sometimes I forget he has a brain…", Sanji commented.

"How come in such a time he can pull this off?", Usopp opined too.

"Yeah, indeed…", I couldn't say otherwise.

"But… but, Luffy, I…", Vivi wanted to argue back but he didn't let her.

"Admit it, everything you want is to stop everybody from dying. Neither the innocent civilians… nor any of us. Even when you know full well that you're dealing with a Shichibukai and there's one million people willing to fight to their deaths."

Wow, now I'm surprised. I never expected to hear that from him.

"Don't you think… you're being too naïve?"

Yeah, the great dilemma… should I stop the rebellion, but let Crocodile run away… or should I stop Crocodile, but let the civilians kill each other?

Hmmm… that's not gonna go over well with Vivi… I'm sure she asked that question many, many times…

"What's the problem?", not surprisingly, those words angered Vivi, making her pull her hood. "What's wrong in trying to stop people from dying for no reason?"

"Simple.", Luffy replied with an eerie calmness. "People die."

That was enough to make Vivi snap. She slapped him in the face so hard he rolled in the sand.

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT! IF YOU SAY THAT AGAIN, I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!", Vivi got infuriated. "AREN'T WE TRYING TO STOP JUST THAT?", she panted, venting her feelings.

"Those who fight… either for the King… or for the rebels… nobody's at fault for what's happening! Still, why should they die? CROCODILE'S THE ONE AT FAULT FOR OUR SUFFERING!"

Luffy slowly got up… getting back and punching her in the face.

"Oi, Luffy! You've gone too far now!", I gasped. Punching a woman?

"Bastard!", Sanji pulled his sleeves…

However, Vivi stood back up, angrily pinning Luffy down and punching him again. "WHAT'S WRONG?"

While being punched and slapped, Luffy tried to talk some sense on her. "What this country really needs… it's clear even to me! Do you think… just risking your life… will be enough?"

"SO, WHAT ELSE SHOULD I RISK?", Vivi shouted. "I HAVE NOTHING TO RISK BUT MY LIFE!"

Luffy finally intervened and grabbed her arms.

"I have… nothing else!", she trembled in frustration.

He then pushed her aside and stood up.

"THEN START BY RISKING OUR LIVES TOO! WE'RE COMRADES, DAMMIT!"

Those words instantly defeated anything that Vivi tried to say. It then dawned on her and she covered her face, while trying to keep herself from crying.

"We're comrades, aren't we?", Luffy said while he grabbed his straw hat.

Vivi couldn't handle it anymore and cried.

"Well, they can come out after all…", Luffy talked to her, much more calmly now. "Those tears…"

That was enough for her to wail. It's better for her to let out all her frustration.

"You're the one who's suffering the most with all that… you're the one who wants to get back at him the most, more than everybody else!", Luffy said while cleaning his hat.

Nami then approached the princess and tried to comfort her.

It's true… turns out Luffy was right all along… what we needed to do right from the start was to search for Crocodile and his underlings and beat the shit out of them!

I'm not good with metaphors, but I guess trying to fight a rebellion without finding its cause is like trying to fight a wildfire but forgetting to search the culprit!

Even if we managed to stop the rebels, who says that Crocodile won't try to find his way around that little setback?

It's hard to accept, but it's become unavoidable. Blood eventually will spill and people will die. But if it's gonna be like that, let our blood spill too, at the very least, I'll leave my blood on the field, 'cause I'm willing to fight!

If we're here… if she went through the trouble of asking our help… it was for a reason!

Of course, I do value my life, but I want to fight to help a friend in need!

"Tell me…", Luffy grabbed his hat, standing up with a determined look on his face. "…where's Crocodile!"

After crying this much, Vivi finally calmed down and regained her composure.

"Luffy-san is right.", Vivi said while wiping the tears off her face. She then stood up with other look on her face and other attitude.

"I've decided. We'll head to Crocodile's hideout!"

That's more like it!

"That's the shortest way for sure.", Nami said.

"It's better this way. We won't have to change direction and waste time walking in circles anymore.", Zoro added.

"So? Where's Crocodile, Vivi-chan?", Sanji asked.

Vivi pulled out her map and opened it. We were circled around it.

"This is capital Alubarna, site of the Royal Palace.", Vivi pointed.

"Right now, the Rebel Army is here, preparing to take Alubarna.", she explained while pointing to certain spots on the map.

"I assume the ideal path is to defeat Crocodile before they get there.", I said.

"As for him, he's here: Rainbase. If we go now, we'll get there by the afternoon."

"That's the spirit, Vivi-san! Now, captain, if you don't mind…", I turned to him. He smiled and nodded.

"Everyone, let's go!", I raised my fist up high.

Now I'm getting excited! Things will surely heat up! Now that our destination is decided, we're back on the road, this time heading directly to the evil boss's lair!

* * *

**Change in the route! It's time to put our act together because our adventurers will meet Baroque Works' top brass and come face-to-face with the evil mastermind, Shichibukai Crocodile!**

**Dan: "It's about time we got some action!"**

**Zoro: "I was getting tired of doing nothing all this time!"**

**Nami: "You're crazy! There's gonna be craploads of enemies! Are you both out of your minds?"**

**Luffy: "This wait's driving me nuts! Hurry up, Author! Make the next chapter!"**

**Usopp: "NOT YOU TOO?"  
**

**Calm down, calm down, everyone. I promise the next chapter will have plenty of action! You can bet on that!  
**


	68. Turnabouts in the gambling plaza!

**Chapter 68**

**"Break into Rain Dinners! Straw Hat Pirates in one great big pinch!"

* * *

**

"GOMU GOMU NOOO… DAME DA!" (Gum-Gum No Way!)

"Come on, not fair! Gimme, gimme, I wanna drink too!"

"GOMU GOMU NOO… DAME DA!"

"Come on, give me! Just a little bit! Aaah… he gave water we're supposed to drink, aren't we?"

Luffy's new attack! Wildly swinging his arms left and right in order to keep Usopp from stealing the small barrel Mr. Toto gave him. What's most surprising of all this is that Luffy's managing to keep _himself _from drinking it all in one gulp!

"That dry-looking old man spent a whole night trying to unearth this little bit of water, Usopp! Do you think I'd let you drink it all at once?"

Usopp then conceded and gave up, although still with a slight grudge.

Wow… apart from thinking ahead and spitting out an unexpectedly logical train of thought… he can save? Guess I don't know him yet…

"Eeh… you can actually control yourself? That's amazing!" Nami said, visibly surprised.

"Um, yeah, of course I can! How mean of you, Nami!" Classic compliment backfire. Luffy got annoyed. "HOW RUDE OF YOU!" he pouted.

"Ah… I can't walk anymore…" Usopp kneeled to take a few breaths. His tongue was already sticking out.

Vivi then jumped off the camel. "Luffy-san… thank you very much… If you weren't around, I think I'd never have courage to take this path…"

"Just tell me you're gonna give me food, ok?" Luffy replied.

"Huh?"

Luffy then put his fists together and repeated while sticking his tongue out as well. "After I beat Crocodile to a pulp, you promise you're gonna offer one hell of a feast for us to fill our tummies?"

"Of course!" Vivi agreed without thinking twice and jumped back onto the camel. Then we resumed our walk.

Honestly… one simple route change and our spirits changed drastically.

Even Chopper managed to walk around by himself!

"Hey, Chopper, today you're not knocked out, that's nice!" Zoro praised.

"Yeah, I've gotta do my best!" Chopper answered proudly. Next, he talked to Vivi. "Ne, Vivi, are we going to find water on Rainbase?"

"Yes, we are. The city's pretty much unaffected by the rebellion. On top of that, it's incredibly famous for its casinos and for being the place of gambling." She replied.

"GAMBLING?" Nami… who else?

"Hey, hey, what are you daydreaming?" Zoro intervened.

"Hold it right there, Nami-chan. We're not going there to waste time and money in casinos, ok?"

"I know, I know, just chill out, you two!" she reassured us. The catch is that she forgot to change the beris on her face back to her eyes.

"Looks like there still are lively cities apart from the capital, huh…" Sanji mused.

"Crocodile wouldn't set his headquarters in a small city, that's for sure." I said.

"We're arriving. Look!" Vivi called, pointing ahead.

Rainbase's already on our horizon.

"YOOOSH, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS, CROCODILE!" Luffy outstretched his arms and shouted to the sky.

"Hey, do you think Baroque Works already knows we're here?" Zoro asked.

"It's highly likely. I bet that Mister 2 and that other guy had enough time to pass that information to their higher-ups." Nami answered.

"Should I even care about that?" Luffy whined.

"Fool, don't you understand? That means we can't walk around anywhere we want! We're gonna be recognized." Usopp stated.

"Why is that?" Luffy still wanted to know more.

"If they capture us, we won't be able to get to Crocodile's place, Luffy." I told him.

"After all, they're trained to murder any target that's of their interest…" Zoro commented.

"No matter where they come from or who they are, bring it on. I'll protect Nami-san and Vivi-chan, whatever it takes! Call me Prince if you want to!" Sanji's love-mode kicked in again.

"Prince…" Unfortunately, Zoro took the honors.

"I'M GONNA KICK YOU!" Sanji wasn't amused.

"Prince… water!"

Chopper and Usopp complained in unison.

"Just be quiet, you two!" Zoro got annoyed.

"ME TOO! WAAATER!" out of the blue, Luffy ran off ahead. Usopp should be so thirsty that he followed him.

"Hey, wait, you two! At least take some money! Oh, they're not listening…" Nami tried to snap them back to reason, but their thirst was stronger.

We arrived at the entrance of the oasis called Rainbase. An enormous city, just as big or even bigger than Nanohana and just as loud and crowded. Colorful buildings and a multitude of faces crowding the city's bars and cafes were the main scenery.

"Guys, how 'bout we stop by somewhere with a shadow and just wait them to get back?" I suggested.

"Agreed… I'm so in the need of a little rest…" Me too, Nami… me too.

The girls hopped off the camel and sat down on the ground. I took the opportunity to sit down too. Once again, the walk tired my legs out.

"Guys, I gotta pee… I'll be back in five." Thanks for sharing that information, Chopper…

Minutes later, I've noticed Sanji walking back and forth, looking concerned. "Was it right just to leave those two alone running around?"

"They just need to take a drink. Do you think they'd get in trouble even while doing that?" They're perfectly capable of doing so, Nami…

"It's not too far off to me… my gut feeling is that those two are going to get back here with buttloads of people running after them or something." Zoro said casually while playing with the camel.

"Nah, you're imagining things. What could go wrong?" *sigh* Here we go again…

I quickly stood up and started to stretch and squat, cracking my joints and fingers.

"Uh… Dan-kun, what are you doing?" Nami was confused.

"I guess he's warming up already." Zoro deduced.

"Indeed, Zoro-san! And I recommend everyone to get ready too, now that you've mentioned impending wacky hijinks, by which I mean having to run like hell to save our asses." I said between exercises. "Done! Now, Sanji-san, please, can you check the situation out there?"

He slowly walked ahead to the corner of the street to peek at what was going on the avenue. Cue a weird look on his face.

"Oh goddammit… The Marines are after them again!"

"You gotta be kidding me! Also, why the hell are they running back here?" Nami put her hands on her face while gawking.

"Dan, just how do you do it…" Zoro wondered.

I sighed. "Simple. There's some stuff you're not supposed to say. Never."

"That doesn't really matter right now! It's time to haul ass!" Nami screamed.

"Wait, guys! Tony-kun's not back from the toilet!" Vivi warned.

"We have no time to waste, Vivi! He has to walk around on his own! Let's go!" Zoro started running and yanked Vivi together.

"GUYS! MARINE'S HERE!" Luffy screamed. He and Usopp were carrying barrels on their shoulders while being chased around by dozens of angry soldiers.

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU BROUGHT THEM HERE!" Zoro shouted back at them. We ended up joining the chased group.

"Hey guys! We shouldn't be running around like this! Baroque Works is gonna find us!" Usopp screamed.

"Do we have a choice? Marine won't stop chasing us!" I replied, slightly annoyed.

"Guess it's too late already. Dan, look around." Zoro stared around.

Surely, as I kept running, I could notice people in particularly attention-grabbing outfits and suspicious glares, holding pieces of paper on their hands. I noticed they were discreetly looking at us wherever we'd go.

"Oh great, now we don't have to disguise ourselves!" I commented.

"We have only one route now! Vivi! Where's Crocodile!" Luffy shouted.

Vivi then looked ahead, pointing far away: "Pay attention to that building with a crocodile in the top! That's his headquarters, Rain Dinners casino!"

How smart… Crocodile could only live in the greatest building, adorned with a crocodile on the top… so unconspicuous!

But hey, he could have done it on purpose!

"Guys, I vote for us to scatter!" Sanji suggested.

As I saw two routes ahead of us, we didn't have much of a choice to begin with.

"Nice idea!" I agreed.

"Divide now! I'll catch up with you on the castle!" Luffy shouted.

"Ou!"

Usopp, Sanji and Nami went to the stairs on the right while Zoro, Vivi and me went through the stairs in the left. Luffy jumped all the way to the rooftop.

"GET BACK HERE! You won't escape!" these sailors are as persistent as they're annoying!

"Just leave us the hell alone, you stupid marines!" I shouted back at them.

"Can't we shake off them?" Zoro asked me.

"Dunno…" I thought for some moments… come on, a plan, a plan… ok, here goes nothing! The best idea I can come up with on the fly: remembering something I did when I was a kid.

"Wait! I got it!" I pulled out my pencil and my sketchbook. Then I drew three of those faces kids do when they first learn to draw.

After that, I wrote this!

替(substitute)

"Henoheno Clone!"

Soon after, three almost identical copies of us materialized and started running too. The difference's on those faces.

"What the flying…" that confused the hell out of Zoro.

"We didn't come this far to gawk, Zoro-san! I'll tell you later!" I replied. "Let's let the clones attract the marines and dash somewhere else!"

"Guys, this way!" Vivi was quick to point out an alley to where we went and hid for the time being. The soldiers then went right past us, running off after our doubles… just as planned.

"Heheh, bye bye, marines!" I waved goodbye as they disappeared amongst the crowd.

"Dan-san, those clones…" Vivi was confused as well but only now she asked. "Aren't they gonna confuse Luffy and the rest if they happen to meet them?"

"Ah, don't worry about that." I then tore the paper in pieces. "There. The clones are gone. Bet who's gonna freak the hell out are the marines!"

"Well played, Dan!" Zoro praised.

Every once in a while I can do something!

"Guys, let's get going!" Vivi called.

"Okay!" we said.

We then started sprinting again.

While we ran, I felt something telling me we weren't alone anymore.

"Don't you have this odd feeling that we're being watched?" Zoro thought aloud.

"What, again? Didn't we shake off the marines already?"

"You're forgetting them." Zoro pointed ahead.

"THERE THEY ARE!"

Oh. Now I get it.

Dozens of Baroque Works agents loaded with weapons were running towards us.

"Both from the front…" I said while staring at those ahead of me. "…and from the back?" I turned to see another bunch of bandits running after us.

Some would give a last check on the photographs to see if they match.

"No doubt! It's them! Kill them!" ordered one agent on the foreground.

"Heh… on the front, a tiger… on the back, a wolf." Zoro, poetic as hell…

"It's that time again… kick-ass time!" I stated firmly. I gripped my pencil, preparing for the ensuing brawl. Wait…

"Dan, get Vivi and run! Quick!" Zoro suddenly shoved me to the sideline.

"Huh? Hey!" I complained.

"I'll take care of these loons! Protect Vivi and take her to the casino! Now!" he ordered.

"Sir, yes sir!" I replied. "Vivi-san! Let's go!"

I couldn't just stand there and argue, so I yanked Vivi and got on the move. Rain Dinners, here we go-wait a second…

"It's Princess Vivi! Get'em!"

Out of the dark alleys, simultaneously, craploads of armed bandits started running after us… again! Don't these guys take a break?

"Vivi-san! Go ahead! I'll buy some time!" I shouted while pushing her ahead as if to give a little burst of speed to her legs.

I then skidded to a stop and faced the horde of bandits.

"Grr… I have no time for this but… if you want, I'll take you all!" I then struck a pose. "It's time to call my attacks!" I then charged.

I had to swerve out of the way of slashes while kicking and punching left and right through the crowd.

"Marker Punch!" A straight out punch in the face of a poor sap.

"Brush Stroke!" I opened my palm, lifted my arm and then rained down a powerful slap.

"Stamp Kick!" Self-explanatory. The print of my shoe on those bandits speaks for itself.

"Then… Enpitsu Scimitar!" (Pencil Scimitar) Since I'm on the desert, I guess it's only appropriate to bust out a desert weapon. A traditional sword with a curved blade.

With it, I went through the crowd, blocking their attacks and swiping as soon as I had the chance.

I was able to defeat the horde but then… hoo boy…

"Oh dammit…"

I thought it was over already, but I was sadly mistaken. Suddenly, more of them appeared! Coming out from corners, from rooftops, even out of barrels! All of them after my head!

I tensed and gulped… what do I do now?

"I'll never get out if it's like this!" Outnumbered as I was, I then turned my blade back to a pencil, pulled a sheet out of my sketchbook and drew this!

煙(smoke)

"So long, suckers! Smoke Out!"

The sheet burst a smokecloud. It startled me for a second and made me cough.

"Ok, time to run away!" But I didn't forget to escape!

I then ran to the crocodile building, trying not to bump into the people walking around. I looked everywhere, finding neither marines nor Baroque Works bandits in my way.

Well, not until the finish line, where I found three men with cowboy hats already lining up to fire their shotguns against Nami and Usopp!

"Faster, my legs!"

I sprinted and jumped.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

Greetings, gentlemen! Two boots to the face and they're down for the count!

"Dan! Zoro!"

Zoro?

I turned and only then I noticed that Zoro had arrived at the same time.

"Weren't you with Vivi?" Nami asked us with concern.

"Hey, Dan! Where's Vivi?" Zoro asked me, even more concerned.

"I… I don't know! I had to take care of more Baroque Works agents and let Vivi run ahead on her own!" I replied, quite nervously.

"Did she go in ahead?" Usopp deduced.

"If that's so, let's hurry and catch up with her!" Nami said.

"WOOOOOOAAAAHHHH!"

"WAIT, STRAW HAT!"

"MAKE ME!"

We turned to look behind and saw Luffy running like mad to catch up with us. Behind him was none other than…

"That smoke guy!"

"Oh, give me a break! Why is it that he's always after us?"

…Captain Smoker. Yeah, he followed us yet again. Oh screw it, who cares! Let's break inside the villain's evil lair!

We started running while Luffy approached us. We passed through the long bridge with coconut trees standing right above the shallow lake in the casino's entrance.

It looked like we would enter without further problems, but we can't have that.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, gunshots! Lots of 'em! They don't give up!

"I'll get them, go ahead!" Zoro stayed back.

We climbed the staircase and opened the entrance gate. The crowded gambling palace standing right ahead of us. Lots of game tables, slot machines, loud noises and rich-looking people spending their money.

There was a little pause.

"CROCODILE! COME HERE!"

The clients glared at us for a moment but shrugged.

"I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"

Again. Same thing.

"I WILL-"

Before he shouted again, Nami and Usopp smacked him.

"That's not gonna make him come out, you dolt!" Nami yelled.

"He's the people's hero! Do you wanna mess with the customers too?" Usopp whispered.

"Yeah but… what should I do then?" Luffy asked.

"Without Vivi, we won't get to Crocodile's room!" Usopp stated.

"Where she'd run off to?" Nami was concerned.

"VIVI! CROCODILE!" HEY, YOU'RE NOT HELPING!

"Don't you scream too!" I yelled.

"STOP, STRAW HAT!"

"Grr… Didn't I tell you not to scre-", I looked back and spoke without paying attention… "HOLY GUACAMOLE, IT'S SMOKER! GET MOVING NOW!" I interrupted myself and screamed.

So, once again here we are running to save our butts from the Marine meanie… We were able to breath as the security guards held Smoker for a while.

"Sorry, gentlemen. Could you please lea-"

There were some guards trying to stop us too.

"Did I bump into something?" Luffy shoved them out of the way without even noticing.

"Look ahead! It's VIP area!" Usopp shouted while pointing.

"Does he want us to get to his place?" Nami deduced.

"Aha! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Zoro smirked.

"We shall accept your invitation!" I commented.

"Let's go!" Luffy screamed.

The doors of the elite-only room opened and led us to a long corridor. In its end, there was a sign with two choices.

Left arrow: VIP Area.

Right arrow: Pirates, this way.

"As we're pirates, we're going to the right!" How clever…

"Hey, are you sure?" I wanted to warn…

…too late. As soon as we turned, we stopped on a dead end.

"Where's Crocodile?" Luffy asked, looking everywhere and finding only walls.

"I don't think he's he-" My response soon turned to a shriek as the floor opened right below our feet, taking us down a pit to another dimension… NOT!

The dark, bottomless pit actually had other end.

Obviously, landing was hard and painful. The others' bodies kinda cushioned my fall but I also served as a cushion. More precisely to Captain Smoker's fall… and he's not what I'd call slender.

"Ow… ow, ow, ow… Where am I?"

As soon as I could get out of the pile of bodies, I noticed we fell inside a cage.

Fuck… at last, we're trapped.

"A fiendishly clever trap." Oh, please…

"Indeed it was." STOP IT!

"IT WAS AVOIDABLE! WE WALKED RIGHT INTO THE ENEMY'S TRAP! YOU'RE A BUNCH OF DUMBASSES!" Nami screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Nami!" I called her with a stern tone. "Screeching doesn't solve anything now. We're already trapped. Let's see what are they gonna do with us."

"No go…" I heard Zoro whispering. I turned to see him wielding one of his swords, trying to cut down the bars. "This metal is too hard, I can't cut it."

"Speaking of which… I'm feeling… quite… weak…" Luffy said as his legs started to tremble.

"What's wrong? Are you hungry?" Usopp asked.

Suddenly, I see Smoker pull out his club and hit Luffy hard in his head!

Then, he pinned him down in one single movement! Just like that!

To rub salt on the injury, he put the tip of his club on Luffy's chest. He was laid down in the floor, looking like he had no strength to fight back!

"You jerkass! What are you doing?" I said through gritted teeth. I clenched my fist and gripped my pencil.

"B-b-bastard! Wanna fight? Bring it!" Usopp slowly backed away… "I was the one… who helped take down the…" His voice was going out… that's how you threaten him?

"My power… my power's been drained!" Luffy said, panting. "It's like I've been thrown underwater!"

"What did you do to Luffy?" Nami asked.

"The tip of my jutte is made of a mineral called seastone. It's a mysterious material, only found in certain parts of the ocean. What's known about it is that it emits the same wavelengths as the sea waves. Think of it as the sea in a solid state."

Thanks for the exposition, now we understand. Would you mind about letting our captain go already?

"All jails in Marine HQ are made of that so Devil Fruit users can't escape." Instead, he continued.

"I assume so are the bars of this prison." Nami deduced.

"How perceptive…" How sarcastic… "If they weren't, I would be long gone."

His glare got fierce now.

"Although… not before I pound you until you never think about going to the ocean ever again!"

He then outstretched his arm, as if telling us he wants a fight, right here, right now.

Zoro took a stance and prepared to draw out his swords.

I felt a chill down my spine, but I prepared too.

"AAHHH! What are you doing? Are you going to fight here?" Usopp, keep it down, please!

"Sharp weapons are useless against him!" Oh, thank you! I couldn't have guessed that!

Not the right time, but here goes nothing!

"She's right. Just give up." Huh?

Who's there?

"All of you will die together."

A gruff and booming voice came from outside the cage. There was a dining table and an armchair facing the opposite wall.

Don't tell me that's…

"At least, you should get along…"

Now he talks to us condescendingly? Just reveal yourself already!

"Welcome… to your grave!"

The seat spun slowly… sitting in it was a pale-skinned man, dressed in a black-striped orange suit, a baby-blue scarf and a black fur coat over it. He had a long scar sewn across his face, right below his eyes.

And he grinned evilly.

"Crocodile…" Smoker whispered.

After so long… we're face-to-face with the boss!

Shichibukai Crocodile!

* * *

**Luffy: "CROCODILE! At last we meet!"**

**Zoro: "This is the mastermind behind it all... What's going to happen now?"**

**Crocodile. Codename: Mister Zero. The Straw Hat Pirates stand before the organization's boss, however in no position to do anything! How are they going to escape this trap? **

**? ? ?: "Welcome... Dan. Long time no see."**

**Dan: "Who... WHO ARE YOU?"**

**Dan's approached by a mysterious enemy! Who is he? Look out for the next chapter!  
**


	69. Crocodile's final goal! Operation Utopia

**Chapter 69**

**"Enter Baroque Works' top trio! The great plan is on the move!"

* * *

**

"So… our disgusting host finally revealed his face…"

Maybe Smoker's the only one amongst us with the gall to talk like that to the mastermind behind this whole incident…

This is one of the feared Seven Sea Warlords…

"Looks like the rumors about you being a rebel are true, Smoker-kun…" Smoker-kun? Is that man so full of himself he can give out such an honorific?

"…I can guarantee that you never thought of me as an ally from the beginning." Crocodile and his deep voice were enough to make even my legs tremble of nervousness…

"Well, congratulations, you were right all along." He stood up from his special seat, walking until he stood at the halfway between the table and the cage.

"Smoker… I'll do my best to make you die in a tragic accident." He approached the cage some more. "I'll send a report to the Government higher-ups saying that you fought bravely, but ended up being defeated by the puny Straw Hat Pirates."

He then stopped walking, but still continued his monologue, always with an eerily calm smile. "I don't know what in the world brought you here… but I assume you came of your own will. Because… the Government wouldn't send you here just so you could keep tabs on me… they trust the Shichibukai after all, don't they?"

"So… you're the one called Crocodile?" Luffy punched the ground, trying to stand back up. "HEY, YOU… COME HERE AND FIGHT meee~n…" Luffy wanted to challenge him but didn't notice that he touched the seastone bars and got weakened again.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Usopp snapped.

"Straw Hat Luffy… I have to praise you and your comrades for actually surviving and having endured this far. Your reward's gonna come sooner than you expect, so, just sit back and wait. Our other honor guest will arrive soon."

Other? What the… what does he mean?

"Honor guest…" Nami whispered.

"I sent my female right-hand to get her." Vivi! She didn't make it yet… and now Miss All Sunday's been dispatched to bring her here! But…

"More importantly… another? So, there's someone else?" I asked, ready to bite.

…

"…if you manage to get to Arabasta alive, we have a special surprise just waiting for you. Do me a favor and don't die 'til there."

…

"Miss All Sunday's message!" I uttered reflexively.

"Message?" Nami parroted.

"That there'd be a surprise for me if I didn't die before arriving here… don't ask anything else, I can't quite answer now…" I said, looking to the floor.

"O… o-oi! You…" I glared at Crocodile. His mere presence makes me so nervous I can't help but stutter… I am about to talk to a supervillain! "W-who's… who's the… first honor guest?"

"Hmmm… you're not that good at fooling your way out of this one, boy…" Eek! He talked back!

That made my heart beat like it's about to jump to my throat. I've never been so shaken!

"Well, at least you don't look as stubborn as the little Princess." He continued as he turned his back to the cage.

"W-what do you want of me? Why did you make your partner send that message to me? What kind of deranged surprise you have in store for me?" I could still gather the courage to reply him with a series of questions.

"Deranged surprise? Hahah… how rude. I understand you don't know. To be fair, I don't know either. After all, it wasn't me who sent this message. I only allowed my subordinate to use my name to bring you here, although that wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. Frankly… I don't really care about you. But… I have this left-hand man that does."

Uh-huh… Wait, let me process all of this… Ok, you lost me at the beginning.

"Mister Zero… if you don't mind, perhaps you should let me explain it to him." Who's coming now?

"Oh, Mr. Special One… long time no see… where you've been?" Crocodile asked him in a strangely friendly tone.

A mysterious figure came down the staircase of the lair entrance.

He's a man dressed in brownish black pants, a grayish black overcoat hiding a shirt and a sash on his waist, and on top of it all, a gray cloak.

He has dark shoulder-length hair and sports a hat. He also wore a necklace with a blood-red jewel on it… and a red rose on the pocket of his coat.

I couldn't quite see his face as it was obscured by the hat.

This is Mr. Special One.

"My guest… is he here yet?" he asked.

Crocodile simply moved his finger, pointing to the cage.

His subordinate then gave a simple, yet eerie snicker before walking to the bars. He did it all while giving a stern, cold, threatening glare at us. I swallowed hard and felt my stomach hurt… overall, his appearance stroke overwhelming fear in my entire being.

"Welcome… Daiki." He… he knows my name? But… how?

He then adjusted his hat in order to reveal his face. He had a vertical scar across his left eye. His mere stare was deeply unsettling at best, almost downright scary.

Almost automatically, my legs made me do small steps, backing away to the opposite wall as if to steer me away from imminent danger.

"Can't you talk? Did the terror eat your tongue?" he talked in such a tone that unnerved me even more. "How about… if I do… THIS!"

Suddenly, a strange vine whizzed out of his hand. He outstretched it, made the vine pass right through the bars and…

"NAMI!"

…clutch Nami by the neck!

"…you can finally react."

"Guys… he… help!" I saw Nami desperately trying to shout.

"STOP! LET NAMI GO! LET HER OUT OF THIS!" I shouted.

I gritted my teeth. I then balled my hands onto fists, putting myself closer to the bars and never taking my sights away from my enemy. Now it's personal…

"Ahahah… what's wrong? You won't let me touch your little girlfriend…"

Even though it was far from the time to be like that, I felt my face warm up and go red…

"SHUT UP! How dare you! Let her go immediately and come talk to me!"

She's not my girlfriend but she's my friend nonetheless! If you wanna mess with me, talk to me and leave her alone!

I gritted my teeth even more, feeling the anger build up inside… I so wanted to have sharp fangs now…

Fortunately, he conceded and lifted his clutch. The others ran to take care of her but I kept static, looking directly into his eyes.

He wasn't the same Special One we had encountered back in our boat. That comedic, straight-man-looking sidekick to Mister 2 was gone and gave place to a very mean and threatening persona. Of course I knew that would happen anyway, but his real façade was a complete mystery…

Until now.

"Hmph… finally you've reacted, huh?" He talked. We were facing each other.

"What do you want from me? Have we met before? How do you know me anyway?" I asked.

"Long time no see, Daiki… or should I call you… Dan? So, a wimp like you finally decided to step out of your home and get together with a bunch of pirates?" He ignored.

"SPIT IT OUT! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME? Why do you talk as if we've met before? I don't get it!" His nonsense was pissing me off.

"Don't tell me you don't remember? Come on… you've chosen the worst time to be forgetful about me… cut the crap already. Or else… someone will get hurt." He said slowly.

"I! Don't! Know! You!" I insisted but he didn't seem to care.

"Hmmm… looks like that hit on your head was effective… too effective." He said in a disgruntled tone. "Although it seems that the truth didn't dawn on you yet, I won't tell you until the time is right. Oh, come on, don't look me like that… Although that fearful, angsty look gives me so much pleasure…"

Oh my God… am I dealing with a sadist? I've just stepped one grade down in my level of hope in the humanity…

"STOP BEING SO DAMN CRYPTIC! EXPLAIN YOURSELF" I demanded.

"I'll be glad to."

Suddenly he makes another vine, passing right between the bars and grabbing me by the neck.

He then pulled it back and made me collide against the bars.

Then, he approached me and whispered.

"Yeah… you do look like him…"

At the same time, he glared at me so intensely he could kill me without moving a finger…

"He… who!" I asked as I fought to breathe. I could feel the tears of pain streaming down my face.

"You'll know. Now I'll be quick and simple. I will make you pay for this scar. You won't leave Arabasta alive!" he whispered slowly.

Then he threw me on the ground. I fell on my back, hitting my head on the floor. I tried to stare back at him as I recovered from the shock and treated the bruises.

He almost choked me to death on the spot… my neck hurt a lot and I still panted.

Damn… he's strong… and he's fully capable of killing me if I give one misstep!

It's on those times my heart wants to jump out…

"Dan-kun! Are you alright?" Nami ran to aid me.

"It's fine… I'm OK…" I said while taking deep breaths.

"W-who's that guy? Do you know him?" Usopp asked nervously.

"No… I've never seen him before… I don't know what the hell is he talking about… everything's so… confusing!" I tried to keep my voice from shaking too much, but I just couldn't… my body shivered in fear…

For the first time in a long while, I was taken by the terror that is fearing for my life… expecting to be killed on the spot, right here, right now.

"Crocodile… don't kill them yet. I want to be the one to decapitate that boy." Special turned and walked away from the cage.

"Huh… is it going to make any difference if I kill them now or later?" Crocodile asked.

"To me it does. Just killing them right now isn't fun. Before that, I want to see the agony in the faces of our enemies… make them suffer… make them see the chaos that will precede the success of this operation… that's what I care about."

"This addiction of yours is such a hassle…" Seriously, just how the hell these two are able to talk to each other so casually? Did they make a pact of some sort or they have met before?

"Well, too bad for you. As soon as our second guest arrives, the days of this pathetic group will be numbered." Crocodile stated as he puffed on his cigar.

Mr. Special sighed in resignation. Casually, he took off his cloak and his overcoat, walking until he took a seat next to the boss.

Looks like he's of obeying to orders but only when he feels like it.

"I understand… but remember. I still have a score to settle with that boy, Crocodile. However, if he doesn't survive, it's just a proof that he isn't strong enough to face me."

Now he has the nerve to doubt my courage? When I'm out of this cage, I'm gonna show you who's the man around here, you jerk!

Wow… I had never been this unnerved… at the same time, his presence had terrified me this much, but the only thing I wanted to do was to somehow break through the metal bars and tear him apart right there.

Now I know that I'll have the time and place to settle the matter with that guy, I decided to just let it all go, get some rest and recover from the shock. I didn't forget that we still have to find a way to escape this cage, but everything I wanted to do was to be myself again…

I then crawled back, sitting in the opposite wall.

I didn't want to, but every once in a while, I'd find myself thinking about the countless questions that whole situation made in my head.

I thought I knew everything… turns out I know nothing at all.

…

Wait, what am I thinking? I still barely touched him and I'm defeating myself already?

It's only gonna be proven that I can't defeat him _if I fight and actually find myself unable to defeat him_!

And I will need all the strength I have if I want to defeat him!

I slapped my face to get rid of all thoughts, took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes. Having two supervillains closely watching me the entire time is very uncomfortable.

Now that all the craziness died down, I have the time to get some rest.

"Hey, look, I'm gonna imitate Sanji." Huh?

"Who ate all the meat, huh?"

I open my eyes and watch Luffy making a face similar to our cook's. He even combed down his hair to cover one of his eyes and matched his spiral eyebrow!

That was the cue for Usopp to laugh his ass off.

"Ok, my turn! Oni…" he wanted to do a Zoro impression but…

"CAN'T YOU GET SERIOUS FOR ONCE?"…Nami wasn't amused. She smacked both of them. "Before such an ordeal you've got some guts to goof off like that!"

"Why not? We can't get out anyway, I'm bored!" Luffy justified himself.

"That's exactly why this is such a big deal! If we don't do anything, we're leaving as dead meat!"…well, dead meat we'll be, but leaving is a whole other story.

"Heh… even with our lives in the line, they're so nonchalant… I envy them!" I smiled.

"Well, that unsettles me even more!" Nami ranted.

"Do you mean we should freak out and get desperate?" I asked innocently.

"No, that's not what I…" She's contradicting herself… "AND YOU! DON'T SLEEP!" Nami got to Zoro and smacked him too.

"Huhn… it's morning already?" Zoro woke up with an enormous lump.

"IT'S AFTERNOON!" She screamed.

"Hmm… you're such a feisty lady, aren't you?" Huh?

She turned her eyes to Crocodile.

"Just enjoy while you can! Once they're out of this cage, they're gonna beat you to a pulp! Right, Luffy?" Nami tried to shake off the despair and bring hope.

"YEAAAAH! DAMN STRAIGHT!" Luffy outstretched his arms and screamed.

"Dan? You're with me?" she stared at me.

"Yeah!" I said, grinning defiantly.

"Hmm… your crew does trust you… Straw Hat Luffy." Crocodile talked as he took a sip of his glass of wine and tasted his rich meal, not even taking the trouble to look at us.

"Trust… the most useless thing in the world." Now he stared at us, although he didn't turn his face.

"C'mon, what's wrong with this guy?" Nami whispered. Usopp got close to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Stop that! Do you wanna make him mad?" Usopp was concerned.

Although he doesn't look like he's even slightly annoyed…

"CROCODILE!" hm? This voice…

…

There was a person standing in the stairs. Wearing a dark blue robe… it's Vivi! And escorting her was Miss All Sunday.

"Welcome to my lair, Arabasta Kingdom Princess, Nefertari Vivi. Or should I say… Miss Wednesday. So, you managed to escape my assassins. Congratulations." Crocodile spoke, opening his arms.

"Of course I would come! No matter where you hide…"

She whipped out her jewel-wires while slowly walking down the stairs.

"…I'd come to see you die! MISTER ZERO!"

Suddenly, she started running to the table.

"Vivi, wait! Get us outta here first! Vivi!"

Luffy screamed at her but she was so bent on taking her revenge she didn't hear him.

"KUJAKKI… STRING SLASHER!"

She launched a belt made of peacock round jewels… and beheaded Crocodile!

But something was odd… instead of blood and guts scattered across the room, there was only sand.

"Useless." Smoker whispered.

Crocodile then turned his entire body in sand, moving from where he was sitting to grab Vivi from behind.

"Satisfied?" He materialized back, grabbed Vivi and put a hand over her mouth. "As a citizen from this land, you should know that I have the powers of the Suna Suna no Mi." (Sand-Sand Fruit)

"Devil Fruit!" I yelled reflexively… great job, Captain Obvious…

"Should I mummify you for your insolence?"

"S-s-s-sandman!" Usopp screeched as he freaked out in fear…

"HEY, LET VIVI GO! UNHAND HER! COME FIGHT ME!"

Crocodile didn't hear Luffy's pleas, instead forcing Vivi to take a seat around the table.

"Sit back and enjoy… because the party's starting! Am I right, Miss All Sunday?"

"Affirmative." She replied. Then, she pulled out a pocket watch. "It's already past noon. Operation Utopia is officially in progress."

"H-hey, what are you talking about?" Luffy asked.

Instead of eliciting a response, that question was the cue for Crocodile to whip out one of the oldest traits of supervillains… the evil laugh.

"That sure is stress-relieving, isn't it?" Mr. Special One quipped.

"Indeed it is… now, Miss Wednesday… this operation is the symbol of this pathetic kingdom's… downfall." A silent pause ensued. "The population's blind love for this country is what will lead it to oblivion."

Vivi tensed as she heard that.

"Fighting between life and death, the people will be swallowed by the darkness."

Now that Crocodile's master plan to take over Arabasta Kingdom has its gears in motion…

Now that he has the princess and the supposed knights in shining armor on his claws…

Now he has the freedom he needs to laugh evilly.

Ok, being honest, to a villain of his caliber, with his presence, his evil laughs are… underwhelming at best. Or downright disappointing.

He then started talking cryptically and blah blah blah.

Although I should, I didn't pay much attention to his rambling. I've read about such settings on my books like a million times, for god's sake!

"What… just what do you plan to do?" Vivi asked, sounding more menacing, more defiant.

"Do you know the type of person I despise most? Those who put others' happiness ahead of their own lives… those hypocrites!" Crocodile was more than happy to explain his motivations.

"You want to kill my father? Do you think I'll let you do that?" Vivi's anger only intensified.

"Now, now… don't look me like that. I have no plans to do that. He's not worth killing."

I don't know how I was able to spend this entire time without noticing he had a _freakin' golden hook instead of his left hand_! Dammit, I'm so distracted!

Oh, wait, I'm veering off-topic. Resuming…

"I'll make Cobra go through a humiliation way worse than death."

Vivi slowly switched from angered to possessed.

Meanwhile, he just laughed it off like it was nothing. "A princess shouldn't make those mean faces… you look ugly."

"I'll ask you one last time. What is Operation Utopia?" Vivi was losing her patience.

"Oi, oi… you know that you're not on the right to dema-"

"ANSWER MY QUESTION!" Withouth a hitch, Vivi cut him off before he tried to change subject.

"How rash…" he said. "Well, since my great plan's already on the move, perhaps I won't lose anything if I share it with my prisoners."

Don't tell me…

"What a great cliché…" I said as I stood up.

"Cliché? Dan, how can you think about that in a time like this?" Usopp replied, kinda upset.

"Don't you see? The villain has the damsel in his clutches, his schemes are going well… and now he's going to tell us what it is! It's the biggest cliché I've witnessed so far! Right out from the books I've used to read!" I explained.

"What do you mean? Should we just ignore him then?" Nami asked.

"Maybe… maybe not. It might be worth listening." I said, putting a hand on my chin.

Right off the bat, he presented bombastic news.

He told us that the King was off to Nanohana to make a public apology. The king would admit that he's the one who stole the rain from the other cities, bringing it to the capital.

Obviously, he would be confronted by the thousands of citizens who died or who will die due to the drought, but…

"Sacrifices are necessary… for the kingdom's greater good…" Crocodile stated.

Basically, he'd just flat out tell the people that he stole their rain for the hell of it.

"My father would never do that! NEVER!" ok, really, Vivi's fuse should've blown a long ago…

There's a small twist he managed not to tell us until now.

As he knew full well that the King wasn't the kind of man who'd go and outright tell the people he screwed them over, not even under a death threat, he just took the easy way out, sending Mr. 2 disguised as the King to do the job of apologizing before his people…

…by destroying the city and its inhabitants.

Under the pretense of erasing the traces of a past incident where it was found that truckloads of Dance Powder were circulating secretly around the city.

"That's gonna rile up the rebels and the people… and make them fall right in my trap…" Crocodile smiled maliciously as he said that.

Seeing that their King simply trampled over the people that respected him so much and trusted him, it was guaranteed that they would take up arms and organize a rebellion against their governor.

"Mister 2… people will notice he's an imposter!" Vivi denounced.

"Y'know… you're kinda right about that… he can't walk around without those weird mannerisms of his for long. That's why, only to be sure, I also sent Mr. 1 and Miss Doublefinger there as a backup… to kill anyone who might find out the truth, whoever he may be… man, woman… or child."

You soulless monster!

Ahem… they went in a war galleon conveniently loaded with buttloads of weapons of every kind and size… especially handed to the Rebel Army.

With or without their leader Kohza, it didn't really matter. What mattered was that the King's sudden change of heart, as perceived by the citizens, would enrage them so much that they'd organize an armed conflict.

The next logical step of the newly-formed armor would be to…

…march to the battle in the capital Alubarna. Where the Royal Army would have to take action and intervene to stop the city from being destroyed.

"All of that… as. We. Speak."

Crocodile finished his exposition… and laughed some more.

"So? How's that? The plan you helped to start… now is in full motion! If you pay close attention, you'll hear the cries from the population. Their single shout…"

Crocodile said that all in such a creepy voice…

"We will protect Arabasta… we will protect Arabasta… we will protect Arabasta…"

"STOOOOOOOOOOP!"

Vivi let out a soul-shattering scream.

"How could you… HOW COULD YOU BE SO CRUEL!"

Words can't stress anymore the whirlpool of feelings inside that young lady's head…

"How touching… how ironic… the people's love for this land… is what will destroy it."

"WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHH!"

Luffy was consumed with rage too… he was so possessed that he ran to the bars, not giving a shit if they were made of seastone and weakened him… he tried to squeeze his face through the bars, he tried his best. All he wanted to do was to get out and tear him apart for all the suffering he's making Vivi go through…

It's perfectly understandable that he'd do that… but all that is stopping us from doing anything…

…are just a couple of fucking seastone bars!

"Is he a dumbass? Didn't he listen to what I said?" Smoker, smug as ever.

"Who cares if he listened or not!" I yelled at him, annoyed. He merely twitched his brow. "Don't you feel his anger?"

"Anger? How pathetic… it's just throwing reason to the trashcan…" he still has the nerve to be such a douchebag? Ok, he's a marine and it's his damn job to catch pirates and all, but give me a break!

"Maybe it is…" huh?

"Zoro-san, not you too!" I turned to him.

"But… he was always less about thinking and more about acting. That's why he's our captain." Zoro turned the tables.

"If we look back, I had to pull some strings to get where I am now. Subversions that incited countless riots… orders that caused bad behavior among the royal soldiers. I bet you're wondering: why do I want to take over your kingdom?"

All this talk was just as painful to Vivi as a physical torture session! No whips were needed!

Now that's dirty. I apologize. Please erase that last sentence.

"Do you think I can understand what's going on that rotten head of yours?"

"Oi, oi… watch your tongue. What an impudent princess…"

Suddenly I heard a thud and saw her throwing herself to the ground. Her hands were tied.

"I'll stop them… I will stop them! I CAN STILL DO IT! Alubarna's straight east from here! I won't let… I WON'T LET THIS WAR GO ON!"

* * *

**Dan met a new enemy that seems to know more about him than he ever expected. Their fight will be imminent.  
**

**Vivi has to gather her spirit after a long, detailed exposition of how Crocodile wants to take over her country.**

**However... the group is still inside the cage... waiting for their demise? Will they sketch some sort of last-ditch effort to escape? Are they going to seek outside help?**

**? ? ?: "Hello... this is Shit Restaurant... what is your order?"**

**Look forward to the next chapter!  
**


	70. The savior's nickname: Mister Prince!

**Chapter 70**

**"The terrifying bananadiles and Mister Prince!"

* * *

**

Instead of shutting down and staring at the wall in shock after hearing the villain's evil plan, the heroine tried the hardest she could to stand up against him, even with her hands tied.

Unfortunately, the supposed knights in the shining armor are imprisoned inside an unbreakable cage.

"How fortunate. We were about to head to Alubarna right now."

Crocodile stood up, turning his back to Vivi as she snarled and crawled in the ground.

"As for you, I'm still wondering. Do you wanna come with us or… you wanna stay with them?"

While he paused, he pulled a key out of his pocket.

"Hey… this is the key to this cage, isn't it?" Luffy quickly deduced.

"What if it is?" Crocodile replied, shrugging.

"GIMME THAT KEY!" Luffy shouted.

"Hmph…" Crocodile didn't even look at him, only laughing and turning his back to him. He outstretched his arm, showing the key to the cage's lock, calmly savoring the moment.

Meanwhile, Vivi kept frantically trying to free her hands from the ropes.

After that, Crocodile simply let the key fall to the ground.

As it fell, Vivi freed her hands and tried to crawl and catch it.

However, there's a little obstacle on her way…

Crocodile stepped the ground, activating a trap door right around where the key would fall.

Vivi extended her hand to avoid the worst, but ultimately failed.

"A hole?" She screamed uncredulously.

Crocodile smiled. "I can't tell how much time it will take until the armies collide. But I do know that even if you rushed full speed to Alubarna right now, you'd still be too late to avoid the carnage."

He then turned to face her.

"But… if you're still determined about stopping the rebellion, I strongly recommend you to get moving, Miss Wednesday."

Funny, he still addresses her by codename…

"Or… do you want to stay and save them?" Crocodile continued.

"Hmm… the good old sadistic choice. Is that the best trick you have up your sleeve?" I don't know why I'm talking at all…

"Dan, keep quiet! What are you gonna get with this?" Usopp whispered close to me.

"It's the only trick I need, boy." I winced as he looked at me, as calm as ever. "Unfortunately, though, I let the key fall down there… Oh, I'm so careless… Well, at least there's a silver lining: after all, you won't need to make such an unfair choice."

Now really, does he think anyone's gonna fall for that sorry talk? Damn, this guy's driving me crazy…

"Ah, almost forgot to tell you that down there is the lair of the ferocious bananadiles."

Vivi looked down and got startled.

"Bananadile?" Luffy got scared too. "LOOK OVER THERE! THERE'S A HUGE CROCODILE COMING OUT OF THAT BANANA!"

He screamed while pointing to the… well, to a goddamn huge crocodile floating around the windows!

"What the heck is that! They're enormous!" Nami exclaimed.

That could only mean one thing…

"Hey, it means this room is underwater!" Usopp deduced.

"Bananas with crocodiles attached to them… that's really messed up!" Oh, Luffy…

"It's the other way around, dummy! Can't you see that are the crocodiles that have bananas on their foreheads?" I corrected him.

"Oh crap!" Vivi tensed even more.

"What's wrong, Vivi?" Luffy asked.

"One of the bananadiles just ate the key!" Vivi replied with a shaky voice.

"WHAT? GO AFTER IT AND MAKE IT SPIT THE KEY OUT!" Luffy pretty much asked her to do the impossible.

"Oi, Luffy! Do you really expect her to defeat a beast like that?" Nami scolded him.

"Bananadiles are very violent, Luffy-san! They even chase Sea Kings! I would be eaten even before I tried to get close to one!" Vivi lamented.

"What a drag, eh… sorry for my carelessness…" Haha. Enough already. "Besides, I don't think any of you can figure out _which_ of my crocodiles ate it."

Of course not, smartypants! Really, do I need to stretch it out?

"What a bastard!" Nami clenched her fist.

"Dammit… if I only could cut these bars, this whole issue would be a piece of cake!" Said a frustrated Zoro.

"How naïve of you, Zoro… can't you see the key has been eaten? We can't get out." Y'know, sometimes it's better to keep quiet, Luffy.

"DO YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?" Zoro got annoyed.

"Oh well…" Crocodile then snapped his fingers and after that, the exit doors started to open. His underlings soon followed him to the exit, one standing to each side.

"One last note: this room will self-destruct in one hour. Since this basement is now useless to me, I'll just let the water get inside and take it down to the bottom of Rainbase's lake."

His face was ever so threatening and his smirk, always confident.

"Millions of innocent civilians… or four pirates with no future ahead… if you want, choose one or another, although I don't think you have the power neither to save your little buddies… or to stop the ensuing battle."

Vivi tensed.

"Do you like… gambling?"

Crocodile then laughed a bit, starting to head to the exit, but not before talking a little more. "There are so many idiots in this country that the job was easier than I thought. Special mention should go to the braindead youth who will inevitably be wasted on a meaningless revolution… or that old man digging holes at Yuba…"

"What? What did you say? You're talking about that dried old man?" Luffy reacted immediately.

Hey, it's Mr. Toto! Looks like he knows him!

"Who else… would be so stupid to work and strive day and night trying to recover a oasis that was dead and buried long before? That serious and determined face of his… it irks me deeply." Crocodile replied.

"From time to time, he has to cope with some sandstorms… but stubborn as he is, he won't just give up."

"YOU…" Insults aren't enough to describe him…

"Tell me, Straw Hat Luffy… Do you think storms strike the same place twice?" Crocodile asked.

What could he mean by that?

We would soon find out… Luffy was unnerved… and started to sport an enraged look on his face as he saw Crocodile producing a tiny sand whirlwind swirling around his hand. That explained it all.

"IT… IT WAS YOU!"

"I'm… I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Vivi got furious too.

Crocodile felt anything but threatened by their glares, simply turning his back and slowly walking away to the exit tunnel.

Before leaving, though, I still noticed Mr. Special One stopping to send me a last creepy glare.

"I see you later…"

He didn't say it out loud, but his expression replaced words.

"OH SNAP! THE WATER'S GETTING INSIDE!" Usopp screamed.

Suddenly, other trap doors burst open, leaking the lake water inside!

"WE'RE GONNA DROWN! VIVI! SAVE US! DO SOMETHING! I DON'T WANT THIS TO BE THE LAST HOUR OF MY LIFE!" Hoo boy… Usopp snapped and he's screaming his lungs out.

"Can't you shut up!" Zoro butted in.

Usopp kept in his screaming fit until tiring. Vivi was about to weep in anguish. I thought she would just kneel and cry, but instead, she prepared her bladed belt and put a wire on her pinky finger.

"The country… or my friends…" She whispered. "I know you wouldn't let me save either, would you? You would find some way to kill me before I got to Alubarna… wouldn't you?" Slowly, she raised her voice. "None of this is going to stop before you're dead, after all!"

She still kneeled, gritting her teeth and trying to keep her fury controlled before she lashed out at him.

"You… know nothing… Nothing about the people of this country… its history… their lifestyle! You know nothing!"

She tried to raise her belt, preparing a last surprise attack… but ultimately, she gave up. She let her belt fall down and limited herself to trying to stop the tears.

"Vivi!" Luffy tried to snap her back. "Do something! Get us out!"

"Luffy-san…" Vivi's voice was shaking.

"My, my… finally you're begging to be saved, Straw Hat Luffy? It's understandable… after all, anyone's afraid of dying, right?"

Come on, just walk already! Oh wait, he enjoys our suffering and wouldn't miss a chance to throw a jab at us.

"If we… if we die… WHO'S GONNA BEAT THE TAR OUT OF THAT BASTARD?" Luffy stood up to his talk.

Vivi looked at him. The anger was written and painted around his face. He'll stop at nothing.

"Don't push your luck, you wimp." Crocodile threatened.

"The wimp here… IS YOU!" Luffy threw the threat back at him.

A tense silence dominated the room. After that, Crocodile snapped his fingers again, opening yet another secret door. As if the situation wasn't desperate enough… the worst was yet to come.

From the door came out a bananadile!

"If you still wish to abandon them and stop the rebels, now's the time, Miss Wednesday." Crocodile turned and advised her.

Slowly, the bananadile crawled closer and closer to the cage… now that we got a good look at it, it's freakin' huge! No, huge's still an understatement… enormous! No, that doesn't cover it enough… TREMENDOUSLY MASSIVE!

Vivi still tried to get her belt of doom ready, but she couldn't do much against such an opponent. The disadvantage is more than obvious.

"YOSH! VIVI! GET 'EM!" Luffy cheered.

"That's nonsense! That thing's impossibly huge!" To no one's surprise, Usopp was shocked with his cheering. Nami gawked at him.

"VIVI! RUN! Don't fight back, get away!" Usopp shouted. "But! Save us!"

"Hey, Usopp! Now _you're_ being unreasonable!" Luffy whined.

"Wait, look out the window!" Nami pointed.

I looked and saw the other bananadiles lining up to get in the room. Usopp freaked out again.

"Guess they find us to be their snack…" Zoro commented.

"WE'RE GONNA BE DIGESTED EVEN BEFORE WE DROWN!" Usopp and his pick-your-poison theories…

"What a pity… even if they eat us, they'll still be hungry…" I said.

"You have a point… They have those massive jaws and sharp teeth and stuff, but for what? They can barely chew on us." Zoro said in deadpan.

"What the hell are you talking about now? You've got some guts to actually feel sorry for them! And how on earth can you not panic with all this?" Nami asked, increasingly upset and at the same time, incredulous.

"Well, I can't quite explain myself… I guess after all this time, I've gotten so used to the idea of fearing for my own life that it doesn't surprise me anymore…" I replied putting a hand behind my head, trying to hide my nervousness.

Of course, I'm not the type that freaks out too often but this whole mess is unsettling me greatly.

Once again, the silence and the tension are unnerving. We could only watch in shock as the bananadile's fierce glare scared its prey… it then growled and opened its massive mouth, showing its sharp teeth.

Vivi put a defensive stance.

"KUJAKKI… ST-"

She tried an attack, but in a quick movement, the crocodile lunged against her and pushed her to the staircase.

A rumbling noise soon followed and after the smoke cloud was gone, the end result was terrifying.

"HOW FAST! IT CHOMPED DOWN THE STAIRS!" Usopp shouted.

Luckily, Vivi was able to escape before she got crushed, but then she didn't have time to brace herself as the crocodile swiped his tail, throwing her violently across the room, hitting hard the floor and getting trapped.

"THERE'S NO WAY TO BEAT THIS MONSTER!" Usopp yet again.

"VIVI! GET AWAY!" Luffy screamed too.

I so wanted to help… but I could just watch in terror… as our friend's about to get eaten!

"VIVI! RUN!"

Slowly, the crocodile got close to give the final bite…

…

…

Suddenly, there was a pause. Everything went silent and the only sound we could hear was that of a phone ringing. Even the crocodile stopped on its tracks to look around and "ask" who dared to interrupt his lunch.

Miss All Sunday then pulled out a Baby Phone Snail.

"Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?" Hey… I know that voice…

"Yes, I'm listening. Are you one of the Millions?" Miss All Sunday replied.

"Hey, is this thing on? I never used one before…" I can't believe it! It can only be him!

"Yep, just keep talking, it's transmitting already." Another voice talked.

"What's going on? Spit it out! What's happening!" Crocodile got impatient.

"Hey… that voice, I heard it before." It's him! It's him, I know it is! "Hey, thank you for calling… this is Shit Restaurant. What's your order?"

"Shit Restaurant?" Crocodile repeated.

"Oh, so you still remember me? How nice of you."

"Hey… could it be…" Nami whispered.

"SAN-" Before Luffy could finish it, Usopp taped his mouth shut. "SHUT UP! They don't know about him!" He hissed. "When those two weirdos were on our ship, Sanji was the only one Mr. 2 didn't see! He was inside the room!"

Of course! IT'S SANJI! I can't believe I completely forgot about him! That and Chopper's still out there too! They're our last hope!

"I thought all five of the Straw Hat crew, putting aside the pet, got captured!" Ah, he still planned to let Chopper go…

"There's still one more. You bastard… who are you?" Crocodile got ticked off.

"Me? Well… you could call me… Mister Prince." Wow, how enigmatic…

"Oh really, Mr. Prince? Can you tell me where you are?" Crocodile courteously asked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. If I did, you'd come here and kill me." No shit, Captain Obvious… "Although I doubt you can do that. After all, I'm not so stupid to let valuable information slip out, don't you agree?" Careful, buddy… "Unlike you… Mister Zero."

"PRINCE-SAN! SAVE US!" Usopp screamed yet again.

"WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!" Luffy joined him.

"Really, stop screaming! You're making me go deaf!" Nami yelled at them.

"Prince-san! You're our last hope! GET DOWN HERE!" I screamed too.

"Aw, come on!" She looked at me.

After the screaming died down, Sanji (or Mr. Prince if you will) laughed a bit. "Hahah… judging by the screaming, I assume my friends are with you, right? Oh well, I think I'm gonna-"

Suddenly, the conversation got cut and we heard a gunshot!

"Haaah… hah… that pesky bastard's dead now! Hello?" Hey, Sanji! Where are you? That's not you anymore! "Finally we got him! What do we do with him now, boss?"

Sanji… oh shit!

"Where are you? Tell me!" Crocodile ordered.

"Right outside the Rain Dinners' front door." The voice said.

"THAT DUMBASS! HE GOT CAUGHT!" Zoro said, exasperated. "Let's sure hope he's still alive!"

"SANJI!" Luffy wailed.

"Our last hope…" Nami had none by now.

Usopp spun around with his hands on his head, freaking out.

"Guys, calm down! Please, calm down! It's Sanji we're talking about! He's not someone to die that easily, right?" I tried to settle them down. "Let's wait and see if he comes. If he doesn't… then it's all over." I looked to the ground, also trying to hide my fragment of disbelief.

I wanted to give hope still, but facing such critical circumstances, there was a part of me that started doubting.

Soon after, I had to stop thinking about that as I heard steps and another crash. The crocodile chomped the staircase yet again. Vivi escaped again, but now she was dangling right above the beast, grabbing the stair with one hand.

"VIVI!"

"Vivi! Where are you going?"

"We still have time before the water floods the room!" Vivi barely looked at us as she braced herself again and climbed to a safe spot. "I'll get out and search for help!"

As soon as she recomposed and got out of the bananadile's reach, we saw a line with a hook in the tip zipping across the room.

"VIVI, WATCH OUT!"

Crocodile shot his hook, caught Vivi by her ponytail and yanked her back down.

"Cut the crap already!" Crocodile warned sternly. He and his lackeys reentered the room, this time leaping to climb to the remains of the stairway.

"If you love your friends this much, just stay there and die with them. As soon as the water fills the chamber where the crocodiles eat, this room will start to sink." He smirked, turned and walked upstairs. "Guess I'm gonna bring that Mr. Prince bastard down here too… I mean, his corpse!"

They then left.

Luffy snarled angrily as the trio vanished, closing the doors.

"VIVI! STAND UP!"

The bananadile rushed again, but immediately yelped in pain, falling back. Vivi hurt it, gained some time to act, quickly jumping from her position, stepping on the back of the beast and leaping again to reach the stairway.

"Great move! She escaped!" Nami rejoiced.

"Yosh! Vivi! Now run and go get Sanji!" I screamed.

Once again, the bananadile attacked the stairs, headbutting another chunk of it, but missing its target. Vivi jumped out of the rubble and escaped.

Meanwhile…

Soon our situation would get another tone of grim as the windows blew out, letting in huge streams of water!

"Oh great… now the windows are gone!" Nami said.

"Like this, the room's gonna get flooded in what, twenty minutes?" Usopp estimated.

"GUYS!" Vivi shouted. "HANG IN THERE A LITTLE MORE!" Vivi was still there. "I'M GONNA BRING HELP AND YOU CAN GUARANTEE I WILL NOT LET YOU DIE!"

"OK! WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU, VIVI!" Usopp and Luffy screamed together.

Then, she dashed out of the doors.

As for us… it's time to wrack our brains and figure out some way to get away… by any means necessary!

"Now… what? What can we do?" Zoro asked.

"Ah, I don't know… something to pass the time, maybe… maybe, THINK ABOUT A WAY TO GET OUT, HOW 'BOUT THAT?" Usopp's panicked snark.

"Fear not!" I stood up, bravely saying that. The rest glared at me.

"Yosh! Super Dan to the rescue!" I clenched my fist and walked to the bars.

"Wha… what? Do you have a plan?" Nami asked.

"Hmmm… I wouldn't call it a plan… I mean, it's not one of those where you build a bomb out of duct tape and chewing gum, but it's better than doing nothing!" I replied.

"What? Duct tape plus chewing gum equals bomb?" Usopp asked, confused. "Does that work?"

"Of course not! I once read a novel where the hero made a bomb out of that. But any person with half a brain knows it doesn't work." I told him.

"So what are you planning to do?" he asked.

"Enpitsu Dagger!" I pulled out my pencil, quickly transformed it and rushed like crazy to the bars. "IMMA GUNNA CHOP IT DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

I tried my best to cut the damn bars in all ways I found possible.

"ORYA!" Nope.

"ONE MORE!" Nothing.

"OH YOU…" Well, so much for that! Not even a dent!

I finally sighed and gave up. "Hah… it failed…" I then pulled my sketchbook, tore a piece of the front page and turned my pencil back to normal.

"How you expect to do something that even Zoro can't?" Nami commented.

"You don't have to mention that, dammit!" He took offense to the quip.

"Well, who knows, if I can just blow up the damn thing…" I mumbled while writing but…

"NO! NO! DON'T DO THAT!" Nami and Usopp shoved me quite harshly.

"Do you wanna get us all killed? If it fails, instead of the bars, you're gonna blow US to smithereens!" Nami yelled.

I then stood up and cleaned the dust. "Hmm… now that you mention it…"

"You didn't think about that?" They shouted.

"Sorries…" I deeply apologized. "Ok, next plan. Hmm…" I closed my eyes, putting a hand on my chin. I thought for some moments until coming up with an idea.

I did a stance, breathed in and…

"HAIIYA! OW!" I gave a good kick to the metal bars. Instead of opening the cage as I wished I had the strength to do, _the damn jail_ used the force of my kick against me, hurting my leg.

Big time.

"Owowowowowow…" I hopped and floundered around trying to make the pain go away.

"Nothing works…" Nami sighed, looking down.

"It's really the best you can come up with?" Zoro asked plainly.

"No, it's not! I'm just… not imaginative enough…" I kinda put myself to blame.

"There's not much we can do anyway…" Usopp lamented.

Do nothing but wait…

…either for the water to fill up the room and drown us all…

…or for Sanji to get here at the last minute and save us all…

Please let it be the latter! SANJI, HURRY UP!

* * *

**Sanji created an alias and got to roam free from Crocodile's watch, turning out to be the last hope for the rest of the Straw Hats!**

**He still has to actually get to where they're held captive and somehow break them free!  
**

**While he's getting in, the boss is getting out! And there's still the bananadiles to deal with!**

**Will Mr. Prince get to the cage? Or the Straw Hats will meet their end in one of various painful ways?**

**Watch out for the next chapter!  
**


	71. Straw Hats back in action!

**Chapter 71**

**"The key to the great escape! It's time to turn the tides!"

* * *

**

"WAAAAAHHH! THE WATER! WE'RE GONNA DROWN!"

Aw, come on… having to hear these dummies screaming all the time is driving me nuts…

"OOOI! YOU DAMN BANANADILE! BRING IT ON!"

Eh? Hey, Nami! Have you lost your marbles? Did I hear what I think I heard?

The dile didn't think twice, took the bait and head butted the cage! After almost having to need to wash my pants because of the scare, I still felt my heart wanting desperately to bail out…

"What on earth are you doing, Nami?" Asked an exasperated Usopp.

"Wanna kill us all! Are you nuts?" I snapped.

She almost passed out from the scare too, but she mustered her strength to recover, clench her fist and challenge the raging beast.

"I want to get the thing angry so it can crush the jail with one bite!" Nami said that with such courage I'm shocked.

"I see! Great idea!" Usopp agreed. Now I'm even more concerned.

No one seems to realize that there's a minor flaw in this operation.

"Wait, wait a second!" I said while waving my arms. "If the bananadile manages to bite through the bars, don't you think it's gonna take the chance to eat us together with it? We'll barely have time to react!"

"We have no other choice, Dan-kun! It's sink or swim! Anyway, if we have to die, at least let our death be quick and everything but painful!"

"What." I sweat dropped.

It's official… she's lost it.

"Dan! Zoro! Luffy! Do something!" Usopp joined the mess.

Do something… AS IF WE COULD!

"WANNA FIGHT, EH? YOU STUPID BANANA! GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT! I'M GONNA POUND YOU, YOU DAMN BANANA!"

Luffy too challenged the… uh, banana?

"Hey, you still got it wrong, Luffy! Y'know, that over there is a _crocodile_ sprouting a banana on its forehead." Usopp corrected, poking his nose in the matters.

Luffy turned to him looking annoyed. "Come on! You're noisy!" He hissed. Huh, look who's talking!

"For instance, have you heard about the Monkey Dance?"

Wait, what?

"YOU BANANA!"

"LISTEN WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU, DAMMIT!"

Usopp wanted to explain something about a monkey dance to Luffy, but all he seemed to care about was insulting the bana… I mean, the crocodiles.

"What now?" Luffy replied, still upset.

"As I was saying… you know the Monkey Dance, don't you? Originally, the monkey's an animal but in this, it's a dance move… DON'T TOUCH THAT! PAY ATTENTION!"

Usopp got pissed when Luffy unwittingly touched the bars and had his force drained again.

"Why should I care? Bananas and crocodiles are all edible, aren't they!" Luffy said angrily.

"GUYS, WATCH OUT!" Nami shouted desperately.

Instinctively, both stopped their comedy routine as they saw the giant jaws quickly approaching the cage… looks like the intimidation plan was about to work!

I closed my eyes, waiting for the worst…

I heard the teeth clashing against the metal…

"IT DIDN'T WORK!"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS JAIL!"

I opened my eyes just to find out that the jail was still in its place, intact as it ever was… and the crocodile had backed down…

…'CAUSE THE JAIL BROKE ITS TEETH!

"VIVI, HURRY UP ALREADY!" Usopp begged.

If even a _giant f*cking crocodile_, with its giant goddamn jaws of doom still aren't enough to crush this jail, then nothing else is!

Now we're completely out of options… if we weren't already long ago…

"Hey… you." Huh?

Smoker called. He spent the whole time quiet, sitting in a corner with a permanent frown, only observing the situation and puffing the two cigars on his lips.

Oh, for the love of… when it comes to smoking he's worse than Sanji!

Ok, it's obvious… his freaking name is Smoker… he ate the Smoke-Smoke Fruit… but give me a break! He's gonna blow out his lungs when the years finally catch up with him!

And I'm veering off-topic… ok, back to the main point.

"HOW IN THE HELL ARE YOU NOT PANICKING?" Usopp yelled.

"COME ON, THINK ABOUT SOME WAY FOR US TO ESCAPE!" So did Luffy.

"How much do you know…" Smoker didn't care about the yelling, instead going for the questions. "…about Crocodile's goals?"

Usopp and Luffy blinked and paused.

Smoker looked down, hiding his expression. "The woman standing by his side… she's been a target of the World Government for the past twenty years. If I'm not mistaken, her bounty is as high as 70-odd million beri."

"SEVENTY MILLION?" Usopp reacted in disbelief. "S-s-so what?" He stuttered but tried to ask cynically, still with a shocked look.

Smoker proceeded, now raising his face and sporting an extra serious look before what he was about to say. "If those two are together… this no longer is merely a matter of taking over a country. If they're not stopped, this will spiral into a world-level disaster."

"W-world-level? What are you talking about?" Nami asked.

"H-hey… I knew from the beginning he was planning something big, but now you're going overboard!" Usopp commented.

"Huh, what are you blabbering about?" We turned to look at Luffy as he scoffed at this. "SINCE WHEN DO WE NEED A REASON TO BEAT A GUY LIKE HIM?"

Smoker merely snorted. "So? How are we supposed to get outta here?"

Hmmm, good question. Looks like we don't have much time to find an answer, though, since…

"THE WATER'S ALREADY ON OUR THIGHS!" Luffy realized the disturbing fact.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Usopp ran around screaming that as if we were already drowning.

"Oh… snap… I feel my… power… fading…"

The water was strong enough to drain Luffy's Devil Fruit powers. He could barely stand by himself. If it wasn't for Usopp holding him in his place, he would've fainted and drowned on a thigh-deep puddle.

"Hang in there, pal! Didn't Vivi say that?" Usopp grabbed him.

His neck already stretched out on its own. He barely had strength to keep his head in place.

"Vivi… must be tough to you… sorry I can't help!" Nami looked at the outside and couldn't help but feel sorry.

"Dammit… if I only had more skill… this cage would be nothing!" Zoro also felt every last bit of helplessness.

So did I. We could do nothing anymore but wait and panic… the water's already on our thighs…

…

…

"Please try not to make too much noise while enjoying your meal."

Huh?

All of a sudden, I heard a booming sound and felt a shockwave rippling through the water around us and coming with tremendous force… and I saw the bananadile yelping in pain as it appeared to be flung upwards!

"ANTI-MANNERS… KICK COURSE!"

Turns out the crocodile had been kicked right in the gut.

I felt such immense joy when I saw the silhouette and the black suit of our mysterious savior! Look who's here!

None other than the man himself!

Codename: Mr. Prince.

Real name: SANJI!

The crocodile was flung backwards and fell back in the water, hacking out chunks of stone it ate and agitating the waters inside the room.

All of that behind Sanji, who gritted his teeth. The lights of the room reflected on the golden lenses of his glasses. Then he relaxed, extending his arm after enjoying of a little puff from his trademark cigarette.

"Osu! Did you wait?" He said.

"PRINCE-SAN!" Usopp and Luffy jumped in joy.

"SANJI-SAN! YOU DID IT!" I said happily.

"Thank goodness…" Nami relieved the tension.

"QUIT FOOLING AROUND AND GET THE DAMN KEY ALREADY!" Zoro snarled and made the weirdest angry face ever.

"NAMI-SAAANNN! DO YOU LOVE ME?" Oh great, everything we needed was for him to switch on his lovey-dovey mode right now…

"Yeah, yeah, I'm falling in love. Come here open the jail!"

"Haaaai~! Mellorine! Mellorine!"

"His stupidity has no limits…" Zoro commented.

"GOOD JOB, VIVI!" Luffy celebrated and gave a thumbs-up to Vivi who watched everything from atop the remains of the stairway.

She did a thumbs-up too.

We turned to the other way because, all of a sudden, the rest of the bananadiles started to invade the room, one after the other!

"Hoo boy… they wanna get to the party, eh?" Sanji commented, without any signs of panicking.

"GO SANJI! GET THEM ALL!" Luffy shouted.

Sanji then put his cigar back on his lips, put his hands behind his back and slowly raised his left leg. I watched in awe, never saw him flexing his leg that high.

"I don't care how many of you are up to the challenge… just try me, you shitty bananas." Er… Sanji, not you too!

I wanted to correct him, but at the same time I felt that it would kill the mood.

"Any dumbasses with enough lack of common sense in their systems who dare to attack a lady… they are in some serious need of table manner classes."

"SANJI, WE'RE WASTING TIME HERE! GET THEM IN A SECOND! NO, IN AN INSTANT!" Usopp shouted.

Time is flying!

"Take down the third that entered the room." Smoker said, causing everyone to stare at him, intrigued.

"What? How can you tell?" Luffy asked disbelievingly.

He continued. "Huh, are you ears just for decoration, kid? Listen closely to its roar… it's the same of the one who ate the key!"

"Woooh!" Usopp and Luffy turned to gawk at the little detail while staring at the beasts in front of them.

"Woooooooohh… I still can't tell them apart…" Luffy remarked.

"Ya heard that, Sanji-san? The third one inside! Take him down!" I screamed.

"Got it! Leave it to me!" He replied.

Soon after, he charged at the bananadile and kicked him hard. It rolled around backwards until it fell down, not before spitting the most wanted object right now… or…

"THE KEY TO THE JAIL! Oh wait, no, it looks nothing like a key!"

"What the hell is that?"

…or a giant white ball…

Ok, the water settled down, where's the key?

"Doru Doru Ball!" The ball cracked open and instead of revealing a baby-dinosaur or the key of the jail or something remotely relevant to the matter at hand…

"W… water! Water everywhere! It's… a miracle!"

"Oi! No way!" I stared and gawked at who popped out from the mystery ball…

"Oh no… that's…"

"IT'S THAT THREE! IT'S THE WEIRD THREE GUY!" Luffy pointed.

"Mister 3? How on earth he ended up inside the bananadiles?" Vivi exclaimed.

Who else could it be? The great jerkass from Little Garden was back! Mister 3!

Before he said anything, his first priority was to drink as much water as he could because when he emerged from his cocoon, he was so dehydrated you could almost see his skeleton. Even his hairdo was all messed up!

When he was done, everything was right again and he was recovered, back to normal!

"Ahhah! I have returned! Phew, I really thought I was going to die right there… hmhmhm…" He grinned and turned to a corner where he started mumbling to himself out loud. "Crocodile, you jerk, if you want to get rid of me, you will have to work way harder than that! As I found myself on the verge of being eaten by that beast, I drew the last of my strength to build this Wax Ball and… huh?"

He stopped his muttering when he seemed to notice something.

"What's that?"

He grabbed the key we need so much!

"AAAHH! THAT KEY! GIMME THAT!" Nami, Usopp and Luffy behaved like wild lions trying to snatch the key from him.

"AAAAAHHH! NOT YOU AGAIN!" Only now he noticed we were there and he got startled.

Then he stopped and thought for some moments while analyzing his environment. He then came to some sort of conclusion and grinned again.

But not the normal kind of grin… the evil one.

"So you're the Mr. 3."

Sanji sneaked right behind him and almost gave him a heart attack when he turned around.

"You almost got me there, bud…" Mr. 3 took a deep breath after the shock.

"You're Mr. 3, right?" Sanji repeated. "Give me that key and I won't hurt you."

He chuckled. "Heh… You want it? SO GO GET IT!" He then threw the key far away and it fell back on the water!

I growled. "GRR… YOU SICK JERK! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

He then laughed. "Vengeance, my dear! Revenge… a vendetta for all the humiliation you made me go through back at Little Garden!" Then he turned to face Sanji. "As for you… I have never met you before but you look like an ally of theirs, aren't you? If you want that key, you might as well have to look for it! However, I am not to blame if you cannot find it!"

"Bastard…" Sanji hissed.

"It's gone! Bye-bey! Now, what are you going to do?"

Precious key: gone… now, what can we do?

"Hey, wait a second…" I stared at Usopp as he stopped and thought for a few seconds. "Hey, Sanji!" He called.

"What?"

"Can't you just get him to use his candle powers to make a copy of the key?"

Great idea, Usopp!

"Makes sense…" Sanji then slowly approached Mr. 3 while he stopped his evil laughing and started to cower and back away.

…

I don't need to stress out the beating that followed.

…

"Oh… nice job, candle man." Said Sanji while he watched as Mr. 3 finally made the movement we waited for so long! He opened the cage and the doors to freedom!

We are _free_!

Soon after, Sanji wrote a note, stuck it to Mr. 3's chest and kicked him away. He bounced on the water before crashing on the remnants of the stairway.

I couldn't help but savor the glorious taste that was getting out of our trap.

"Aaahhh… THE TASTE OF FREEDOM!" I shouted for anyone who wanted to listen.

"Ok guys, let's get going. We wasted lots of time with this whole mess." Sanji said.

"If we use that tunnel they meant to escape earlier, maybe we can head straight to Alubarna." Nami theorized.

"Hey, wait! We still have to take care of the buckloads of bananadiles right there!" Vivi warned.

After that we only heard the sound of rubber snapping back and swords being sheathed.

"WHAT? THAT'S ALL YOU GOT! COME ON, BRING MOOOOOOAR!"

We didn't notice until now a enormous pile of knocked out crocodiles.

If my jaw could drop all the way to the floor, it sure damn would… I gawked as the others stared blankly at the scene, at loss as to what to say…

Zoro and Luffy just effortlessly _beat the living daylights out _of the entire bananadile group!

I… I don't know how to stress this properly… do I even need to repeat that?

"Uh… problem… solved?" Nami said slowly.

"After I went through so much trouble just to take care of ONE of them!" Vivi turned, covered her face and wanted to let out her sorrow…

"No, no, don't blame yourself, Vivi! The problem here is their ridiculous power!" Usopp tried to perk her up again.

"DAMMIT! I CAN'T FIGHT FOR REAL WHILE I'M SOAKING WET!" Luffy still wanted to talk with his fists. Bad.

Unfortunately, we couldn't celebrate for long, because the walls started cracking open and we still had to take care of the drowning business!

"THE WALLS ARE CRUMBLING!"

"You went overboard, Luffy, that's why!" Sanji scolded him.

"THE TUNNEL'S GONE TOO!" Usopp screamed.

I had no time to react as a powerful wave swept through, dragged us around and submerged us. I forcibly dove underwater, trying to correct my body posture. I closed my eyes and avoided swallowing water as I held my breath and paused for some moments. I tried to watch where I was, opening back my eyes and swimming around the rubble circulating together with the stream. I still had to swim to rescue Usopp who had been hit and knocked out by a boulder. I grabbed him, letting the stream drag our bodies. Then I started swimming, hoping to arrive quickly at wherever I could escape and take a breath.

I was rather lucky to find that the trip wasn't too long, but I still got to the finish with my lungs hurting and already in desperate need of fresh air. When I had time to stop and look around at my surroundings, I saw we ended up in a lake at the outskirts of the town.

Swimming to the shore, I breathed deeply a few times, finally being able to lay Usopp's body in land.

"Ah… ah… Sanji-san! Luffy, he's alright?" I said while I climbed to the surface.

"Yeah… he's gonna be alright. Huh, super-powered fellows are such a hassle…" He quipped.

Then Nami and Vivi emerged as well, taking a few deep breaths. I called them to help me reanimate Usopp.

"Usopp-san! Hang in there, please! Usopp-san!" Vivi said while she slapped his face repeatedly trying to jump start him back again.

While spitting out water sporadically, he looked like he was slowly getting back to normal.

Zoro emerged soon after, bringing Smoker on his back.

"Huh? Smoker! He-hey, Zoro! Why you'd bring our enemy as well?" Sanji asked, annoyed.

"Be quiet! I didn't want to! I even thought this was the perfect chance to get rid of him once and for all but…" Zoro explained his decision.

"Ok, nevermind… let's get moving, guys! There's no time to waste anymore!" Sanji called. "Vivi-chan, can we still make it?"

"I don't know…" She said as she wringed the water out of her clothes.

"Nami-san… do you still have the perfume I bought back at Nanohana?" Sanji asked.

"Huh? Yes, why do you ask?" She replied.

"Please use it…"

Nami did so, spraying a little on her neck. I then took the opportunity to inhale discreetly the air around her… and it smelled like tangerine.

"Ah! You caught my heart yet again! My love's spreading to the ends of this world!" Sanji swooned as always.

"So that's your goal… nevermind." I mumbled while sweat dropping.

"RORONOA!"

I yelped as I heard a scream and suddenly a baton attacked Zoro, who quickly responded, unsheathing his sword and blocking the attacker.

It was Smoker, already recovered.

"Why did you save me?"

Both of them were roughly three-feet apart from each other, staring silently. After a long pause, they finally lowered their weapons so Zoro could explain himself.

"I just followed my captain's orders. He was the one who asked me to save you. Think nothing of it. It's just a whim of his."

Looks like this mariner doesn't belong in our captain's enemy list.

"So, I assume you don't have any complaints if I have to fulfill my duty as a Marine official." Smoker said that but strangely, he didn't grip his jutte nor did he prepare to fight.

"See? That's what we get for rescuing a marine?" Sanji complained.

"Sanji-san… complaining now won't change anything. Luffy decided that this guy doesn't deserve to be left for dead and he sure has a reason to think that." I arrived at the scene and patted his back. "Still, if he wants to send us to jail after his life has been saved, well, then so be it."

I don't know exactly why, but his presence and the possibility that he could capture us right there didn't seem to upset me. Smoker merely stared at us without saying a word.

"WOOOAAHHH! FULL SPEED TO ALUBARNA!" Hey, look! Usopp's back and full of energy!

"CROCODILE, I'M GONNA GET YOU!" Luffy woke up right after him, looking like an angry dog.

I only noticed right now that there were curious bystanders looking at the scene. Uh… how embarrassing… I look like an theater actor… Yeah, I do overact and that's exactly to overcome my stage fright…

Uh, what were we talking about again?

"Huh?" Luffy turned to us and after much staring, he noticed something. "Ah! You smokey! Wanna fight me, huh?"

"AAAHHH! SMOKER! Oi, Luffy, stop that! Let's run for it!"

Another silent pause. Smoker seemed to mutter something to himself, before he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Go."

Huh?

"Get going now! May… may this be the last time I let you go." You mean, he's gonna let us escape? Thank you very much! "But next time we meet… I'll take you down!"

All of us stared at him, surprised with the gentleness of this marine captain. Especially me… I got used to hear people argue about how marines were being corrupted… looks like there are still good-hearted people within that organization…

I had to stop my musings when I heard steps and screaming… uh-oh… the marine soldiers are coming to get us!

"Guys, get ready! Prepare your legs 'cause we're on the run again!" I said while I did some stretching.

"Vivi-chan, which way is Alubarna?" Sanji asked.

"There! Straight east from here!" Vivi replied with a happy expression I've never seen in a long time!

So, part of us started running as always as soon as they saw the marines coming close to the plaza. I let the others get a head start as I noticed Zoro and Luffy were gonna be left behind.

"Oi, what are you waiting for, let's go!"

"I'm waiting for the captain who won't move!" Zoro replied.

Indeed, instead of getting some exercise and not being noticed by the marines, Luffy wasted time standing and staring silently at Smoker against the setting sun in the horizon.

Any love-related analogies are dangerous… uh… I apologize. Please disregard that sentence.

"Heheh… aw, come on! I just can't hate you!" Luffy said that while smiling broadly. He then laughed.

Smoker got surprised… and even flustered in embarrassment!

"GET THE HELL OUT!" Smoker scared him away with his jutte, Luffy jumped out of his way and started running.

Zoro smiled while we watched our captain zig-zag around.

"What a loony captain we chose to follow, eh, Zoro-san?" I said, smiling too.

"Yeah… so… Dan, let's go!" Zoro then sped off.

"Heheh… Ou!"

I dashed after him. We then joined the front group.

"YOOOOSH! EVERYONE, FULL THROTTLE TO ALUBARNAAAAA!"

"Ooooooou!"

* * *

**Sanji fulfilled his promise and saved his comrades from an unescapable trap! Now, with an unexpected permission from Captain Smoker, the Straw Hat Pirates are free to head towards their decisive battle in the capital Alubarna!**

**Dan: "Alright! This is gonna get even more exciting!"**

**Ooookay! Now that the university's on winter break, I'll make the most out of it and give my best to provide my dear readers with the final chapters of the adventures of Dan, Luffy and company through the deserts of Arabasta and beyond!**

**Luffy: "You're sure pumped-up today, Mr. Author?"**

**Of course I am, captain!**

**Luffy: "Heh, that's the spirit!"**

**Luffy, let's say it together: "Don't miss the next chapter!"  
**


	72. The amazing race through the desert!

**Chapter 72**

**"Luffy forced to stay! The Straw Hats race against the clock!

* * *

**

"THEY'RE RUNNING AWAY!"

"After them!"

After Captain Smoker surprisingly spared us from his watch (for now, at least), we didn't think twice before leaving Rainbase's casino plaza. We dashed through the streets, looking everywhere to lose track of the soldiers while they weren't informed of the temporary retreat.

There's still a slight problem… or rather, several.

"Hey, don't tell me we have to run all the way to Alubarna, have we?" Usopp said while catching his breath.

"Baloney! Of course not! If we had to do that, by the time we arrived there, the city would be nothing but a pile of dead bodies and blood-stained streets! That is to say… if we managed to get there!" I replied.

While I'd say that, I had absolutely no idea how the hell we were supposed to get to Alubarna before the armies clash.

"Speaking of which… what happened to Eyelash? Where is it?" Nami asked to no one in particular.

"Hey, wait, I just remembered something! There are barns around here! Can't we just rent some horses and get going?" Luffy suggested.

"The Marines are still around, Luffy-san!" Vivi refuted.

"Oi, Sanji-san, I hope you had the time to plan out how on earth we are going to get to the capital before the rebels, ok?" I looked at him.

"Don't worry, Dan…" He replied calmly. It seems like he's got something. "…'cause I dealt with it way in advance! Look over there!" He then pointed to the desert.

I looked far away and sure noticed something approaching… a silhouette, or rather, some silhouettes.

"HEEEEYYY, GUYS!"

"What? A CRAB?"

"Chopper! Eyelash!"

Our doctor and our unofficial mascot came to the rescue, bringing along with them a gigantic crab!

"It's… it's a Moving Crab! They spend almost all their lives buried under the sand, it's extremely rare for anyone to see them! But there's one right here!" Vivi exclaimed in joy.

"Wow, that's one hell of a help you brought, eh? Great job, Chopper!" Sanji commented.

"Yeah, he's Eyelash's friend! Since he was born around here, he made lots of friends around the desert." Chopper commented. "The kick is that they're kinda perverts…"

Oh nice…

"Looks yummy!" Wait, what? Luffy's drooling with the perspective of having crab for lunch… Really, does this guy think with his belly?

"Don't you dare, you dolt!" I got close and smacked his head. "Well, let's hurry and get aboard our express towards Alubarna!"

The crab went running near us, raising a shroud of dust with its paws until it stopped right in front of us. When the sand dissipated, we could give a good look at the creature.

It's enooooooormous!

Ah, and, curiously, one of its claws was twice the size of the other.

"Sugeee! Sugee! Sugee!" Luffy couldn't stop gushing.

"Hey, what are you waiting for? Get on board!" Chopper called.

"What? We can ride this thing?" Luffy asked. "Wahoo!" Without waiting for an answer, he stretched his arms, tugging to one of the crab's eyes and hugging it. "Nice to meetcha!"

"Hey, don't you think its face's kinda funny?" Nami noticed.

Seeing that it sported a wide, cheek-to-cheek (that is, if crabs do have cheeks), kinda creepy smile, it's not surprising anyone would find it weird.

"So that's what you meant when you asked Nami to spray the perfume…" I snapped my fingers. "Nice move there!" I gave a thumbs-up to a smirking Sanji.

"Oh well… let's board?" He replied, walking close to the creature.

"Heheh… aye!"

Nami, Sanji and me walked to the claw. I watched as the crab lifted it, putting us on its head.

"Ok, top floor: fluffy carpets, seafood, sand bags! Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, because our trip will head straight to Alubarna!" I said while trying to find space to sit on.

"Hey, Chopper, is it fast?" Zoro asked.

Chopper nodded. "Yeah! Everyone, are you ready?"

Everyone settled and nodded back, giving the ok to go. "Ok, now hold it tight! Next stop: Alubarna!" Chopper whipped at the reigns and the giant crab started moving. It's one of those that only walks around sideways.

How unusual… Here's something I never thought I'd do in my life… ride a crab.

Also, how convenient! Like this, we'll get to Alubarna before dawn!

A few minutes into the trip, I'd soon find out that convenience comes with a price. I predicted that the travel would be tiring for my butt since if I sat around, I'd feel every bump.

Sometimes, I looked ahead to see the sunset while feeling my robe flap around as the strong wind clashed against my body.

I sure wished we could get to Alubarna as soon as possible…

"AAAAHHH!" What?

That scream woke me up from my temporary daze. I stood up, looking behind and I gulped when I saw Vivi floating and going away from us. She was being pulled away…

…_by a golden hook_ around her waist!

"STOP, CHOPPER!" Zoro screamed.

Chopper gave the order and the crab skidded to a full stop. Luffy almost lost its footing since he was standing on top of the crab's left eye with nothing to latch onto.

"THAT BASTARD!" Luffy caught himself on time and soon stretched his arms, reaching the hook while he still had time.

He then pulled Vivi from the hook, tossing her to where we stood. She crash-landed right on Zoro's waist, making him fall back with the impact. Nami soon tended to her. Meanwhile, Luffy let himself be dragged by the hook.

"LUFFY-SAN!" Vivi lifted her head to scream as she still recovered from the shock.

"HEY! LUFFY! GET BACK HERE!" I screamed to no avail.

Crocodile's now even more determined to let the war happen and get his hands on the throne! If that means killing the princess or whoever stands on his way at the slightest misstep, then so be it!

If we wanna put an end to the war before it starts, we have to leave! But that would mean ditching Luffy and I'm not comfortable with it!

What can we do?

"GO AHEAD, I'LL TAKE CARE OF HIM!" He said as he went away and fell, rolling on the sand.

"Take Vivi to her home… I'm counting on you!"

…

I swallowed hard and couldn't help but feel the hesitation returning to haunt me.

I couldn't do anything other than grit my teeth as I felt unsure as to how to react at that time.

Everyone else must've felt the same.

"Fool… OI, CHOPPER! LET'S GO!"

Zoro was the first to leave the trance.

"Un… understood! Hya!"

Chopper soon followed suit, quickly whipping the reigns.

I lost my footing and fell on my butt as I felt the jolt when the crab sped off. I then tugged to it to not fall off and be left too.

"O… Oi, Zoro? You're… you-you're gonna leave him? Oi!" Usopp tried to get explanations out of Zoro, shocked with his decision.

"LUFFY-SAN!" Vivi still crawled to shout.

Nami stopped her. "Let him be, Vivi! It's gonna be alright. I pity the poor bastards who are up against him instead! Once he chooses who to face… he won't be satisfied unless they're pummeled to the ground!"

"But…"

"Vivi, listen." Zoro intervened. "From the moment the Rebel Army formed and decided to march to the capital and attack… this country's time limit started counting down. If the Royal Army and the rebels come to clash and the war prolongs… the Arabasta Kingdom will end."

He said it all with a stern voice.

"However… if you're really the only hope to stop the conflict… you must survive and get there, no matter what happens! From now on… you must not worry about anything other than that!"

I felt myself trembling and my insides turning as his words made me realize the true extent of the situation I've gotten myself into.

"But…"

"Vivi-chan." Sanji spoke this time. "This is a battle you chose to start. You left your country… the comfort of the royal residence, years ago… and challenged an organization of which you knew nothing. You risked it all from the start… now you have to stick with it to the end."

I recovered and also thought up something to say. "Vivi-san…"

She turned to look at me while I approached her. Uneasiness was clearly written on her face.

"I don't have much to say but… at least you can't complain that you're fighting alone anymore." I said.

She turned her head to look at the part of the desert we were leaving behind. So did I, while proceeding. "You're gonna have to do your best … just like each and every one of us! Survive and stop the conflict!"

"Dan-san…" She whispered.

"It's pretty much guaranteed that someone will die over it… but let's just make the battle end as soon as it starts! Baroque Works… has been trampling over innocent people long enough!"

There, I said what I felt. A silent pause followed as Vivi processed my words. She didn't want to respond or wasn't in the mood to do so.

"Vi-Vivi! No-no-n-d-d-don't… d-don't worry! I'll-I-I-I… wi-will… I'll surely…!"

Dammit, Usopp, don't kill the mood!

"I know what you're feeling, Usopp-kun!" I came to him and patted his shoulder.

"LUFFY-SAAAAAAN!"

I turned to look back at Vivi while she screamed her loudest. Her shout echoed through the desert.

"WE'RE WAITING FOR YOU… AT ALUBARNA!"

…

…

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU!"

Luffy heard her shout, shouting back for everyone to hear.

"Good luck… captain…" I whispered, closing my hand and putting it over my chest.

I forced myself to forget what just happened, keep calm and carry the hope that Luffy can defeat Crocodile. As the tension settled down, I tried to suppress whatever I thought about what's to come.

To my relief, nothing extraordinary happened for a good while.

Unfortunately, that ended when we saw a giant sand hurricane starting to form on the horizon.

Crocodile…

I do hope that Luffy's alright…

Vivi turned to watched the storm as it grew and spun faster.

I noticed that it followed a path perpendicular to the one we were on. Kinda unwittingly, I put a hand on my chin and started thinking.

"Well, let's see… perpendicular… if Alubarna's straight east from Rainbase… the storm's heading either north or south… south from Rainbase… if I'm not mistaken… it's…"

I slowly gaped as I came to the dreadful conclusion…

Yuba!

If my deductions are accurate, that storm's gonna mess with mr. Toto yet again!

Now what… do I… no, I shouldn't… better to keep this from Vivi, or else she's going to lose it. That is, if she didn't come to that same conclusion herself…

Besides, that old man must've been used to it already… judging by his unyielding determination, he can very well work around it, dig it back to find water!

Yeah, that's it!

Wait a second… what am I thinking? Look ahead, Dan! We need to go to Alubarna and nothing more! I slapped my own face to get rid of unnecessary thoughts. Let's move ahead that there are strong enemies just waiting around the corner!

…

Ok, just let me clear my throat…

*ahem*

We proceeded on our travel, in a relatively fast pace. We decided to let the silence prevail on our surroundings. Strangely, I didn't feel uneasy because of it. Rather, I wanted it. But I didn't mind when Usopp broke the silence to entertain Chopper with his wacky stories.

Once he told him that it was because of him that the crabs became aware of their bent legs and started walking sideways.

Yeah, and Chopper was all "Eeeh?" at him, sounding very impressed.

On another side, Zoro did some weightlifting. The problem is his weights were his sword… coupled with Eyelash on top of it!

It was kinda confusing to see… how the hell can he do that?

"Naa, Zoro… don't you think you're wasting your energy?" Nami would ask.

"Oh, shut it…" Zoro didn't want to talk.

"Leave him alone… If he doesn't work out or do something at all, he won't handle the tension. Huh, being nervous here and there…" Sanji said while smoking from his cigarette. "Oh, also… he must be trying to understand the real power of a Shichibukai."

Zoro soon stopped his exercises, visibly annoyed. "Hey, you. What's that supposed to mean?"

Sanji opened his left arm. "Ok, I'll tell you."

"You're afraid. Afraid that Luffy might lose."

Zoro clenched his teeth and stood up, angered. "What, me? AFRAID! Oh you… stupid eyebrow!"

"Ukiii! Now I'm mad, you moss ball!"

Phew… for a moment I thought they were going to argue over something significant… but in the end the discussion devolved into volleying tantrums.

Although that doesn't mean it's less annoying for those around.

"YOU WANNA FIGHT, HUH?" Both said at the same time.

"Enough already!"

Nami and I yelled before smacking them.

"Stop that, you two, what a waste of time!" Nami said.

"Geez… how on earth haven't you run out of crap to bitch at each other?" I vented.

"Dan… et tu…?" Zoro said while sitting back up, putting a hand on his head.

"Save your arguing bull to when it's all over, okay?" I said, less angry.

"He's alright, isn't he?" Hm? "Luffy-san, he's not gonna lose, is he? He made a promise, didn't he?"

Vivi said that, but it looked like she was asking our confirmation to try to convince herself that he would be alright.

Hmmm…

"If that's so, then why are you still worrying about it?" Oh…

Usopp surprised everyone by going straight to the point. Nami also got close and gave Vivi a light smack to her head.

"Ow!"

"Focus only on the rebellion. Period!" Nami scolded.

"I'm sorry, Vivi-chan…" Sanji said while sitting back up.

"If we had to follow you around, it'd be all over!" Zoro, how insensitive!

"YOU OVER THERE, SHUT YOUR TRAP, OKAY?" I snapped, pointing to him.

"Yeah, yeah…" He replied grumpily.

"Ok, ok, let's forget all that and get back to our goal! Let's go, Scissors-kun!"

Uh… what?

"Scissors?" I asked.

"It's the crab's name." Nami replied flatly. "Thought of it right now."

"Scissors, eh…" Usopp scoffed.

"Objections?" She noticed it.

"No, no, none!" He went silent.

"I have one. Really, stop giving dull names to the poor creatures! I bet that if Chopper was nameless you would name him Rudolph or some plain stuff like that!" I said.

"EEEH? SHE WOULD?" Chopper reacted in shock.

"Chopper! Don't believe everything you hear!" Usopp warned him.

"Phew… so that's just a lie…" Chopper sighed in relief. Oi!

Okay… enough of scuffling, let's just get moving.

Little by little, it started to get dark. As the sun went away, taking all the heat of the desert with it, the moon appeared. Also did the boundary between day and night, slowly crossing the sky.

The tension settled and so there was nothing to do anymore besides thinking about stuff (and I wanted to avoid that), look around, try to strike conversations with the others, but I'm rather awkward in that.

I need to make my mind escape for a while, relax and get prepared.

Hmmm… hmmm…

So, I spent at least ten minutes like that, spacing out.

What if I don't become a famous writer?

I could kinda turn to the journalism, seek the truth, inform the public about important stuff… oh no, wait… that would mean working for the only journal that exists… from the World Government… judging as I kinda have this feeling that the news they publish are somehow distorted, that would go against my principles.

Speaking of which… why would the Government go through the trouble of hiring pirates to crush other pirates? Isn't that nonsense? I assume they must show how powerful they are, but aren't they supposed to pledge loyalty to the Government as well? How the hell is that possible?

This leads to the inevitable question: if the government needs so much their help, why on earth don't they put them under tight control and watch over how they're doing?

Seeing as Crocodile hinted that, as long as he remembers to deal with lesser pirates that assume themselves as such and take them out, he's completely exempt from having to explain himself to the authorities, looks like their higher-ups don't give a damn…

And now I got a headache.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE CAN'T GET THROUGH? IT'S A DAMN CRAB!"

Wait, what?

"I'm sorry… moving crabs are creatures who live in the desert… so they don't like water, Usopp-san!"

"SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW?"

Usopp's shouting woke me up again.

"Oi, oi… what did I miss there?" I asked.

"Ohey, Dan-kun! Where you've been for the last fifteen minutes?" Nami volleyed the question back.

"Just daydreaming, nothing special… don't think too hard." I replied.

"Don't tell me you're worrying too, are you?" Hey is she going to bombard me with questions or what?

"No, no. Not this time." I hand waved. "So, what's the situation?"

Usopp put a hand in his pocket. "We're getting close to the Sandora river!" He then pulled the map and opened it. "This river looks like a little ocean just for how far the margins are apart from each other. If we have to swim through it, we'll get there too late!"

"Doesn't that depend on how long we take to actually get through?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's the problem! We have to discard the crab because it can't swim!" Oh goodie… "Plus: if we manage to cross the river, we're still left with several kilometers of land to walk!"

"And if we move at human's running speed, it's still going to be too late." I deduced.

"Nah, Dan-kun… can't you draw wings or something close to it for all of us? That way we'd just fly to Alubarna, right?" Nami suggested.

"That would be a good idea…" Nami's eyes brightened. But I'm not done. "…if you forget the time we'd have to lose mastering takeoff, sustained flight and landing." I replied.

"Geh… having wings isn't enough?" Usopp reacted with surprise.

"We aren't birds, are we? Seeing the situation we're in… wasting time learning how to fly would be counter-productive." I replied.

"Guys!" Sanji called. "It looks like we have to decide now… 'cause we're near the river already!"

I stood up and looked ahead. Indeed, there's water on our sights.

Now what?

The crab can't swim… and we just can't handle swimming to the other side!

Hoo boy… we're screwed…

"Wait, I know! Scissors likes dancing girls!" Huh?

"Like this?" Hey, Nami, what are you doing?

As soon as our doctor suggested that, Nami stripped off her white robe, revealing her odalisque outfit and exhibiting her… assets. No pun intended.

"WOOOW!"

Needless to say, apart from Scissors, the other two perverts of our group got affected too and melted themselves in swooning over Nami's dancing girlness…

"Hey, it's looking already!"

The crab turned its eyes to the vision of paradise and got so excited…

"I guess that did it…"

…that it started to accelerate! I almost lost my footing when the crab bolted to full speed.

"NAMI-SWAANN!" Sanji screamed, more in love than ever.

"Yay! Go Ero Power!" Hey!

"Huh? Hey, Vivi-san! Why don't you strip as well?" I said.

"VIVI-CHWAN! PLEASE!" Sanji already imagined the full return of his lovely dancing girls.

"Huh? Wha-what are you… No, I'm not really…" Vivi got embarrassed.

"Why not? With two dancers around, Scissors's gonna run twice as fast, right?" I reasoned.

"Hohoh… seriously, that's your reasoning?" Nami smirked.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked.

"How cheeky! I never expected _you_ to say that." She said.

"Ho! I-I-I'm sorry! I don't know what's got into me… I didn't mean…" I caught myself and felt a blush coming.

"Oi, Sanji-kun! Are you passing bad influences to Dan, ok?" I heard Nami saying that like a disapproving mother.

"Namiiii~n!"

"Oooookay, back to the main point…" Usopp interrupted. "Huh… Chopper, how exactly does that solve our problem?"

"We're gonna find out now!" Chopper replied.

The water's coming!

"LET'S GO!"

We stepped off the margin and…

"Oi, oi! Incredible!"

"We did it!"

…the crab's sheer speed allowed it to run over the river surface! I've already heard that, at a certain speed, that was possible, but I never believed it!

"Yosh! Now run to the other side! Let's go, you can do it! Keep going! No, don't sink, don't sink, sinking, sinking, we're sinking, aaaahhhh…"

Eventually, the water would get angry at this affront and swallow us all. The crab sank, leaving us bobbing in the river.

"DON'T SINK, YOU DAMN CRAB!" Usopp yelled when he pulled his head above the water line.

Everything soon emerged too. My feet could reach the bottom and I walked, noticing the water was up to my shoulders.

"How much further do we have to go?" I asked.

"At least fifty kilometers…" Curses…

"We can't possibly swim that much!" In fact, no one in this planet can…

"But we can't stop to whine now, can we? C'mon, let's go." Zoro called. He had Chopper tugging to his head. Being the only one who can't swim sure sucks…

"See ya, Scissors!" Chopper turned to wave goodbye.

Soon after, we would find another pesky obstacle… by which I mean giant catfish.

"It's a Sandora Rarecatfish! It's named like that because it's really rare!" Gee, you think?

"Enough with the pointless details!" Good point, Usopp…

"IT PREYS ON HUMANS!" Oh, for the love of…

"TELL THAT FIRST!"

I swam back with all my might while feeling the water shake by the mere presence of the fish. Usopp almost freaked out.

For a moment, I thought it was going to send us back to shore just because, but I changed my view as soon as I heard loud bangs and what seemed to be punches.

When I turned around, the creature was beaten down and something jumped on top of it… or rather, some things.

"KUNG-FU DUGONGS!"

To the rescue! Hooray!

"We can't abandon the disciples of our master!" Said one of the dugongs, according to Chopper's translation. We're not Luffy's apprentices, but who cares! We have transport to the goal!

Unnecessary details aside, we boarded the catfish and let the dugongs do their magic. Strong and united as they are, they dragged it all the way to the other side. A great daybreak to sleep, but we can't stop! The armies will clash at dawn and we're here to stop them!

"Thank you! See you later!" Vivi waved goodbye.

"We're doing good. Can we still make it?" Zoro walked to us and asked.

"It's hard to say… even if we rode Eyelash-kun all the way, we'd hardly get there on time…" Vivi lamented.

"And he can only carry two people." I said. "Or three if we could squeeze them together, but the rest would still have to walk."

"From now on, Baroque Works are free to attack us whenever they can!" Oh, good point, Usopp…

"Back to scratch again…" Sanji hissed.

A long silent pause followed as everyone tried to think about what to do.

Nami noticed something and turned to look away.

"Hey, wait! Look over there!" Nami pointed to a curtain of sand that was rising far away. Little by little, I heard quick steps and it seemed to come right in our direction.

Silhouettes became clear amidst the dust.

"It's the enemy? T-t-t-t-they're here?" Could be so, but it's hard to tell…

"No… it's… it's…"

They're a group. In between them was running our other unofficial mascot!

"CARUE! It's the Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad!"

To the rescue!

* * *

**A few hours before dawn and the imminent attack of the rebel forces on the capital, our adventurers now have the fastest troops in Arabasta at their service!**

**Now with the Sandora river on the past, it's time to head to the final stretch! Hurry, Straw Hat Pirates!**

**The great climax will soon arrive! Look forward for the next chapter!  
**


	73. High speed Alubarna break in!

**Chapter 73**

**"War is imminent! All forces will collide at Alubarna!"

* * *

**

In the oasis kingdom, three years passed since the dry earth last felt a drop of rain. In order to rekindle hope amidst the tremendous turmoil, the people decided to take up arms.

And in a sad shriek, this scorching land sank deep in a great wave of chaos.

The King of Arabasta was framed for a crime he didn't commit, thanks to a meticulous plan architected by the leader of an organization whose goal is taking over the throne.

However, the population, motivated by the belief that their beloved governor betrayed them, is now armed and blind with rage. Now, the insurgency is about to explode.

When the sun appears on the horizon and when the day dawns… the bloodbath most certainly will have begun.

That's why we're running like crazy since we left Rainbase in order to try to avoid the conflict. The rebels, determined to start a revolution and bring down the government, advance fast as daybreak goes away and time runs out.

And the last hope for this country to survive is running with us: Princess Nefertari Vivi.

Chances are slim at best, but if she can take the last chance she can get to meet up with the rebel leader and grab the last string of hope that can save thousands, if not, millions of innocent civilians… her mission will be accomplished.

As for us… The target to take down is Crocodile and his underlings.

Those who sparked the war.

Those who will fight the war.

Those who learned the truth behind all this and now race against all odds to stop the war.

All forces involved in this battle… will clash at the capital Alubarna.

The hourglass of this country's ultimate fate… counts down the minutes… to the end!

…

…

"Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad!" Vivi shouted.

Yeah, that's what you've heard. A troop of spot-billed ducks came to our rescue. In total, they were seven, led by our unofficial mascot Carue. All of them saluted the Princess.

Strangely, they were wearing a variety of ornaments, including hats, protection goggles and pretty nice jewelery.

"Carue! You're alright! I was so worried!" Vivi ran to give a heartwarming hug to her pet duck.

"Fantastic!" Chopper jumped happily.

"Uwah! Great! Hey, Vivi, they're as fast as Carue, right?" Usopp exclaimed, running to 'inspect' the troops. He stopped and glanced around, probably trying to choose which one he wanted to ride.

"Yes, Usopp-san! The Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad is the fastest way of transportation of the country!" Vivi explained.

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and head to Alubarna. The uprising won't wait!" I said, already trying to rush my preparations.

"Hey, hey, wait a second. First and foremost, we need to think about an attack plan." Nami stepped in.

"Attack plan?" I parroted.

"Obviously! It's dead sure Crocodile mobilized Baroque Works' strongest agents for the off chance we manage to get to Alubarna before the battle begins." Nami said.

"Hmmm… on second thought that makes sense… Well, where should we start from then?" I asked.

Nami put a hand on her chin, closed her eyes and went silent for some moments.

"Vivi, how do the people get into Alubarna?" She asked.

"Let's see… The capital was built on a plateau lying above the desert. The entrance consists of five long stairways that lead to the city itself." She explained.

"Dan-san…" Then, she turned to look at me.

"Hai?"

"Can you borrow me your pencil and paper for a second? I have no maps of Alubarna here with me but I need to illustrate the city structure." She explained.

"Ok, right away." I then pulled a sheet off my sketchbook and gave her my pencil so she could write properly.

Vivi then drew a rudimentary map of the city as seen from above.

According to the scribbles, she showed that the city is circular and the five gates are scattered through it in the following directions: West, Southwest, South, Southeast and East.

"The rebels are coming directly from Nanohana, so they're most definitely to invade through the South entrance." Vivi deduced.

"Seeing as Crocodile already knows that we survived his trap and now we're heading to the capital, it's highly likely he dispatched the rest of his agents to the West entrance, just so that they can wait for us." Nami concluded.

"So, how should we work around it, Nami-san?" Sanji asked.

"Ok, so… let's do this: we're going to split in teams. Sanji and Chopper are Team One. Dan, Usopp and Eyelash on Team Two. Zoro and me will be the Team Three. We're going to trot together but as soon as they open fire, we'll separate and each team will head towards one gate. That should force them to separate and come after us." She explained.

"Dan-kun, Usopp and Eyelash: you three are going to head to the Southwest gate." She stated while pointing to the three of us.

We nodded.

"Yosh… Dan, when they come after us, stand back and let me protect you, ok?" Usopp said confidently. His legs were trembling already.

"Yeah, yeah… Shouldn't it be the other way around?" I replied smiling.

"Sanji-kun, Chopper, you'll go to the South gate."

"Sir, yes sir! Nami-swan!" Sanji saluted lovingly.

"Zoro! We're going to the West gate, ok?" She said.

"Yeah, that's fine to me." He replied lazily.

"Hey, hey… wait a second. How about Vivi?" Usopp asked.

"Vivi will come together with us. When we're close to the entrances, she will stand back and hide until we can drive off the Baroque Works' agents and open the way for her to get through." Nami replied. "Vivi, is that ok to you?"

"Understood." Vivi said with a brave face.

"So that's the outline, eh… all our bases are covered then." I concluded.

"Buuuuuut…" What, there's something else? "There's still an element without it we cannot go. Here."

She tossed white capes to all of us and told us to wear them.

"Cover yourselves. We must conceal our identities until we're inside the city." She said.

"O-hey, Nami… what's that for? Heading there disguised or not will make any difference?" I asked.

"It's gonna make a hell of a difference, sir! If we reveal ourselves right off the bat, we'll automatically give away the fact that Vivi is somewhere else. That way, they'll completely ignore us and go after her… and theeeen… shit will hit the fan for our side, get it?" She explained.

"Oh, I see… nice move there!" I snapped my fingers when her logic dawned on me. "Although that way of saying is kinda off…"

"So, is everything ready then?" Sanji asked.

"Guys, choose your ride right away and let's get moving!" Nami ordered while putting on her cape.

"Frankly… riding through the desert in a duck… how unusual!" I talked to myself while I saddled up and put the cape around my head.

I adjusted it around my face, below, to cover my jaw and nose, and above, to make a shadow in which I could hide my eyes.

"Hey, Dan, is it all ready?" Usopp asked cautiously.

"Yeah, Usopp-kun! How 'bout you? Ready?" I said. Then I grabbed the reins and looked ahead as he replied.

"Of course! As soon as we cross the boundary and get inside that city, those half-assed Baroque Works' agents are going to know what the manly Usopp is made of!" He bragged.

"That's the spirit, Usopp-kun!" I gave him a thumbs-up.

"Yosh… gotta prepare my spirit for what's coming. Crocodile and his gang… get ready, we're going to trounce you!" I whispered. I'm ready now! Let's get going already!

"For all those not ready yet, better do it fast! We're going to leave any second now!" Nami sounded the last call.

"Hai! Nami-san!" Sanji replied cheerily.

"Just remember not to fall behind, ero-cook!" Zoro provoked.

"Huh? That goes right back to you, moss ball!" Sanji replied.

Little bickering apart, in a matter of moments, the rest of us rushed preparations, and we were all saddled up, only waiting for the start "pistol".

"Ready, set, go!"

Without wasting any more time, we sped off to Alubarna!

In quite a smooth line, we went as close as possible to each other, already organized in our respective teams. Zoro and Nami stayed to the left, Usopp, Eyelash and me in the middle and Sanji and Chopper to the right.

The route was fairly smooth and we went in a quite fast pace. Curiously, Eyelash, although he's a domesticated camel, was able to keep up with the spot-billed ducks' fast speed.

There wasn't much to think about at that time. Strangely, while Alubarna didn't appear on the horizon, I kept relatively calm.

As I felt each bump in my body, I tried to fend off any irrelevant thoughts and focus only on the objective.

I let one of my hands go from the reins, grabbed my pencil and gripped it in my fist. That moment, I recalled everything we went through since we left our ship back at Nanohana, a few days ago.

Everything will come to an end right now.

If I want to survive, I'll have to do my best!

"The time has come." I talked to myself, put the pencil back on my pocket, gripped the reins and looked ahead. "The time… IS NOW!"

"Look! We're almost there!" What? Already?

When I looked back, I saw Carue slowing down, falling back and taking a completely different route of ours. Now it's dawning on me. Decision time is coming. Vivi had separated from the group, searching for a safe hideout.

Princess… the best of luck! We're counting on you!

Sooner than I would ever expect, Alubarna city's plateau would get bigger and bigger.

Can I panic now?

"There they are! Baroque Works agents spotted right ahead!" Usopp screamed.

Ok, that's reasonably enough to make me panic any second now…

"Yosh! Guys… IT'S SHOWTIME!" Nami shouted.

Calm down, Dan… calm down! This is no time to panic! Just head to the Southwest gate and follow with the plan!

Suddenly, I hear a single shooting sound and I see something falling on the ground, although I couldn't see what it was.

"GET AWAY FROM IT!" Zoro shouted.

Act now! Head to the right… Southwest gate, here we go!

As I swerved away from whatever was on the ground, I heard a loud bang and almost lost it, but I gripped on the reins, going forward!

"Wow… it exploded? That was close…" I mumbled.

Sanji and Chopper steered further away from our group, already heading towards the South gate, but the problem's not over yet! There's still three of them to take care of!

"HISSATSU! KAENBOSHI!"

Usopp fired against the remaining trio. His bullet exploded, spreading a dense smokecloud, blocking our enemies' field of vision and effectively giving us a little time to escape.

So, Zoro and Nami separated and headed to the West gate.

"OK, MR. 2'S OURS, LET'S GO!" Usopp screamed in the most effeminate voice I've ever heard out of him.

"YOU WON'T ESCAPE! UN… DEUX-"

Without a flinch, we ran over Mr. 2, going forward all the time.

"Ok, we're heading to the Southwest gate!" Worst Princess Vivi impersonation… ever…

We stormed through the obstacle, approaching in high speed the mountains resting near the entrance stairway.

While we climbed the stairs, I saw sand bags and men wearing armors and carrying spears, watching over the area.

Guards!

Please, don't stop us… let us through!

Fortunately, when we got to the top, we could pass by unmolested. We maneuvered our way through the narrow streets of the outskirts of Alubarna, always with Mr. 2's annoying presence, sneaking around and trying to follow us.

We tried to outsmart him back and forth, but he still had stamina to keep up with our pace!

"Ok, it's enough already! PLAYTIME IS OVER!"

Suddenly he comes out of a corner right in front of us. We pulled the reins, making the ducks skid to a stop.

"Hurhurhur… oh look! You managed to follow us all the way to here, I'm surprised!" Ok, really, this impersonation's kinda creeping me out…

Y'know? Let's just get on the act! "Ahem… you said it, girl!" I stand corrected… I guess _mine_ is the worst Vivi impersonation ever… "Saa… it was fun to play with you but…"

Usopp followed. "Let's get to the business, shall we?" He nodded discreetly.

"We shall! One… two…" At the third stroke, we revealed our faces.

"THREE! WRONG, YOU LOSE!"

"Grr… WHAT?"

"WAAAHHH… SORRY!" I sweatdropped as I saw Usopp go from confident to scared out of his wits in a second. He clung to Eyelash immediately.

As for me, I tried my hardest not to tremble too…

"I know you!" Mr. 2 said. "Those brats back at that ship!"

"Oh, glad you remember us! Well, you better don't forget, 'cause when Crocodile's taken down, your stupid organization will go down with him!" I bragged, pointing my index at him.

"Why you… where's Princess Vivi?" He asked, visibly annoyed.

"Sorry, pal…" I said while cracking my knuckles. "…she's busy right now. Besides… If I told you… I had to force you to silence."

I stepped forward to face the ballerina.

"Usopp-kun…" I then turned and whispered to him. He still clung as hard as he could to Eyelash, scared as ever. "…I'll hold him and try to buy time. Get outta here and tell someone what happened! Now move!"

"O-ok…" He stuttered.

Sweat trickled down my face.

"Hey! WAIT!" Mr. 2 started running to catch them, but…

"No, you wait, sir!" …I stepped forward.

He stopped and glared at me. "I said! You shall not pass!" I said, while busting out my fighting stance.

He growled. "You impudent… Ok, very well." He stopped clenching his teeth and smirked again, but without glaring menacingly at me.

"I'll make the little boy over there taste a handful of my ballet arts!" He said while spinning and doing ballet-y poses.

I swallowed… he's the one I'm going to fight?

"Un… deux… TROIS!"

"Hii!"

I got no time to think as he started attacking me, mixing ballet moves with high kicks. At each "Trois" he shouted, he tried to land a kick to my face and I had to steer away, usually escaping in the nick of time.

"Un… deux… TROIS!"

"Hey, come on, are you dancing or you're trying to fight me?" I asked, confused. I then took off my white tunic, freeing my arms. Gotta move more swiftly when the fight gets serious.

"What if I said I'm doing both? I'm a dance battler, my boy! This is the style I gave my body, my blood and my tears to perfect…" He said in a smooth tone, as he spun around.

"OKAMA KENPO!"

Suddenly, he tried to land a flurry of high kicks, forcing me to keep zigzagging as he aimed to my abdomen and face. I saw myself in great trouble just to evade his kicks, and even more to land a punch on him.

"What's wrong, young lad? Won't you fight back?"

Dammit, you won't let me!

"With pleasure!" After evading another of his kicks, I took a fraction of a second to get back at him and aimed for his head, but he caught himself in time to effortlessly steer away.

"Ok, I've lost too much time screwing around!" He said as I got close. "Okama Chop!"

Too late, I realized he landed a powerful kick right on my eyes. I retreated a few steps, covered my face, standing paralyzed for a few seconds, trying to recover.

"Ah, bastard! Where are you? Aiming for the eyes, that's cheating!" I screamed as I turned my head left and right, still stunned.

"Keri… POINTE!"

Then he launched a sequence of powerful kicks to my torso, pushing me against a wall nearby. The impact crushed it and sent debris falling on top of me. My eyes were closed as I felt the pain of the kicks add up to the pain of the rubble.

I laid down, taking a while to sit back up, but I got rid of what remained of the wall, taking a few seconds to rest.

"Wow… looks like we're off to a great start…" I said as I opened my eyes, wincing slightly at the general pain I felt in my whole body… Guess that was enough to wake me up again.

Time to get back at the "ring" and face that ballet weirdo again!

Oh wait, no. When I ran back to the street, nobody was there.

"Oi! Mr. Jerk? Usopp-kun? Where are you?" I screamed.

Silence. No answer.

"Tch… he escaped after all…" I snarled. "I'd sure hope they're able to shake off his impersonations…"

Slowly, I started hearing all sorts of noises, getting louder…

It was a mash-up of screams, gunshots, swords clashing… explosions and cannons firing…

Oh shit…

"Yikes… the war's starting!"

Vivi didn't make it…

"Shit, shit… shit! What am I supposed to do?"

I couldn't just stand there and do nothing, I have to get moving! But to where?

"Screw it, I'm going to look for Vivi-san!"

I started running through the streets trying to figure out where she could be, all the while noticing the unsettling noise of the conflict.

"THERE'S A REBEL! OPEN FIRE!" What?

As I try to see who shouted that, I'm greeted with a rain of arrows speeding in my direction!

"Oh crap!" Instinctively, I jumped backwards, diving to hide behind a wooden box lying nearby. "Dang it… the guards mistook me for a rebel…" I growled. "Better get outta here, it's too dangerous!"

"ROYAL SOLDIERS! FIRE!"

Gunshots left and right! Once again, I hid in a narrow alley until the commotion subsided.

"Dammit… now I'm a royal soldier? Haven't these guys heard of 'friendly fire'?" I hissed.

Another salvo of shots, people running around and screams of pain… I wonder what Vivi is feeling right now…

Wait, is this the time to stop and think about that! Come on, wake up!

I dashed yet again, this time through a larger avenue I found, still empty.

Only now I felt, don't ask me why, a strange discomfort… it's like I'm being… watched.

"Anyone there?" I skidded to a halt. I turned around and found nobody. "Strange… it's too quiet…"

As I sprinted again, something whizzed past me very quickly and stung to the ground.

"A… red rose?" I said as I approached to check.

"Finally I found you."

Suddenly, I felt the anxiety bite me hard again.

"Who's there! Come out already!" I said nervously.

I spun, looking everywhere, until I spotted a dark cape fluttering with the wind. A person stood atop one of the buildings.

"You…"

"Hmmm… looks like the battle didn't come here. Just perfect."

I gulped as he discarded his cape, held his hat and jumped all the way down to the ground, landing perfectly balanced in the dusty ground. He stood still, relatively far from where I was, then starting to walk slowly closer.

Every step he gave would speed up my heartbeat and make my stomach hurt even more.

Then he clapped his palms, seemingly sarcastically.

"Congratulations… welcome to Alubarna… I assume your comrades made it as well. However, that's enough."

He concealed his face under his hat as he said that. Then, he revealed himself.

"Time to settle our score… Dan!"

"Mister… Mr. Special One!"

* * *

**The Straw Hats successfully invaded Alubarna, however... Vivi didn't avoid the collision between the two armies...**

**A full-scale war is breaking out in the capital.**

**Crocodile's mysterious underling appeared in the scene! He's driven to settle some unfinished business with Dan, and now a duel seems imminent!**

**How is Dan going to deal with this? You'll see on the next issue!  
**


	74. The fated duel! Win it or die!

**Chapter 74**

**"The moment of truth! Dan and the duel of life or death!"

* * *

**

"Time to settle our little score… Dan!"

"Mister… Mr. Special One?"

As he approached the "stage", my brow kept furrowing. Well, folks… it looks like I'm going to be busy for quite a while…

"Thanks a bunch for saving me the trouble of looking for you…" He smirked.

"So, finally you've shown yourself, eh…" I tossed the rose aside, speaking to him. "I thought you were by the chief's side… didn't you receive any order to go kill the Princess or something like that?"

"Heh, it's too easy to escape the radar of that shitty Government dog… I'm not the type who goes after a princess just because he told me to." He shrugged. "Besides, I couldn't give a rat's ass about her or about the future of this country."

"So, why did you join Crocodile? What the hell are you even doing here then?" I asked, getting more annoyed.

"Well, long story short… I challenged him to a duel and lost, but managed to impress him enough to get a place in his organization. Besides… more than any riches I'd get if this plan of his works… the mere idea of witnessing the bloodbath we're hearing just now… it's far more desirable… it enticed me irresistibly."

I couldn't help but gawk at what he just told me…

"That's insane…"

"Huh… I get that a lot, thank you." What's more, he merely grinned as if that was a compliment!

Twisted…

"Then what do-"

I wanted to ask, but he promptly cut me off. "Before you say anything, my main objective here is… to kill you."

His ominous tone of voice only succeeded in unnerving me even more. The tension built up in every part of my body. I just wished to beat him to a bloody pulp and get this over with quick…

"But… it's going to be downright boring… if you don't fight me a little." He then grinned maliciously.

"Why do you want to kill me that badly? What wrong did I do to you?" I asked, trying to keep calm and not glancing away from my target.

He merely went silent, just rubbing his nails on his black shirt. "Y'know, I don't feel like talking anymore."

"HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU! ANSWER ME!" I'm on the verge of losing it… be careful…

"Ok, that's it. Enough chit-chat." He said sternly. "Let's just… get to business!"

Without wasting any more time, he just charged, preparing to punch my face. Suddenly I jolted from my trance, immediately moving my head out of the way of his fist. As he relaxed, I jumped back, focusing again.

"Hmmm, good, you're awake…" He taunted.

"Well, you want it, I want it, then… let's go!"

I rushed to throw a punch back at him, but missed. In no time we started charging at each other, unwittingly walking back and forth, throwing and dodging each other's punches while trying to score a hit. Sometimes he went on a streak, trying to land a punch on me, forcing me to defend either with my arms or move myself out of the way. Sometimes, I'd try the same on him, but with equal results.

Now I had to remember this would be completely different from the times I used to dash around and blast away bandits or Marine soldiers. No. This is a one-on-one duel. A duel in which my life is at stake. One single misstep and he's guaranteed to pummel me to death.

I tried hard not to lose focus as my punches connected with his and the shock sent me a slight pain, compared to the sting of a mosquito.

It went on like this for a minute or so, until both of us managed to land a hit on each other's faces.

The punch made me retreat a few steps back and I was on the verge of losing my balance. He stumbled too, but managed to catch himself early.

Not missing a single moment, we jumped and charged back at each other, this time mixing fists and kicks together. As time passed, I felt confident I can beat him.

As he tried a punch, I moved my body to my left. Then I took the chance to elbow him square into his gut. It did hit, but he managed to stand still, get back and kick me in the chest, breaking my guard.

Then, he performed a series of jabs in my stomach and face, finishing with an uppercut that sent me off the ground, giving him the perfect angle to kick me hard in the hip, sending me to crash sideways against a wall.

I tried to stand quickly after the harsh impact, managing to kneel only. Sweat dripped down my face, along the hurting bruises and some specks of blood in my elbows.

When I stood back up, I saw myself driven to a corner and forced to immediately get the hell away from there as he lashed a high kick at me. I jumped, somersaulting back to the street while I heard crashing and crumbling noises. Then I skidded to a halt, supporting my weight with my right hand.

Then I saw the tremendous power and the extent of the damage his kick did to the wall. I then realized that if I were to end this now, I had to attack.

In the following instant, I had him right in my face yet again, throwing his legs around. He just kicked the air with such speed I could do nothing but swerve and swerve again… until he scored. A powerful knee to my gut sent me flying once again and I fell flat on my back. In the moment after that, as I tried to catch a breath, he was already coming at me, grabbed my hand, throwing me like a rag doll against another wall.

As quickly as I could, I stood up amidst the rubble, already panting hard. I ran back to the streets, being greeted with yet another kick. This time I squatted, "hardened" my shoulders, taking the hit and its mind-numbing pain, but I managed to stand still. Simultaneously, I took the chance to punch him full-force in the face, then in the gut.

Time to strike back!

I then rushed against him, launching a series of quick punches, finishing with a jump kick that sent him straight into another wall.

Finally, I gained a little spare time to recover and breathe hard as he slowly got up again. Only now I realized that that knee to my abdomen _hurt like a motherfucker_ (pardon the expletive), leading me to put a hand on my belly to tend the pain. Needless to say, my entire body hurt.

I'm pretty sure he wouldn't come out too damaged after my attack. What, the fight started, like, three minutes ago…

"Oh, very well! Looks like when it comes down to this, the lordy here now takes things seriously…" He talked in a disdainful tone as he slowly got up from the rubble, calmly wiping the dust off his dark clothes. He had dust on his face too.

"Look, cut the jokes already, ok? I supposed I've beat you into the right mood for telling me what's your deal with me, huh? How do you know about me?" Seriously, I desperately wanted him to tell me that…

"Unfortunately for you… I kinda can't stand long monologues." He said that while slowly walking out of the rubble. "…I just feel more like… beating you to death."

"WHY? Why on earth can't you explain something as simple as this?" I snapped.

"You're smart enough to figure it out by yourself…" Oh goodie… "After all, the answer to your burning question… is with you all along." Here he comes with his cryptic nonsense again…

"One way or another… whether you know about it or not, it's not gonna make any difference whatsoever… because… I'll make sure you're dead." Oh come on, what a pain in the ass!

I then prepared another pose as I exhaled deeply.

"Then I'm just gonna force you to talk!"

"Hahah… you do look confident, young lad. What a pity… I'm afraid that from now on…" He said slowly. "…these threats of yours won't do a thing."

I furrowed my brow, gritting my teeth. Ok, bring it on! I have no idea how you learned about me, but if you ain't gonna tell me, no matter! I'll take you down anyway!

In a split-second, he covered the entire distance keeping us apart, attacking again. My earlier predictions were right. My combo attack didn't do a thing. Actually, quite the contrary… he threw his fists at a much faster pace, leaving me in great trouble just to keep track and evade them…

Instinctively, when he threw a punch at me, I swerved, grabbing his arm with both hands, but suddenly I realized (in the worst way) I was wide open so he could use his other arm to attack me with an unforgiving punch in the gut and start another series of punches and kicks faster than I could even think of evading. And so, I was thrown left and right as the impact of each of his blows resonated deeply in my body.

This guy is even stronger than he looks… It's gonna be tough…

When he was done, kicked me in the waist, making me roll on the ground again.

It's as if he's constantly pushing my pain thresholds. My muscles already called for immediate rest… without mentioning the countless scrapes that _hurt like fuck_ (again, pardon the expletive), painting my clothes with bloodstains… but I have to keep going!

At the start, I was doing quite okay, but now… my certainties got thrown to the trashcan.

Already struggling and panting, I stood up, going forward.

"Hmmm… you're more resilient than I thought, huh… Let's see how much more you can take…"

I breathed as much as I could. "Hah… hah… I won't fall that easily… bring it!"

As I prepared another pose…

"Happy to oblige." He jumped, spun in mid air and… "VINE WHIP!"

…and then I felt a uber-strong whip hit.

It sent me flying and rolling on the ground, quickly trying to stand again while withstanding the immense pain and burning sensation on my abdomen. Suddenly, I ignored that when I saw some sort of green, long vine wheezing out of his hand.

"Wh… what…" I tried to argue as I stood up. "…what the heck…"

"See, I told you so." He said as he got close. "VINE HANG!"

He then outstretched his arm, launching his weird vine in my direction. I had no time to react, only watching it wrap around my neck, tightening so hard I could hardly breathe.

"Shoku Shoku no Mi… (Plant-Plant Fruit) with it, I can control the world's entire flora. Essentially, I've become a plant-man." He spoke as he lifted me off the ground.

"Let… me… go!" I tried to gasp and catch as much air as I could, but no matter how much I tried to escape, the vine would press against my neck even harder.

"From now on… you're not going to land any punch on me, boy."

At that time, I had to think or else, I'd be strangled.

Well, guess what? He gave me no time to do anything, tossing me to crack another wall. I closed my eyes, feeling the full brunt of the impact, letting myself lie down in the ground.

"BOMB SEED!"

I barely sit up, only to see three seeds coming right at me…

As the seeds hit me, a series of explosions unfolded around me. The pure impact had a serious effect on my body, almost blinding me with sheer and unleaded pain. Forcibly, I laid down again. I almost freaked out when I saw the blood dripping from the points where the seeds touched my body and exploded, formed a small puddle below me.

Looks like he's dead set on milking all pleasure he can get from this fight, while he kills me in the most brutal way imaginable.

"What's the problem, brat? Tired already?"

I heard that as I struggled even to lift my head. My legs didn't want to move.

Oh great, the situation turned around to over "I'm royally screwed" levels all too suddenly…

What's he gonna do now? Execute me? Am I really going to die here?

"What a shame… who would think the spineless wimp from a few years ago would actually get out of his home… just to end up dead in some unknown country."

You son of a bitch…

"Did you think the Grand Line was just kid's play? What the hell are you doing here? A study visit?"

I used my hands to support myself as I tried to stand, struggling incredibly.

The accentuate exhaustion was already enough to make me stop… but that would imply simply letting him kill me off. The common sense man inside me screamed loud and clear to get the fuck outta here… and, frankly, that's reasonable, because I felt overwhelmed by a wish to just be alive.

But at the same time, the fighter inside me screamed his lungs out for me to stand up and get back to the battle.

From the very beginning of this duel… I found myself in a situation with only two possible outcomes: to win or to die.

"Honestly… this is the best you can do?" Ok, that does it.

Still struggling like hell, I stomped the ground with one leg, then the other, finally standing up again, although shaking wildly. As I finished standing up, I felt a hand hold me by the neck and lift me off the ground again.

Really, my neck is burning! This guy really likes strangling people to death, it seems…

"Oh well… if you're not resisting anymore, let's just end this… right now…"

"Not… yet…"

After a long mental argument, the fighter won. And it made me grab the hand holding me. I couldn't just give up… I can't just let him kill me!

I can't let _anyone_ have that chance, at least, until I'm done living my dream and get to the end of the Grand Line!

"I will… I will defeat you!"

I tried to punch him, but he effortlessly stopped it with his other hand.

"Insolent!" He used the hand holding my neck to throw me back to the streets. I fell on the ground, but I gathered strength to at least sit down and cough up blood as he approached. "All of those who dared to say they would take me down… died horribly at my hands." He said ominously while yanking his red jewel out of his necklace.

"You… you'll be no exception." He closed his hand and a strange red glow came out from it, and slowly it materialized in a short sword.

"Still wanna fight, boy? Or do you wish to run and chicken out? I guess you know that now that I've found you, no matter where you run… I'll find you… and kill you!" He threatened.

I then stood up, pulling out my trusty pencil.

"This pencil…"

"If it's a swordfight you want… that's what you'll get! ENPITSU… DAGGER!"

I then lifted my arm, channeling my energy to my artifact that emitted a glow before transforming in a dagger.

"This fight… is far from over!"

Yeah, that's it… either I beat this guy… or I'll die trying!

As I filled myself with confidence, I screamed, rushing to attack him again. He replied in the same way, charging against me.

Like that, our daggers collided. I pressed as hard as I could against his short sword for some seconds as I felt his own press against my dagger.

"This pencil… how I missed it…" He said as he jumped backwards.

"Missed?" I asked as I also retreated.

"When I look at your face… and look back…" While he charged again, this time unleashing a sequence of rapid thrusts, he had the gall to try to talk.

"…I recall the many fights I lost against that man…" I don't know how he can maintain a conversation while trying to impale me… oh, well, nevermind…

"Who are you… talking about?" I tried to question-reply him as I swerved out of his continuing assault.

I escaped, but not without some cuts as his sword managed to scrape my skin here and there…

But I'm still standing!

Then I launched to strike back in a single downward movement, but he stopped my attack, holding me as I pressed against his sword.

"…of a man… who used the same pencil as yours." Wait, what?

He broke out of the deadlock, pushing my arm upwards and leaving him wide open to slash me square in the chest.

Instinctively, I ducked, but while still feeling the sword cut strands of my hair… wow, that was close! When I stood up again, I decided to use the chance to backflip, stretching a leg to kick him in the jaw and fall back.

"Same pencil as mine?" I parroted as I transitioned into a defensive stance.

"This artifact…" He walked a few steps back while massaging his ailing jaw area. "…reminds me of the grudge I fed… of all the times he surpassed me…"

What do I have to do with all that?

"…and of the irreplaceable pleasure I felt when I killed him."

Wait…

"Don't you tell me you're talking about…" I started to daze.

"Oh, there you go… I think you've just stepped towards the conclusion you longed for." Can't you stop talking in code? Spit it out!

"By any chance… does the name Jann Richards… ring a bell?"

"Jann… hey, that's the name… of my father! Oh wait…"

Father… kill him? No, no, no, no, it can't be… it can't be!

I widened my eyes and, unwittingly, let go of my dagger as the wires of his speech finally connected on my brain and the incoming realization utterly terrified me.

"You…"

"Yes, boy. Your father died by my hands."

* * *

**While the battle unfolds around the town, Dan has been rendered immobile by the shocking revelation of his father's murderer!**

**Will he be able to move again and finish the fight? How will he deal with this?**

**Watch out for the next chapter!

* * *

**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: First time describing a one-on-one battle. It was kinda tough... Well, feel free to share your thoughts about it, whatever they may be, have a field day, criticize the hell out of it if you wish! Also... stock dialogue FTW!  
**


	75. You killed my father! Unforgivable!

**Chapter 75**

**"Dan explodes! Your father died by my hands"

* * *

**

"You…"

"Yes, boy. Your father died by my hands."

…

…

…

Unconsciously, I let go of my dagger and with the sound it made when it touched the ground… came the utter shock of the truth. My legs started trembling all of a sudden and then I kneeled down.

"No… way…"

"Hard to take, huh? Yeah, it's the truth… You're fighting the man who killed your father." I heard him say it, without any change in his nonchalant tone. It's as if what he said had absolutely no meaning, what may be true to an extent.

"Then… does that mean…"

Such was the surprise I could barely articulate anything that made sense…

"Hahahahah… Yes! I tried so much, and then I finally got rid of that damn bastard!"

He spoke so vigorously that it sounded like he got an immense weight off his back.

"Why…" I kept whispering.

"Hahah… why, you ask? Simple. He crossed my path." He said flatly. "We bumped into each other more than once… I dueled that man more than once… and he managed to beat me more than once."

I kept silent, staring vaguely, trying to digest what he just said and what he would say.

"He was the only one who actually managed to defeat me… he seemed to have a natural talent to do so… and he deprived me from my pleasure of annihilating everyone who dare to stand between me and my goals! And, as you might deduce, I couldn't just take this offense and suck it up."

Does he mean… he held a grudge against my father for this long? So that's why he was so obsessed about killing him?

"Oh, I almost forgot… I bet you already figured out who was responsible… for the invasion that devastated… your dear Brush Island, right?"

At that moment, a little reel started playing inside my head. A reel showing a 13 year old boy trying to escape the flames surrounding him, just to search for his missing father… only to find him lying on the ground over a puddle of blood, shrouded by a ring of fire.

Far away stood… a rather familiar shadow…

"It… was… you…"

I said, hearing my voice tremble, but trying to keep the tears from streaming down my face. At the same time, I felt something growing inside me. Something that made me close my hands into fists and grit my teeth…

"I gathered a bunch of the best mercenaries I could find and I roamed the East Blue searching for your father… to get my revenge on him, kill you as well and pillage your homeland. Nothing would be left!"

Brush took so long to recover from that tragedy… so many lives were lost…

Amongst the recollections triggering inside my mind, I see the shadow creeping and slowly approaching that sad boy who cried, sitting next to his father's dead body, grab him by the neck and grin as he savors the opportunity of killing father and son of the same family, one after the other.

"Before dying, he still spewed one last message… he told me that if he couldn't defeat me for good, at least he would pass away confident that… if his son ever happened to meet me some day, he would be able to do it…"

My father…

…he trusted in me…

…he trained me, passed down his experiences and skills…

…he did everything so that I could expand my horizons…

…and he died to protect our family, and everyone we loved…

"…You won't imagine my joy in that day when the boy he talked so much about appeared on his own, trying fruitlessly to aid his fatally wounded father… and giving me the perfect chance to kill him off before he ever happened to cross my path once again… but I couldn't do it because…"

This man is insane… It's hard to describe! It's as if he doesn't care about who he kills, as long as he gets to do it!

"…because… at that time, the crybaby which I was about to murder held an object that started shining a strange light."

Strange light?

"The exact same bright light that glowed when you transformed your pencil. Now here's the thing: on that occasion, it was a lot different. It was due to that goddamned pencil that that boy got enough courage to scratch my face and almost leave me blind of the left eye!"

That boy was me. His words made that exact scene play in my mind.

"Who would know… that after five long years wandering around the world, I would have the chance to make him pay for what he's done to me! You can't imagine how happy I was when I found out that some brain-dead pirate crew was coming, of all places, to this Arabasta… and I discovered you amongst them." He continued.

"Shut up…"

I kept clenching my fists even harder, trying to find a reason as to why I'm getting so irritated by his mere presence.

"I don't really care about the rest! It doesn't matter to me if that shitty Government dog can take this country's throne or not! After all… everything I wished to happen is already underway…" He said.

I can't listen to him anymore.

"Shut up…"

"…the bloodbath is unfolding…"

I'm losing my patience…

"Shut up!"

"…and you're making me miss the main event."

"IT'S ENOOOOOOOOOOUUGH!"

All of a sudden, I stood up, screaming the loudest I could ever scream in my life.

Sadness. Anguish. Sorrow. Anger. Rage.

"How could you…"

Everything that I tried to suppress during the past five years…

His words once again formed inside my mind a whirlpool of mixed feelings…

…that intensified…

…and finally exploded.

"Hahahaha! What's wrong? Aren't you a little an-"

Before he could mock me yet again, I ran all the way to give the most charged punch I've ever given in my life. It sent him flying backwards and all I could hear was the crashing sound of the impact of his body with several walls, destroying the buildings with which he collided.

The adrenaline surge was so intense that the pain of the authentic beating I took not a long ago, neither bothered nor stopped me in the least. At that time I could care less about everything else… the built up anger ultimately made me throw all rational thinking to the trashcan. I just wanted my enemy to come out of the rubble alive so I could charge and eviscerate him, leaving no trace.

Moments of waiting later, my wish was granted.

He came back from the chaos quite banged up, with rips on his clothes and blood dripping from his face, but still with enough energy to come out walking by his own feet.

As soon as I saw him, I charged yet again, armed only with a thirst for vengeance.

"I WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU!"

I then launched my fists at him yet again. Although he was able to evade my left hand, he was in perfect position for me to hit with my right hand. As he fell sideways, I took the chance to pay back the knee on the gut I had taken. He then skidded, lying on the floor and putting his hands over his stomach, but I gave him no time to rest.

"What the…" I still heard his whisper before I grabbed him by the shirt and, with my bare hands, throw him against another wall.

I then took deep breaths, waiting for him to come out of the wreckage, in a more beast-like stance. He then caught me off-guard for a moment when he charged back at me with his bare hands, thrusting a fast sequence of punches, but I was even more surprised by myself (well, I can't really say that) because, all of a sudden, I could match the speed of his arms and evade purely on instinct.

I then jumped backwards, looking to the ground, while he recovered.

"This brat… he's moving faster… he's stronger… how's that possible? Did his sudden outburst grant him a boost in endurance?" I heard his mumbles. "Heh… well, if you thought you're going to get anything out of this, you're very much mistaken!"

"VINE WHIP!"

Shortly after, he produced yet another of his strange vines, launching it against me and forcing me to move out of the way. I still felt a harsh sting as the vine scraped my arm.

"What?"

The second after that, I evaded yet another whip which sheer force cracked the ground when it hit. Then, one after another… he used both arms to try to land his whip-vines on my skin. I barely dodged each attack, while listening to the sound the vine made when it hit the ground.

"You bastard!"

After much trying, his vines caught both my arms, although he did so because I deliberately outstretched them, gritting my teeth as I withstood the intense pain of the impact and ignoring the sight of the drops of blood falling down from my arms. I tried to pull while I felt the force of the vines press against my body. The deadlock lasted a few seconds, then I used all my strength to pull him close and land yet another punch.

As he floated in midair, I then grabbed his black shirt to punch him another three times, sending him flying backwards again. Somehow, he didn't lose much of his balance, managing to keep on his feet and support his weight with one of his hands.

"You damn brat… SWORD PLANT FIELD!"

He then launched seeds to the ground. They quickly matured to full-size sword plants. Now I had a field of plants, presumably, as sharp as any real sword, but with the standard consistence of a normal plant. It filled the entire width of the street and the space keeping us apart.

I didn't think too hard about that, though, launching once again towards him. I then saw the plants moving towards me and I tried to evade the incoming slashes. Surprisingly, between minor cuts and near misses, I could slowly get around the field.

"Impossible… he crossed through my fi-"

Before he could finish his gasp, I made my way past the obstacle course he grew, I jumped and then spun kick him right in his shoulder. I tried to kick as hard as I could, skidding to a halt afterwards, and then I realized I only hit air. Then, without wasting time, I rushed to finish the business with another kick, but he retreated, outstretching his crossed arms. Ten black roses started blooming from the gaps between his fingers.

"BLACK THORN… ROSE DARTS!"

He then launched one after another towards me, forcing me to keep moving and zigzagging to evade them. I escaped quite unharmed, except for the last one which scratched my face. Its thorns tore a piece of the skin of my cheek before I felt a brief soft sensation of the flower petals brushing past the wound it just formed and making me feel a stinging burn.

"Tch… ridiculous!" He then decided to just attack me and respond to my blunt charge.

Both of us then landed a punch on each other's faces, falling on the ground shortly after. Slowly, I got back up… and I walked close to him. Strangely, he let himself lie down in the ground.

I didn't let him rest, kneeling on top of him and just punching him for the hell of it.

"You… killed… my… father! You… killed… my… father! Bastard… bastard!" As I punched, I punctuated every fist with a word. I then stopped to take a few deep breaths as the fatigue fell on me with full force, making my arms fall down.

"You… wretch!" That was my mantra. My current state of mind was more suited to actions rather than words. But, at the same time, the battle was beginning to be too much for my body to handle. It's becoming unable to discharge all the rage within me.

I still had anger written in my face, clenching my teeth as I glared at the dirtied and bloody face of my unconscious enemy. I felt a sudden urge to just cry again.

Moments later, more vines started jutting out of his shoulders. I didn't really mind it, probably because they moved slowly.

Well, turns out I should have cared, because all of a sudden he woke up, glared furiously at me, putting his hands on my chest.

"Are you done?"

Right after he said that…

"DOUBLE BOMB BULB!"

…his arms caused explosions that sent me flying backwards and rolling on the floor. When I stopped, I saw him slowly standing back up, now looking more pissed off.

"I am who should say 'enough'." He said. "Now your playtime is over. No more Mr. Nice Guy."

I kneeled, letting myself rest on my arms for a couple of moments.

"You had your chance to lash out at me. Now it's my turn." He said that as he produced another vine from his palm… now it's adorned with spikes.

"SPIKE VINE!"

He then launched it, forcing me to roll further away. After doing that, I managed to sit up and position myself to stand as soon as he charged. I immediately had to dodge his thorny vine as it wheezed past me. Suddenly, he started launching his arms frantically in my direction, trying to tear off my skin with his weird plants.

"Ok, I let you unload your rage on me. Congratulations! Are you happy? Was it worth it?" He said as he tried to land a hit. After several thrusts, he eventually scored a hit on my shoulder, drawing even more blood. I retreated a few steps, immediately tending to my shoulder wound and wincing with the severe pain.

I saw him jump up and roll before he firmly stomped the ground with both his feet.

"GRASS WALL!"

After the stomp, roots appeared from his feet and, seconds later, grass started growing quickly, filling the width of the street, blocking my vision and effectively shrouding him behind a green protection.

"You can't see me, so you won't stop me now! Just get ready and take it! With this next attack, I'm going to make sure you're dead! How about if I personally dug your own grave under the sand of the desert, huh?" I heard his scream.

I could do nothing but wait and see what he was going to do. While I waited, for quite a long time, I might add, I just saw a white light coming from beyond the wall, getting brighter and brighter every second.

All of a sudden, the wall fell apart by itself, revealing the light source. It's so intense I had to cover my eyes.

"Photosynthesis." It's him… "I usually use the energy I gather from sunlight to boost my endurance… but I can do more!"

Just as the white light appeared to fade, I opened my eyes to see it being transferred from his whole body to shine only on his hands. He then slowly lowered his arms to chest-level.

"After this attack… our matters will be settled. Oh, don't look at me like that… there's a silver lining to it! I'm sure that, after this, you'll meet your father… in the other world."

Uh, oh… what the hell does he… no… no way!

"Solar Flare." Oh shit… "Game over. You lost."

He then put both hands together…

I gasped when it dawned on me… at that time I wanted to run the farthest I could, but I knew it wouldn't work. The fear paralyzed me.

"Fire!"

When he outstretched his arms, a pure white beam of energy came towards me. I still tried to move away, but it hit me full force. The devastating force of the blow sent me off the ground.

I could barely feel anything anymore at that moment… am I going to die?

Yeah, maybe it's now… maybe I'm really going to die.

With such a powerful attack… maybe this is how it ends.

I closed my eyes, letting roll what could be (or not) my last tears. The pain I felt all around my body, it's just overflowing… the fatigue is too much to handle…

There was still a part of me wanting to resist, stand back up and continue, but… what else can I do?

He's too strong…

I'm about to lose all hope…

Dad…

I don't know how you were able to defeat him… but as for me… I failed.

I failed you… I failed my comrades…

After the attack waned, my body just rested on the floor, still feeling the intense pain caused by all my effort during this battle. I could just hear slow steps approaching me.

At that time… I just waited for him to come and kill me off.

I had no strength to move any part of my body… Actually, if he's going to kill me anyway, I just wanted it to be quick.

Looks like I don't have the power to deal with him…

Looks like… my adventure… is going to end here.

"Heh… what a stubborn brat…" Strange… I could still hear him, even on the verge of death… "…well, your struggle ends here. Did you really think you could get something out of that outburst of yours? Turns out you're nothing more than a crybaby… even if anger makes you stronger… it's worth jack if your target doesn't fall!"

Like I care anymore… It appears I'm still alive, but from the neck up… my body won't move, nor I want to move it anymore…

"Oooh… look what I've got… your damn pencil! Guess what I'm going to do with it? Just because you annoyed me so much with your skill of not dying… I'll take the honor of cutting your throat open… with your precious magic pencil!"

Now, this… looks like he picked up the pencil I plain threw away during my fit of rage… and he's going to kill me with it. How appropriate…

Well, then so be it. I gave it all…

"Dan…"

I did my best…

"Dan!"

Now I'm going to die here… guys, I hope you can keep going without…

"DAN, YOU IDIOT! LISTEN TO ME!"

What? Someone's trying to talk to me? Right now, of all times…

Who are you?

I was pretty sure my eyes were closed… but still, somehow, little by little, an image appeared in front of me, coming out of the darkness.

When it cleared… it caught me completely off-guard.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, DUMBASS?"

"Wha… da… DAD?"

* * *

**The battle has taken its toll on Dan's body, and now he's tired beyond all limits, mentally and physically. He lost all hope and let himself lie down on the ground to wait for his imminent execution.  
**

**After Mr. Special One's powerful Solar Flare, our adventurous writer's life is at a serious risk.  
**

**However... the sudden appearance of Dan's father on his mind yells out for him!**

**With the war going on and slowly encroaching Alubarna, the situation is reaching a critical point!  
**

**Is Dan really going to die? Or is he going to somehow get back and end the fight?**

**Look forward to the next chapter!  
**


	76. Get up and fight! Draw out your courage!

**Chapter 76**

**"Draw out your courage! Come forth, Enpitsu Tsurugi!"**

* * *

I'm currently lying down, closed eyes, most certainly unconscious. It didn't take long until Mr. Special One's errant rambling stopped entering my ears.

I was alone and about to enter an unknown domain.

"W… where am I? Wah… wa-wa… where's the street?" I stammered confusedly. Since the words couldn't come out, I had to stop and take a breath.

It's strange… I can hear my own voice… and see myself, only this time I'm covered by some sort of ethereal aura and surrounded by a pitch black space.

"Where's that Mr. Weirdo? Before that… WHERE'S THE FREAKIN' GROUND?" I 'yelled', almost freaking out completely when I noticed that either I was floating or stepping on an invisible ground.

I heard a voice calling for me.

"Huh… who…"

The voice was insistent, even though it's weak and incomprehensible.

"Something's calling me…" I 'looked' left and right to no avail. Nobody was around.

Little by little, the voice became clearer.

"Dan!"

"Who's calling me? This voice… don't tell me…"

Slowly, a blur appeared in front of me. It then began to materialize and transform into a human form.

"DAN, YOU DUMBASS, GET UP ALREADY!"

"WAAH!"

I jolted backwards when the blurred figure standing right in front of me revealed itself all of a sudden.

"Whoa… da… d-d-d-da-da… DAD?"

Yup.

Some way, somehow, don't even ask me why did that happen because I'm just as confused… but I stood right before my dad. It was such a shock that it left me motionless and slack-jawed for a few seconds.

"Yeah. It's me! Now, surprises aside, I'm here to…"

He started talking but interrupted himself to stare at me, waving a hand in front of my face. Not too long after that, he got fed up with it.

"WAKE UP!" He yelled.

"Aah!" I shook my head while waking from my trance.

"Goddammit…" He sighed. "As I was saying… I'm here to tell you some stuff, but we have no time so pay attention, no questions asked, get it?"

"But… dad… I got a truckload of questions!" I replied. "First: where am I? Second: what happened? Third: how the hell are we even talking to each other? Fourth: why are you here? Fift-"

"Can't you shut up for a second?" He yelled again.

"Sorry! It's just…"

I stumbled on my own questions. I had no idea how to handle this situation.

"Just calm down, son. I'm here with you now, ain't I? Well, I'm here to help you get back to the living people's domain." He said.

"L-living people's domain? W-wait a second… d-does… DOES IT MEAN THAT I'M D-"

"Are you gonna let me explain or not?" He cut my words before I lost my marbles forever. "For starters, let's just say this is a transition domain in the borders of life and death. If you stay too long here, you're eventually kicking the bucket, if you know what I mean."

"So… that does mean I'm going to die after all…" I lowered my head, feeling utter sadness with the realization.

"O-oi, you're not gonna let yourself go down right now, are you? I told you I'm here to kick you back to earth, didn't I?" My father said exasperatedly.

"How are you supposed to do that?" Frustrated, I asked.

"Well, I dunno. Actually, I'm just here to give you some support. You're the one who's gotta wake back up, bud." He said. "Dan… I'm disappointed with you. Wanna explain what was that all about?" He asked, this time with a stern voice.

"T… that?" I parroted.

"C'mon, don't play dumb now! Why did you have that fit of rage back there, huh? Don't you tell me it was because you found who killed me, was it?" I swallowed hard. Is there any way for this situation to get any weirder?

"Wait, how do you know about all of this?" I asked, unavoidably intrigued, even getting distracted with the sheer implausibility of this conversation.

"Ahh… stop asking complicated questions, dammit!" He got irritated. "Listen, just assume I know and stop there, okay?"

Although I didn't quite understand, I nodded anyway, immediately discarding the questionnaire.

"Now answer me. Why did you lose your head and throw a hissy fit like that?" He insisted.

I lowered my head, thinking for a few moments. His presence, as strange as it may be, is perfect to put it all out.

"It's a pretty big deal to me. I just couldn't hold myself. In the moment he revealed all that… I was consumed with rage… it was stronger than me, I can't quite explain. It's like all the anguish I tried to suppress for the past five years… finally got loose and filled me with a desire of vengeance…" I explained, trying not to trap myself on my own words. "I don't know… I was so frustrated…" I looked away.

He heard all of that silently.

"Still, I didn't defeat him… I'm now unconscious, on the brink of death… and my body won't move!" Distress was all over my words.

"It doesn't move because you don't want it to move." He said.

"What?" I looked back at him.

"I'm saying… you don't want to move!" He raised his voice.

"Do you think I didn't try?" I shouted too, getting even more frustrated. "I tried, but I just can't…"

"Then try again. Try as many times as you need!" He insisted further. This time I kept quiet. "You gotta be strong! Persist! Insist! Fall seven times, get up eight!"

Fall seven times, get up eight…

"It's true that rage gives you a boost and raises your resistance, but if you lose your control, all this power will be worth nothing. I know it must be tough for you to get over this trauma, but you gotta do it. After all, I'm not dead."

"W… what do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, ok, physically speaking, I'm dead, but you always carry my spirit on your heart… and the magic pencil I gave, don't you? He said, smiling slightly.

"Yes… I do…" I whispered.

Yes! Of course! The magic pencil that brings to life every word and drawing…

How could I forget! The only inheritance my father left to me… my most precious treasure!

"Your pencil is everything you need to remember me. Now get up and go ahead, because your adventure is far from over. You're far from drawing even half your true power. If you really look into it, you have lots of skills to use!"

"Really?" I asked, a little more hopeful.

"Yeah! I didn't teach you the basics of how to use it for nothing. If you let your creativity take over, you're gonna draw out an immense power and nobody will top you, kid!"

I don't know if what he's saying is true or if it is just to cheer me up, but at such a critical time, it's not worth questioning.

"Dan… you have a dream, don't you?" He asked, in a motivating tone.

I smiled and answered. "Yes."

"Then fight for it! Fight to survive, go forward and achieve it!" He spoke more confidently than ever, clenching a fist and grinning broadly. "Now I wanna hear it from you! What's your dream?" He shouted.

"I want to live the Ultimate Adventure!" I replied, now with more conviction.

"I didn't hear! Say it again!" He insisted.

"I want… I wanna live the adventure of a lifetime! THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE!" I shouted my loudest. Slowly, my energy was coming back. Slowly, I felt my courage growing and with it, the desire to keep going forward.

I can't give up! I can't let my adventure end here!

"…what a pity… looks like he couldn't handle it after all…" Huh? Who's talking now?

"You can hear him now?" My dad asked. "It's that Mr. Whatsisname."

"…oh, look what we've got here! That darned pencil! How fitting… just to be sure and, as a punishment for pissing me off more than ever, I think I'm going to slit this brat's throat open with the pencil his dear father left for him!" Yup. It's him. Loud and clear.

"Now wake up before it's too late. It's time to shine!" The figure of my father started to disappear, but not before leaving some last words.

"Dad… thanks for everything… There's a lot I wanted to tell you…"

"Forget that… I had a boatload to ask you too, but… we're gonna meet again much later." He replied. "I said everything I had to say, Dan. Now… just go on… and get off my lawn, ok?"

I nodded while I saw the black space fading away, taking with it my father. His spirit distanced himself away and away, continuously blurring until it completely vanished.

"Grow up… be strong… Dan!"

That's the last goodbye.

After this spiritual meeting, I felt the pain of my body once again. Although my eyes were closed, I was perfectly aware of my surroundings. Also, I felt an extra weight around my belly.

I opened my eyes to see another figure above me, with arms raised and holding something.

Just as he lowered them…

…I opened my eyes fully, raising my hands to stop the attack. It was Mr. Special One, kneeling, holding my pencil and almost cutting my throat open with it.

"What…?" He exclaimed incredulously.

"Sorry I'm late!" I replied with a smile.

"You wretch! How did you survive?" He started to lose his cool, still trying to overcome my resistance.

I slowly raised my trembling arms even more. "Funny… I don't know myself!"

"Why you…"

I can't go down!

I can't lose my hope!

This is a battle only I can fight!

And I have to win!

"Haa!" I grabbed the free tip of my pencil, quickly channeling my energy to it. Just as I did so, it glowed a bright light.

"This light… no… no, not again!" My enemy, all of a sudden, got unnerved with the light, letting go of my pencil and starting to back away.

Now it's time to get back at him!

"Get your hands… off my treasure!"

I took his distraction to gather all my strength and punch him right in the gut, messing his balance and sending him a few steps back. Then I caught the momentum to complete my attack with a strong kick to his chest.

I heard him falling on the ground when, at the same time, I rolled to sustain myself with my hands, quickly standing back up. My pencil still glowed intensely on my right hand.

As soon as I stood, I faced my enemy, also recovering, clenching his teeth and glaring at me intensely.

"Bastard… that Solar Flare should've killed you dead!" Angrier than before, he growled.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks to that attack, you pushed me to the brink of death. I thought I wasn't gonna make it, but now things have changed." No stammering and full confidence. I put my body and soul back to the challenge. I tightened the grip on my pencil, intensifying its brightness. "I'm sorry, pal… but I'm not as weak as you thought. And I'm not leaving until I beat the crap out of you!" Filled to the brim with courage, I did a mental call, transforming my pencil in a dagger. Even with this transformation, it still glowed strongly.

Meanwhile, Mr. Special One grabbed his jewel to immediately convert it in a short sword, preparing an attack stance. Strangely, that didn't make me nervous anymore. That storm of unrestrained rage boiling inside me has now calmed down and turned to something akin to a 'orderly agitation' if you can say so.

"We'll see about that!" Mr. Special One rushed in my direction, quickly covering the distance keeping us apart.

I then focused all my energy… shouting when I channeled it to convert my dagger… in a new weapon!

"Come forth…" As he approached me, I stopped his slash. I put all my strength to subdue his sword… and it cracked.

"Enpitsu…" I tried to strike back, but it missed because he evaded and retreated a few steps.

It's time to call forth a new power!

"TSURUGI!"

…

I raised my arm and my voice.

With the most intense glow ever, my dagger transformed into a long, straight, double-edged sword with a dark-blue grip and a three-pointed guard. The brief lightshow ended so I could rapidly grab the newly-formed sword with both hands, preparing an attack stance. I faced Mr. Special One, who stood a few steps away, holding his cracked dagger and clenching his teeth.

"Heh… thanks for cracking my dagger…" I widened my eyes, focusing even more when I saw his malicious grin. "Let me tell you… I can do that too!" He promptly outstretched one arm, his dagger glowed for a few moments before evolving to a long, curved sword with a black grip and a circular guard.

"This way I can milk the most pleasure when I slice you up!" He taunted.

Immediately, he lunged forward. Without missing the cue, I leapt to the fray. After the initial clash of our swords, the dangerous 'dance' of the blades thus began.

We walked back and forth, ducking, launching our swords against each other and evading each other's attacks. Moments after the duel restarted, the stalemate returned. I couldn't hit him, but I could manage to keep him from hitting me, although not without a few close calls.

My heart tried to jump out of my throat when I felt his sword scraping my hair. I leapt backwards and groaned when I saw a few strands falling right in front of me. My stomach couldn't stop turning whenever I remembered that a single misstep could mean certain death.

It didn't take long for us to lunge again at each other, clashing our swords once more. His reactions only got faster and faster while the fatigue returned with full force on my body. It's like the authentic beatdown I did to him earlier didn't do a thing because every time he launched a slash, I found it increasingly difficult to evade.

I tried to jump backwards again to gain some time, but he didn't want to let me rest.

"Bomb Seeds!"

He touched my belly with his palm, exploding a single seed at point-blank range. As I was sent flying again, I tried not to let go of my sword and recover my balance as fast as possible when I touched the ground, rolling a few times and skidding to a halt. Once again, I had no time to rest, because there was a sharp blade speeding towards me.

I had to get out of the way immediately, only to discover…

"What the…?"

…he was standing at the same spot of the previous explosion.

As the smoke vanished, it took away the question of how did he do that. He tied one of his vines to the grip of his sword, launching it against me once more.

He whooshed his vine like a whip, only this time it has a cutting edge. Not only he got a longer range, his sword's become a lot more unpredictable. Almost always I had to dodge, but our swords clashed a few times.

"Grr… his vine swing is too fast… I can't get close!" I snarled.

I thought the assault was over, but…

"AAARRGH!"

He launched a final thrust that caught me off-guard, striking a cut in my chest. I was sent a few steps back while seeing the blood leaking from the open wound. I fell on my back, feeling the greatest pain ever. Immediately I put a hand on the wound while I tried to stand back up, clenching my teeth and having to hang on with the excruciating pain.

"Heh… it hurts, doesn't it? Well, get ready, because it's gonna hurt even more!" I faced him again to see him walking near. "I'll make sure your death is slow… and painful!"

His malicious grin couldn't stop terrifying me.

Who knows what's going on this murderer's head?

"What a shame. I'm getting bored again… If you don't stand up… maybe I'll leave and go kill your stupid friends…"

I widened my eyes, growling at his wicked suggestion. Who else does he need to kill to get satisfied?

"Don't you lay a finger… ON MY FRIENDS!"

I immediately ignored the wound's pain, lunging at him and launching my sword. I kept with the pressure, walking forward as I launched a succession of slashes, hearing the continuous clash of our swords.

"If you wanted to piss me off again, you just did it, son of a bitch!" I shouted between slashes.

"Oh, don't you tell me… I'm pissed off long before you!" He replied in the same tone.

This time, I didn't let him rest. After trying so much, my sword subdued his, giving me an opening to kick him in the gut and open his guard.

"Now!"

I prepared and finally was able to score a direct cut on his chest. He walked a few steps back, but with no signs of agony. Only a few drops of blood dripped down from the small wound.

"Fool… didn't you notice?" He said. "I'm a plant-man, so I have super-resistance at a cellular level. That means… you won't slash me that easily!"

"Yeah, right… then I have to try and try again 'til I do it!" I put an arm ahead, talking with courage…

…but at the same time, his revelation struck me. He has to have a weak spot! And I have to figure it out!

"I guess you won't have the time to do that…" He said while stretching his arm from which came out a single seed which he threw away.

I gasped as I saw that, mere seconds later, a full-grown tree stood right behind him.

So, what's he gonna do now?

I'll tell you. He started moving his arms as if he orchestrated the movement of the tree leaves. I had a bad feeling as I saw them pointing towards me.

"Death by a Thousand Leaves!"

A few moments later, I saw the leaves yanking themselves out of the branches and speeding towards me. I had no way of avoiding that. I desperately tried to wave my sword around and cut as many leaves as I could, but the mind-numbing pain that I soon felt when they cut me triumphed and forced me to duck, cover my face and grit my teeth. Hundreds, no, thousands of little cuts that, together, were incredibly unbearable, completely paralyzing me. I so wished it to be over soon…

"Too many… I can't… handle them all!"

When the gust of leaves finally ended, I was chock full of little wounds. I kept crouching, breathing heavily to try to steer my focus away from the immense pain of the scrapes, but my legs couldn't stop trembling… until they gave up and led me, with a small thud, to kneel.

"Hehehe… hahahahahaha! So… are you finally surrendering? Did you kneel before reality? C'mon, you really thought you stood a sliver of a chance against me, didn't you? Thought Grand Line was easy, huh? Dream on! You and a single group of puny pirates can save a country in a civil war? Don't make me laugh!"

…

…

"It was fun while it lasted, boy…" Oh great…

I slowly raised my head to see him with a stretched arm with his hand balled up.

"…but now, I'll finish this… once and for all!"

…

…

No. No, you won't. Because I just got it. I know how I'm going to deal with this.

Who's gonna finish this… IS ME!

I used the little strength I had to stand up again, turning my sword back to a pencil. As I did that, I saw him fling his seed into the air…

"Pine Tree…"

…

"CRUSHER!"

…

When it came down, he simply kicked it, sending it towards me. In-flight it started to grow and quickly matured into a pine tree, what basically means I have a tree coming towards me at high speeds.

Ok, it's now.

It's sink or swim! Either I do something or I'm crushed.

In this moment, the images of my friends played on my head.

Luffy…

Zoro…

Nami…

Usopp…

Sanji…

Chopper…

Vivi…

Everyone's fighting so bravely… I can't afford to let them down!

…

…

火 "Fire! Lend me your power!"

…

In a continuous move, I wrote the symbol and yanked out the sheet. With a simple mental call, I transformed my pencil back to a sword, rolling the sheet around it to watch it burn and cover the blade with a flame.

"OOORRRRRYAAAAA!"

In the final moments, I desperately launched a flaming wave that burned down the pine tree and opened my way!

"Hahahaha! How stupid! Yeah… I know, since he was gonna die anyway, he must've said: 'Let's go out with a bang!'"

Ok, really… I gotta shut this guy up for good now!

…

…

"If I were you, I'd keep quiet."

…

…

With calm steps, I left the absolute inferno that formed when my burning sword touched the leaves of Mr. Special One's flying tree. Facing forward only, I approached my enemy who slowly switched from the chuckles and giggles to launch an astonished glare at my presence.

"Impossible… you're supposed to be dead! Bastard… what else do I have to do for you to die, eh?" He asked, incensed.

"Whew, that was close, huh? If you were so sure that you did it by hauling that huge-ass tree at me, why didn't you just turn your back and leave?" I asked back.

"Tch…" He merely gritted his teeth, frowning and balling his hand on a fist. Now he must feel thrown to the ropes… "You wretch…"

"BASTARD!" He charged again, immediately launching his strangling vine. I simply dodged the attack, cutting the tip of his vine and walking towards him.

"Pardon the lateness… I'll introduce myself." I stopped, facing him.

"Hello, my name is Dan. You killed my father… I WILL TAKE YOU DOWN!"

"As if I'll let you!" He simply jumped a step back, stomping the ground. I don't really know what he did, but at that moment, the defoliated tree grew back its leaves.

"May a thousand blades pass through you and make your blood paint this street!" He threatened.

"Bring it!" I challenged.

With a simple command, his leaves charged towards me rapidly…

…but now I know how to react!

"Phoenix… WAVE!"

I swung my sword, propelling its flames forward, launching a true hot wave that burned the cutting leaves, immediately scoring a hit on him! He even tried to flee but ended up caught by the Phoenix's flames that went through his body and made him drop to the ground before vanishing.

He still got up, although more battered up and panting.

"Impossible… how did he… figure out…" I could hear his mumbles while he stood. "CURSE YOU!" Suddenly, he grabbed his red jewel, converted it into a sword, advancing recklessly.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU LIVE!"

I condensed the wild flames in a red incandescence… before preparing my finishing attack!

"Final… IMPACT!"

…

…

We turned our backs to each other. A few moments later…

"Written by… Dan."

…I heard his grunt and a thud.

Finally… my father's murderer fell down!

The flames were gone and I finally relaxed as I turned my sword back to a pencil. I let myself kneel, recovering my breath after such a heated battle. I looked to my pencil, whispering some words.

"Dad… I did it! I survived! I'm alive! I wish you were here to see this…"

I just wanted to smile… or cry… I don't really know.

"And… thanks for the help."

I then raised my arm to the air.

…

…

Arabasta – Southwest Block

Outskirts: Battle in the Porto Street

Winner: Dan.

* * *

**Dan finally defeated his father's murderer, fulfilling a wish of his and relieving five years of suppressed anguish.**

**The battle may be over, but the civil war is not! Crocodile's still on the loose and the fighting will soon encroach the whole capital!**

**How are the Straw Hats going to stop this war and save Arabasta?**

**The sand country's fate awaits for the conclusion!  
**


	77. Dashing left and right through Alubarna!

**Chapter 77**

**"The cries of a country in crisis! All-out dash to the Central Square!"**

* * *

At last… some calm.

I'm wounded, my body is hurt, I'm physically shaken, but my iron will is a thousand times stronger! As long as I have the courage to keep going forward and as long as I can let my creativity flow and use my pencil's skills to the maximum, no one will match me!

"Yeah, it's true. I can get a whole lot stronger… I have many ways to evolve!" I meditated as I looked at my pencil.

My father has a good point. It's no time to keep crying over spilled milk. Besides… I still got a dear mother and a cute little brother who're longing for me to return… I still have a whole world to discover and lots of blank pages to fill with fantastic adventures!

Slowly, I stood up, staring at the landscape around me. It's filled with cracked and crumbled buildings. My legs were shaking up quite wildly and the all-around pain still lingered.

"Whoops… sorries! I think that after this, the citizens are gonna have a hell of a time trying to rebuild all of this!" I said while I put a hand behind my head, apologizing to no one in particular.

I then walked towards the inanimate body of Mr. Special One, stopping and staring at it for a few seconds. I even thought he'd still wake up just to tell me something like 'you're lucky I can't move, you little brat', but, fortunately, that didn't happen.

Whew, I mean, really… the very last thing I want is for him to wake up again!

Hey, wait… hmmm, I don't know, but I have that nagging feeling I'm forgetting something…

As I walked I heard the sound of my steps continuously being overshadowed by a growing noise. As it became clearer, I could identify it as the sound of swords clashing, gunshots and explosions… Oh great, the armies are still fighting each other and the battle wave is approaching!

Yeah, that reminds me… we still have to kick the shit out of the big boss, Crocodile!

If I'm not mistaken, we agreed to meet each other in the Central Square as soon as we were done fighting that scumbag's underlings… oh wait!

"Goddammit! Why didn't I finish him faster? Maybe the others are waiting for me in the Royal Palace!"

Oh no, they're not going to take Crocodile down without me, are they!

Immediately as that thought crossed my mind, I started to sprint, but in my current state, I felt the accumulated fatigue hit hard again as the great wound I have in my chest came back to bite me again, shedding a little puddle of blood. I put a hand in there, sitting down leaned on a nearby wall. I took deep breaths as I waited for my energy to return.

"I'm still too hurt…" I gave a quick look at my body. I'm completely filled with little cuts and scrapes, dirty from head to toe with a mix of sand and blood. I decided to stay put and rest for five minutes. In that little while, I noticed that my clothes were completely banged-up.

"Tch… that damn plantman… with his leaves and shit… Note to self: from now on, work hard on learning to draw and materialize battle outfits or else I'm bankrupt in no time…"

There's no way in hell I'm going to ask Nami to lend me money so I can buy new clothes every time we're out of a big battle… three-time refund? No way, Jose!

Uh, forget it. I'm trailing off a bit too much now.

A few minutes later, I stood back up slowly, doing a small all-around inspection on my body. I felt a little more energetic by then, so I tried to stretch a bit, quickly making my way out of the 'duel stage' and searching for the rest of our troupe.

"Guys… I hope they're alright!"

I asked the wind as I dashed through the streets of Alubarna's Southwest Block, always on the lookout in order not to bump on rebels or royal soldiers and always trying to aim for the Central Square. As I went further deep through the town, I had to raise my alert levels, hiding in dark alleys, running and avoiding clashes altogether. Reluctantly, I had to take care of a few on my way, but I was in no mood to fight anymore. I just wanted to flee the incoming wave of violence.

There was a time I arrived on a street that demonstrated with an unnerving clarity the extension of the tragedy.

"What horrible scenery…"

Destroyed buildings, fainted or even dead people resting under the rubble, weapons and swords just plain thrown away, little fires and some clouds of smoke.

"Come on, guys… show up! Anyone! Where are you?"

I kept on the run, searching for anyone of our group.

I started to lose some slivers of my hope, but I couldn't think of the worst under any hypothesis. Just at a glance, I even started to think about the chance of Luffy already being dead, as that Mr. Special One told me, but I immediately threw that thought out of my head.

No! Neither Luffy nor anyone of the others possibly are dead… we're the Straw Hat Pirates, come on! The friends I know and love will never let themselves be taken down by anyone in this world!

That thought brought me a bit of comfort along the way.

I stopped for a few moments when I noticed a cloud of dust started to rise slowly and slowly, diminishing my visibility.

"What the hell… is this sand?"

The cloud approached and went past me, propagating far and wide, little by little.

"Crocodile… what mischief is he doing this time?"

I don't know if that deserves to be addressed as 'mischief'… Well, screw it. I can't afford to stop and muse about what's his next step, so let's get back on the move.

As I dashed through another narrow alley…

"Like I told you… It's pretty clear that my wounds are worse than yours!" What?

"Shut up! You're so noisy! Aren't you a man? Aren't you supposed to be strong? If that's so, stop whining and carry me!" Hey, I know these voices… "My leg has been pierced! I can't move… owie, ouch, I think I'm gonna faint…"

"You're such a liar!" Yeah, I'm sure it's them!

"Hold on…"

I stormed off the alley, smiling hugely when I saw…

"Nice… just awesome! ZORO-SAN! NAMI-CHAN!"

"Huh?" Zoro was running and piggybacking Nami, skidding to a halt when I shouted.

Yeah! After I looked around for so long, finally I've met up with two of my comrades!

"Dan!", "Dan-kun!" They looked behind, replying as soon as they saw me.

I dashed to meet with them and, without even thinking about it, I joined them together in a warm bear hug.

"Zoro-san! Nami-chan! You survived! Fantastic!"

"O… ow, let go! My wounds hurt like hell! Ouch, let go already!" Zoro whined.

"I-it's nice to see you too, Dan-kun, but tell me, what's wrong with you? Suddenly hugging us out of the blue?" Nami asked.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I was so apprehensive… I just ran back and forth looking for anyone… it's so good to see you alive and well! What a relief!" I said, irrepressibly overjoyed, now loosening the hug. Zoro still let Nami put a hand on his shoulder so she could support her body, because she appeared to be too tired to stand on her own.

I also noticed both of them sported several battle scars. Zoro's trademark white shirt was blood-stained and with huge tears on his abdomen, not mentioning that he's dirty from head to toe and also scraped in some areas. Nami wore only her also pretty beaten-up dancer outfit with a torn skirt, with dirt on her face and body and a blood-painted right foot.

"Wow… we're all pretty beaten up, huh?" I said, already toning down the enthusiasm.

"You tell me, Dan-kun!" She replied with surprise. "You look worse than both of us, it's a wonder you're even standing!"

"Oh, thanks for the word of support, Nami…" I said sarcastically.

"Just kidding, forget it. What matters is that we're alive!" Nami replied with a slight smile. "Also… I won my first one-on-one, full-on fight!" She raised a fist into the air.

"Really? Wonderful!" I smiled broadly.

"Hey, you two, save the party until it's all said and done, ok?" Before we drifted off telling each other our battle experiences, Zoro butted in, interrupting the celebrations. "We still have to meet up with Vivi and take out the boss, so, let's get moving to the Palace now!"

He said it all sternly, already preparing to resume his running pace, but Nami stopped him.

"Hey, hold on, Zoro! Are you gonna let me walk by myself? Did you forget I had to endure a needle piercing my foot? Are you really thinking I can keep up with you in my current state?" She complained while hobbling.

"Aw, come on! Quit the bullcrap already, will ya? I know you can walk pretty well by yourself! Now come on, let's move!" He argued back, impatient with the hold-up.

"Wait, Zoro!" She tried to stop him, but he left.

"What now, how do you expect me to run with a pierced foot? Get back!" She screamed.

I simply sighed, putting myself ahead and crouching to offer her a lift.

"C'mon, get on!" I said.

"Dan-kun!" She replied.

"Zoro's right, we have no more time to waste!" I said nervously.

"Thanks! Let's go!"

She quickly clung to my back.

"Ok, hold tight! Direct express to Central Square!" I called before leaving the 'starting blocks' and start my dash. I'm with a friend on my back, so I have to kick exhaustion to the curb and storm to the goal with all my might!

Soon I was able to catch up with Zoro in the midst of the continuously thickening dust cloud as we approached the Central Square. As the cloud thickened, the conflicts between rebels and royal soldiers intensified. We were forced to squeeze past all the ruckus, also having to watch out not to lose track of Zoro…

After crossing the utter labyrinth that is the streets and alleys of Alubarna's outskirts, we arrived at the conflict's 'main stage': The Central Square.

"Tch… the battles are spreading pretty fast…" I snarled.

The scenery was terrifying. Thousands… no, tens of thousands of innocent people engaging in a bloody battle for the future of a country… of course, a bloodless revolution is a rarity, but still, to be a part of the complete chaos that is a civil war is… deeply saddening.

Oh, come on, wake up, Dan! It's no time to mourn, but to act!

"Dan-kun! There! We're close to the Royal Palace!" Nami pointed away.

I arrived near a staircase, avoiding all the unfolding carnage. As I approached, I struggled to see anything through the dust, but I saw some silhouettes standing in front of the stairs.

When I saw who they were, I smiled joyfully.

"I can't believe it… VIVI-SAN!"

Light blue hair, dark blue robe… it's unmistakable! The warrior princess, Vivi!

"Who… Dan-san! Mister Bushido! Nami-san!" She screamed as soon as she spotted us.

"Vivi-san! I'm glad you're well!" I said happily as I approached her. She was together with a man wearing a mostly white robe with brown star-like motifs.

"Sorry for asking at a time like this, but who's this man?"

"I'm Pell, one of the guardians of this kingdom. Nice to meet you." He took her cue, quickly introducing himself.

"I'm Daiki, nice to meet you too!" I replied, formally bowing.

"Hey, Usopp!" Huh?

I heard a bonk sound, quickly turning to check that Nami hit Usopp hard in his head…

"I thought I asked you to build a weapon, not a toy with parlor tricks! You'd better fix it when we're outta here, get it?" Nami's annoyance…

"See, Dan? You're so gullible! That bastard woman is standing!" Zoro yelled, calling me out, but I didn't really mind. It was then that I noticed that she wielded a blue, trisected staff I had never seen before. I'll ask her about it when all of this is over.

"Usopp-kun!" Joyfully, I screamed when I got near him. He was covered in bandages from head to toe, like a mummy! What on earth did he do? I'd better remember to ask that too…

"Dan! Nami! Zoro! You're alright!" Unbelievable… he's back too!

"CAPTAIN!" I had to shout!

Luffy! He's alive!

"Yosha! I knew it! I knew our Captain would survive!" I jumped in joy when I saw him. He's dirty all over, carrying a huge barrel on his back equipped with a hose and spinning his arms.

"Hmph… it's obvious, isn't it?" Huh?

"Yo… you ok?"

"Sanji-san! Eyelash! Chopper-sensei!"

There's nothing better than this! We're all together again, back in action!

"I'm sorry, guys…" We turned our eyes to Luffy, who stretched his arms, grabbing on the top of the front wall. "I… I lost to him. But…"

But…

"…but… I'm not gonna lose again! I will defeat him and end this right now!" He said.

"Then get going." Zoro merely grinned.

"If you don't take him out, nobody else will!" Usopp shouted.

"Just go, Captain! Leave the rest with us!" I left my word of support.

So, he jumped all the way to his final confrontation at the top of the Royal Palace. Good luck… Captain Luffy!

…

"Vivi, what's the situation?" Nami immediately went straight to the issue.

I'll tell you the situation: The conflict came very close of an end thanks to the fact that Kohza, the rebel leader, finally discovered the truth behind the whole crisis that struck this country.

When the royal soldiers were readying themselves to raise the white flag and end the war…

…Kohza was shot.

Baroque Works sent their field agents to both sides of the war to make moves in order to make the war go on as long as they need…

…and Vivi watched it all, unable to do a thing about it.

That incensed the rebels, bringing the conflict to the Central Square… but the worst of all is yet to come.

…

"WHAT? A BOMB?" Usopp exclaimed incredulously.

"Yes… and it's set to explode precisely at half past four!" Vivi announced.

My knee-jerk reaction was to look for a clock somewhere. When I found it, the position of its indicators scared me…

…

…

…it's already four twenty!

"We only have ten minutes!" I exclaimed.

"If the bomb really goes off… it's going to kill everyone in a diameter of five kilometers! Crocodile himself told me this!" He said.

"So that means…" Nami said.

"…both armies will be annihilated!" Chopper completed.

"Tch… that damn crocodile!" Sanji growled.

"W-w-what can we do then?" Usopp asked while stammering.

"We have to look for those who'll blast the explosives." Zoro replied as everyone else went silent, not daring to suggest anything. "We have to find them and defuse them as fast as possible!"

All of us stared unsurely at him for a second.

"How are we supposed to search for them?" Usopp asked.

"And in only ten minutes?" Nami joined him.

"Guys, calm down! We have no time to stand and just think about it! We have to find that bomb quick!" I stepped in.

"Wait a second! If the explosion is 5-kilometers wide, they must trigger it from a distance of roughly two and a half kilometers away from the target, right?" Usopp calculated.

"No…"

Vivi joined the discussion.

"It's highly likely that the bomb is planted near the square!"

"Why?" Usopp asked. "If the people in charge of the trigger were here, they'd be vaporized together with everyone else!"

"Funny, why doesn't that faze me in the slightest… Guess Crocodile's really mean enough to do that." Nami stated.

"Y'mean, he'd let his own allies die?" Disgusted, Chopper exclaimed.

"Now that our priority is set, we have to move!" Zoro called.

In this moment, I saw the man in the white robe, Pell, grab and start drawing his sword and I immediately noticed a suspect silhouette creeping behind Vivi. Just as it revealed itself, ready to slash down the Princess…

"Vivi-san! Watch out!"

Sanji and Zoro were quick enough to knock the bandit out with a single hit, stopping the murder attempt in the dust cloud.

Well, that was only the beginning…

"Finally we've found you, Princess Vivi!"

Usopp shrieked, pointing ahead with a shaking arm…

Oh shoot!

The dust revealed a horde of Baroque Works agents! Dozens of 'em! They're all with their eyes set on murdering the Princess!

"If we kill her, there's a great promotion in store for us!" Said one of the bandits most ahead of the pack. I swallowed when I saw their trigger-happy faces…

"Moss-head, how many seconds?" Sanji looked aside and asked.

"It's pointless to discuss that!" Zoro replied right away.

"Two seconds flat!" Both said in unison, readying a beatdown.

"Yosh! Zoro! Sanji-kun! We're leaving ahead!" Nami said, already preparing to start running.

The duo stayed to deal with the Baroque Works agents while we sprinted off from the battlefield, still packed together.

"Guys, let's split off! We have to leave this dust cloud first!" Usopp suggested.

With no questioning, everyone separated, heading off to a different direction. I noticed that the man accompanying Vivi, Pell, turned into a falcon and flew straight to check the aerial space.

It's now four twenty-one. Here starts yet another race against the clock.

We've got now less than nine minutes to avoid a disaster! It's all or nothing!

The responsibility is immense for us to carry, but it absolutely has to be done! Hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk! The future of a country is on our hands!

"Where are they?… where are the detonators?"

As I left the sand cloud, I was on my own, running in a strangely calm avenue. Around me there were only lifeless bodies, spilled blood and an overall scenario of destruction.

And no sign of a bomb nearby.

With no time to think, I decided to execute any idea I found minimally logical that crossed my head as I ran through the city.

"Is it here?" I opened the door of a house. Found nothing even remotely resembling a bomb.

"Or is it here?" Another door forced open. Nope. Just rubble, junk and more dust. Ouch, my little nose…

"Nothing! Dammit!" At the third try, I lost my hopes, abandoning the plan altogether and getting back to the running part.

Four twenty-two.

Time goes by… time will fly… time is unforgiving!

As the seconds vanish, my heart pounds even faster, the fear just swells inside, but now is really not the time to panic, much less to freak out! However, what the hell am I supposed to do, dammit?

"Where's the bomb… think, Dan, think!" I slapped my forehead as I ran to make my brain work faster.

And I thought that my life was in enough peril just because I had someone who wanted me dead…

I just want to die of old age! It was enough of a tough time to escape death by the hands of someone else and now I have to stop an explosion? Give me a break! Although I wouldn't want to be the only survivor, because I'd probably off myself afterwards!

Wait, stop thinking about that! Think about everything BUT that, ok? Focus, focus, Dan, just focus!

Four twenty-three.

Panting hard, but not daring to rest, I kept pressing on my desperate dash through the streets, once more having to squeeze my way past the skirmishes to find a giant cannon atop a building!

"Is it there?"

I'll find out only if I actually go there and check it out!

"Super Pole… Vault!"

I used my pencil turned into a staff to continuously leap to the taller buildings.

When I climbed to the tallest where the cannon laid… I saw a royal soldier down, Zoro and Usopp.

"Zoro-san! Usopp-kun!"

"Dan!" Usopp exclaimed.

"This cannon's full of moss!" Zoro said, angrily kicking the nozzle that immediately broke in two halves and making a loud noise.

"Tch… it's a miss again…" I growled.

"You, get down quick, we gotta move! I'll search on the roofs!" Zoro immediately exclaimed, leaping back from where he came.

"Yosh! Usopp-kun, let's get to the ground!" I screamed while going down cautiously due to the sand.

"H-hey, wait for me!" He screamed back, coming down even slower, but working not to fall too far behind.

Four twenty-four.

In the middle of the ruckus, Usopp decided to stop for a few seconds and think. He reasoned that three heads think better than just one, although I'm unsure of his methods…

"Ahahahahah… AHAHAHAHAH!"

"Uhh… what are you doing?"

Usopp randomly grabbed a hook piece, glued it to one of his hands and started doing some sort of evil laugh…

"AHAHAHAHAH… it's pointless… Ahahahahah… ow!"

"…?" I asked.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Zoro told it straight. He wasn't in the mood to deal with silliness, so he bonked Usopp in the head.

"WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? I'm trying to think as Crocodile! That way I can figure out where he set up the bomb!" Irritated, Usopp justified himself.

"…" I said.

"Just shut up and get moving! We got only five minutes!" Zoro yelled, equally irritated.

"Guys, calm down! Just split and go look elsewhere! I'll look over here!" I suggested.

"Ok!" Zoro quickly replied, leaving right away.

"Good luck!" Usopp followed him.

I stopped, putting a hand on my chin and wasting a few seconds, rethinking the whole strategy.

"Think harder… think harder!" I closed my eyes, focusing in the key points I could remember.

We're with this: The square will be destroyed in a few minutes. Supposedly, the explosions will kill anyone within a 5-kilometer diameter from the Central Square. If this happens, then the shooters must be out of the blast radius.

But… Zoro searched on the roofs and, apart from that broken cannon, he said he found nothing even remotely similar to a bomb.

Then… oh, hold on…

It's true that the alleged gunners should be out of the explosion radius… if the center of the battle comes to be ravaged by a giant bombing coming from cannon shots. However…

What if that's not the case?

What if we, by any chance, are searching for the wrong device? If, by any chance, Crocodile decided to set a time bomb? If my thoughts are correct… it wouldn't be surprising! Better than firing cannons, why not let a bomb well hidden do the job by itself?

If it's true…

…then it has to be somewhere _in the Central Square!_

"Aahhn… motherfu… Don't tell me I have to go back to the start!" I said, scratching my head furiously, almost driving myself insane with all this pressure!

Oh great… it's already four twenty-five!

I can't wait… I have to risk it! We've got only five minutes!

If we can't find and defuse this bomb, the tragedy will be immeasurable! Roughly one million citizens will die (ourselves included) and Crocodile will crown himself King of Arabasta!

* * *

**Five minutes. What can you do in five minutes?**

**Well, I don't know about you but... there's a tragedy waiting to happen if the Straw Hats don't find the bomb within that time limit!**

**Scattered throughout the city, the pirates desperately race against time to prevent a huge explosion set to happen when the clock reaches half past four!**

**Will they be able to save themselves and a million lives? Check out in the next chapter!  
**


	78. The final five minutes!

**Chapter 78**

**"The disaster draws near! Arabasta, five minutes to the end!"**

* * *

"Think, Dan! Where are the detonators? Think on something, anything!"

We walked three days through the scorching deserts to search for the Rebel Army leader… for nothing…

"Please, please, clock, move a little bit slower!"

…we were face-to-face with the frightening chief of the organization controlling the entire crisis that struck this country…

"I absolutely must get to the Square now!"

…we witnessed the beginning and unfold of a civil war of unprecedented scale…

"Come on, come on! Please, Goddess of destiny, be on our side!"

…I battled a duel to the death with the murderer of my father…

"Please, guys… please tell me you've found something, I beg you!"

…now I'm tired, worn out, wounded, but still desperately on the run around the city looking for a bomb…

"Nothing here? Goddammit! Where's that freaking bomb?"

…with a million lives in the line!

…

…

Four hours, twenty-five minutes.

The three years of a long, seemingly endless drought in the cities surrounding Alubarna created a slowly escalating crisis that culminated in a bloody battle in the capital.

Many lives were lost already and many more will be sacrificed…

All of this due to the selfish desires of a single man.

In five minutes' time, the fate of this suffering country will be decided.

I never thought it could be possible to do so much stuff in that short period of time… I never thought my life could be summed up in five minutes… until now. If I don't do anything to stop the tragedy peeking through the crack in the window, these will be the final five minutes of my life!

…

After wasting a few seconds, stopping to think, I decided to risk it all, run all the way back to the Central Square as fast as I could and search for the bomb there.

Still, there's a truckload of places where the bomb could be! For the love of God, where's that fucking bomb?

I tensed even more when I glanced back at the clock…

…it's four twenty-six already!

"Damn… to keep running back and forth!" I growled as I sprinted, already begging for some rest. "A place huge enough to house a cannon… a bomb that explodes everything in a five-kilometer diameter… there's so many possible places! We looked all around the city… and found nothing!" I talked to myself, already in a state of desperation.

Without noticing until it was too late, I gave a false step, tripping and grazing my belly in the dusty ground.

"I… can't… stop!"

I coughed, spitting out some grains of sand while I slowly stood back up, clenching my teeth and gathering all my little pieces of stamina left.

"Damn you… these legs of mine… why are you… letting me down… just now?"

While incredibly fatigued, physically and mentally exhausted, I still put a hand on my leg to help rise my body up again, taking a few deep breaths along. Just before I started running…

"W… what's that?"

Suddenly, I see a pillar of red smoke shooting up in the air.

"Hold on… that might be Usopp-kun's signal! Maybe the others did find something!" Just after I said that, I immediately sprinted back, trying to guess the location where the signal was shot.

The time keeps running out way faster than anyone could ever imagine!

It's four twenty-seven!

"Three minutes… three minutes!"

I tried to think about an efficient route to pass through the spot where the signal was launched and get to the Square… simply impossible! There's no time! I just gotta run my fastest to that red pillar!

"I have to give it my best! Here we go!"

I sped up my pace even more, coming near the signaled spot.

After once again making my way through the city corners, I arrived to the avenue where the signal was sent.

Just below the slowly dissipating smoke pillar, a small note laid peacefully in the ground.

"The bomb is inside the Clock Tower in the Central Square! Everyone meet there immediately! Hurry up!"

Signed by Usopp.

Without missing a beat, I left the note where it was, speeding up once more.

"Of course! It would make no sense to shoot the bomb far from the square!" I meditated as I ran. "This dust cloud is just perfect to obfuscate the higher buildings and hide the place where they'll shoot the bomb!"

Now that everything's clear, let's move it!

It's four twenty-eight already!

"Oh dear, oh dear… two minutes!"

After the next two minutes, either we're heroes… or corpses.

Either we avoid a tragedy of colossal proportions or we become this land's saviors! And I'm strongly in support of the latter!

"Where is it… where is it! Oh shit, shit, shit! Why now?"

Right around the corner, I bumped with the very last people I wanted to bump in the face of the earth!

Marine soldiers!

"Oh hey! You're one of the Straw Hats!" One of the soldiers standing at the front pointed to me.

"Please, don't say you're here to capture me, I beg you! I'm in a hell of a hurry and I need to get to the Square right no-"

Instead of bracing themselves and pointing their swords and rifles at me, one of the commander-looking marines just stepped ahead, opened his arm and pointed to a direction.

"Turn over there and run straight ahead that you'll be in the Square! Now hurry up!"

That stunned me completely. I'm being helped by a Marine? A pirate like me?

I just stood, baffled for a few seconds.

"Are you deaf? Get going!" The marine yelled.

"Huh? Oh yeah, thank you very much!" I started running again, simply giving him a 'thank you' wave as I went past the group.

I immediately remembered something: in desperate times like this, there are no marines or pirates. Just people trying to save themselves from an imminent disaster.

"Heeey! Dan-kun!" Huh?

As I was coming out of a small slope that turned out to be one of the exits of a bifurcation, leading to an avenue, there was Nami riding on Chopper's back. He was on his full reindeer form.

"We have only two minutes!" She recalled.

"I know! Did you see Usopp's message?" I asked.

"No! But since I've figured out they found something out, I decided to head straight to the Square and check if they're already there!" She replied.

"The marines told us the fastest way to reach the square!" Chopper exclaimed.

"How curious, they told me that too! Then, guys, time's flying! Let's go!" I shouted back, quickly ending the little talk.

"Right!" They replied in unison.

Finally, after searching the city up and down, we're back to the starting point: The Central Square.

The battle was heated as always, but now only with more dead bodies.

There's no time to mourn, because there's gonna be way more victims if we don't defuse the bomb!

"There they are!" Nami pointed to two faint silhouettes running through the dust.

"VIVI-SAN! USOPP-KUN!" I screamed as loud as I could.

They stopped, turned and spotted us.

"Dan-san! Nami-san! Tony-kun!"

Nami immediately hopped off Chopper's back and the three of us bolted to meet with Usopp and Vivi.

"What the heck is going on?" She asked, panting.

"Did you find the detonators?" Chopper asked, equally exhausted, turning back to his default form.

"We didn't check it yet, but I'm sure about the location!" Vivi stated. "We looked at it this entire time but no one even thought about that! The detonators are in there, without a doubt!"

Vivi turned, pointing upwards.

"The Clock Tower!" Nami exclaimed.

Nearly twenty-nine minutes past four. My stomach kept turning more furiously as the seconds passed… the tension's becoming unbearable! If we stay still for the next minute and a half, it's all over and everything we did so far will have been in vain!

"Of course! It's way easier to just hit the square from there!" Chopper came to the same conclusion as I did.

"If Pell was here, he'd be able to stop the bomb! Pell, where are you?" Vivi looked everywhere, searching for her royal guardian. No sign of him in the air.

Vivi's distress grew as she continued to look at the sky. "Pell! What happened to him! I can't see him anywhere!"

"Hey, Vivi, even if we know that the bomb's up there, it's impossible to reach the top of that tower in under two minutes!" Nami walked to her and warned.

"Pell! Where are you! Please, hurry up!" Vivi begged desperately.

"Since he's not coming any sooner, we have to deal with this by ourselves!" Chopper joined the discussion.

"How on earth are we supposed to get up there in such a short time? What can we possibly do?" I asked.

"Ahn… less asking and more answering, Dan-kun!" Nami replied impatiently.

"The staircase's our only hope!" Usopp suggested.

"Then let's get go-"

"HEEEEEEEEEEYYY!"

Huh?

"NAMI-SWAN! VIVI-CHWAN!"

What? That voice! When we looked up, there's…

…Sanji standing in one of the tower's top floors!

"SANJI-SAN?" I shouted disbelievingly.

"WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU UP THERE ALREADY?" Usopp asked.

"Why, you say? Well, because you left a message below that smoke signal, remember?" Sanji answered. "It said 'clock tower' so I thought I might as well get all the way up here!"

All of us stared at him blankly, completely at loss.

"What do you want me to do? Did you find the gunners?" Sanji asked.

"AT THE TOP! THEY'RE AT THE TOP! KEEP CLIMBING AND BEAT THEM TO A PULP!" Usopp asked while pointing further upwards.

"OOOIII, GUYS!"

Another one?

We looked further up, just to find…

"Ooooii! I got lost searching for you, y'know!"

"Zo… ZORO-SAN!" I exclaimed, even more baffled.

"YOU'RE HERE TOO?" Sanji turned, looking up and asking him as well.

"What are you all doing down there?" Zoro replied to this question with another question.

"Funny, we wanted to ask you that too!" Sanji in turn asked him yet another question…

Fortunately, Zoro finished the question ping-pong and replied. "Damn if I know! Look, I found some marines in my way and they kept insisting: 'Go north, go north!' so I decided to just climb all the way up here!"

Wait, what?

"GOING NORTH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GOING UP!" Sanji yelled.

"HEY YOU! JUST KEEP WHERE YOU ARE! IT'S PERFECT THIS WAY!" Usopp reacted fast and screamed louder than both of them. "JUST KEEP GOING UP AND TAKE CARE OF THOSE WHO'RE ABOUT TO FIRE THE BOMB!"

"Wait, Usopp-san! They can't do that!" Vivi quickly interrupted.

"EEEH?" Usopp exclaimed.

"What's up, Vivi-san? Why?" I asked.

"Beyond the sky, there's no way to enter the tower other than the staircase whose only access is in the first floor!"

"Damn it!" I growled, deeply upset.

Tch… not even in a motorbike we can climb a hundred-odd steps in less than a minute!

"What if Zoro just breaks the walls and climbs by force?" Usopp hypothesized.

"There's no bomb I know capable of resisting the shockwaves of walls crumbling!" Vivi replied nervously. "We have to get there through the staircase!" She dashed off immediately.

"Wait, Vivi!"

Vivi quickly halted when she heard Nami calling.

"What's up, Nami? Did you think about something?" I asked with a slight dose of hope.

"I have a plan!"

Great, Nami!

"Well, tell it all in short words, Nami, because…" I started to say, looking and pointing upwards.

When I stared at the clock, my entire body shivered.

"WE HAVE LESS THAN A MINUTE!"

Now only the movement of the seconds' indicator keeps us from the salvation… or from death!

Four hours, twenty-nine minutes and…

Nine…

Ten…

"Geeeerogerogerogero!" / "Ohohohohohoh!"

Eleven…

"Hey, look!"

Twelve…

"Who are they!"

Thirteen seconds…

…

The clock slowly opened, revealing its inner mechanisms…

"Hey, hey, listen, Mister 7! Did you know, did you know? This is our final mission! Geeerogerogerogero!"

"Ohohohohoh! You're right! That's magnificent! Uhuhuhuhuhuh!"

Yet another duo of weirdos!

I couldn't see clearly, but judging by the voices, they were a couple. That apparently likes to give ridiculous laughs.

"A… a frog-woman?" I asked, baffled.

"Mr. 7! Miss Father's Day!"

And indeed, they were protecting a gigantic cannon aimed right to the center of the Square!

…

(Sixteen…)

"Guys, go to your stations immediately!" Nami ordered.

(Seventeen…)

"Uhm… Nami, I don't know if this is gonna work…" Usopp complained while struggling to keep his balance.

(Eighteen…)

"Be quiet and go to your position!" Nami won't tolerate any slack.

…

While the Baroque Works' wacky duo bragged about their soon-to-be-complete master plan, we prepared ourselves to hurl Vivi all the way to the top.

Sanji and Zoro kept in their spots, preparing for what's to come.

…

Twenty-five…

Twenty-six…

Twenty-seven…

Twenty-eight…

Twenty-nine…

…

The clock doesn't stop.

"Thirty seconds to go!" I called.

(Thirty-one, thirty-two…)

"O-oi, Nami! I mean, really? What the hell are you doing? We have no time to keep messing around! The situation's critical! If we miss a single detail, we're all dead!" Usopp kept questioning the sanity of our navigator.

(Thirty-four, thirty-five…)

"Do you think I don't know that? Stay still and let me concentrate! I'm doing some calculations here!" Nami got irritated, asking for some silence.

I'll tell what's happening. Nami's holding her blue staff, some steps away from Usopp. He, on the other hand, is currently crouching with his arms outstretched and holding the combined weight of Chopper and Vivi on his back.

(Thirty-eight, thirty-nine…)

I even asked him if he wanted me to take his place since I can hold a little more weight, but Nami refused on his behalf because she tasked me with the rescue.

If that works out, I'll explain with more detail.

(Forty, forty-one…)

"Stay still, you say? I don't know why on earth I'm even crouching like this! What the hell is your plan after all, huh?" Usopp couldn't just shut up.

(Forty-two, forty-three…)

"You'll see when I do it!" Nami screamed. "Everyone to your places! We have only one chance!"

Nami then detached a part of her pole, reattaching it like a cross.

(Forty-four…)

"Here we go… it's now or never! Typhoon alert! CYCLONE… TEMPO!"

Then she swung her arm, launching forward the parts of her pole crossed like an X.

"Cyclone?"

(Forty-five…)

"Hey, wait! Cyclone Tempo's just a boomerang for parties!" Usopp alerted but it was way too late.

(Forty-six…)

"Target: clock tower! Go!"

The cross hit full-force… Usopp's nether regions.

I closed my eyes, fighting a urge to cradle my testicles but sharing the male pain nonetheless…

"Ow, I hope you didn't render him sterile after this!" I said.

(Forty-seven…)

Suddenly, the air around the trio started spinning rapidly, creating a powerful gust of wind that sent them up and away!

"Nice move, Nami! How did you do that?" I shouted happily.

"I'll tell you later! Don't lose your focus!" She replied. "Chopper! Use Usopp's body to jump up!"

"WHAT?" He screamed.

(Forty-eight…)

"Sanji-kun! Get ready! You know what to do, right? We have nothing else!" She kept screaming.

"YOSH, LEAVE IT TO ME!" He replied instantly.

"Dan-kun! You get ready too! Go rescue Usopp!" She alerted me.

"Working on it!" I immediately pulled out my pencil and sketchbook.

As soon as Chopper hopped off Usopp's back, I sprinted to the wall.

(Forty-nine…)

I saw Sanji then throwing himself out of the window, turning and letting Chopper rest his paws on his right leg. He then swung it to launch the duo up with even more speed, right in Zoro's path!

Now I have two bodies in free fall!

"Yosh… it's time to act!"

茵 "Cushion…"

(Fifty…)

As soon as I was done writing the symbol, I yanked the sheet, put it in the ground and it quickly materialized into a common cushion.

"That's it?" Nami exclaimed, shocked.

"No, it's not!"

I then ran to the cushion, quickly writing this on it: 大 (giant) "GROW!"

I channeled all my creative energy, seeing the cushion grow ten times its normal size!

"Done! That'll do the trick!"

Immediately after I said that, Usopp landed on it, proving its impact absorption powers. I put the cushion in a place where it'll be on the path of the others as well.

(Fifty-one…)

"OH SHIT… THEY SAW HER!"

Nami screamed in shock, putting her hands on her head.

"No!"

As I went to check it out more clearly, I saw Zoro with his swords under Chopper's feet… and indeed, the bomb's guardians were staring at Vivi!

(Fifty-two…)

They aimed their guns!

(Fifty-three…)

"SEVEN SECONDS, PEOPLE!" Nami called.

"JUST DO SOMETHING!" Usopp cried desperately.

"I don't want to look…" I also put my hands on my head, leaving everything to destiny.

(Fifty-four…)

Zoro finally launched Chopper upwards, letting himself fall down…

…and he was shot!

"ZORO!" Nami shrieked.

"No, no, no, no!" I was long beyond the despair threshold…

Chopper, on the other hand, having nothing to do with all of this, took the timing to transform in a humanoid, grab Vivi and hurl her to the tower with all his might.

(Fifty-five…)

Chopper gained enough height to come in line with the entrance, catching the eye of the duo and making them point their guns at him.

Pity for them that our little reindeer has other forms, what they found out as Chopper turned back to his default form in the nick of time.

(Fifty-six…)

"Vivi? Where is she?" Usopp asked, more nervous than ever.

"THERE!" Nami pointed to a dark blue spot approaching the entrance.

(Fifty-seven…)

"GOOOOOOOOO!" The three of us screamed at the top of our lungs.

(Fifty-eight…)

At first, Vivi missed, but she successfully turned around and hit both at the same time in her second attempt!

"YOSHA!" Usopp jumped.

(FIFTY-NINE!)

…

…

…

…

…

"She… made it?"

…

…

We're now a few seconds beyond 4:30 P.M.

_Nothing blew up._

The battle rages on… _but nothing blew up!_

"She… stopped the bomb… at the last second…" I let out a big sigh, feeling a shiver of unimaginable relief running down my entire body…

Zoro, Sanji and Chopper came back, joining us.

"What? Are you alive?" Sanji scoffed.

"What about the explosion?" Zoro didn't mind.

"What's going on?" Chopper soon repeated the question, even more worried.

"Wait, something's wrong up there…" I replied vaguely.

"Vivi didn't show up yet…" Nami replied too, without taking her eyes off the tower.

A few silent, tense seconds later…

"GUYS! BIG TROUBLE!"

Uh oh… not good… when she shrieks that loud…

"VIVI!" Nami shouted back at her.

"THERE'S A TIMER IN THE BOMB! IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE ANYWAY!"

…

…

…

"WHAAAAT?"

Each and every one of us was completely stunned. A giant whirlpool of emotions built up inside me, bringing me down to my knees in sheer, raw frustration.

After we worked so much… after we struggled so much, after avoiding a great tragedy at the last second! So it means everything we did so far was for nothing after all? JUST BECAUSE HE HAD A GODDAMNED PLAN B?

"Shit… this can't be happening!" Sanji cursed.

"We stopped the bomb, but still…" Nami, desolate.

"…it has a timer!" Chopper, shocked.

"With a diameter of five kilometers… the whole square and surroundings will vanish completely!" Zoro, adding nothing new…

"CURSE YOU! Do you mean preventing the explosion was… WAS IMPOSSIBLE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING?" Usopp, utterly shocked.

"It's all over… we can't do anything else…" I knelt, letting my pencil touch the ground and just accepting destiny's ultimate decision.

We failed.

All because, unconsciously, we underestimated Crocodile's planning skills. Who could predict he was so clairvoyant to install a second triggering device on the bomb itself?

Vivi… it's hard to imagine how frustrated she must feel… how much desperation is assaulting her very soul right now…

Just seeing all our efforts fall right in front of us like a tower of cards is… is just…

Impossible to describe.

Now only a miracle can save us.

…

…

"Hey, hang on… That man…" I heard Sanji muttering.

"The birdman…" Zoro completed.

I was so frustrated I didn't even want to look up anymore.

I knew they were talking about Pell, but that didn't matter to me anymore… what was he going to do anyway?

A tense silence reigned over us since the moment when the royal guardian entered the clock tower. Anxiety skyrocketed at each passing second.

Never in my life had I felt the surrounding air so heavy above me. Never was I as nervous as I am now.

"Look…" Sanji called faintly.

I decided to stand again and look up. When I did it…

…I saw the falcon-man leave the tower, flapping his wings to carry the bomb away.

He flew higher, higher… and higher up to the sky until he disappeared from our eyesight.

…

…

Then…

…

…

With a deafening bang, the bomb exploded.

* * *

**The Straw Hats went through so much to prevent the disaster but in the end... they failed.**

**However, Pell, the Falcon-Man appears at the last moments for a brave final attempt to take the bomb away, sacrificing his own life!**

**Will this be enough to keep the blast away from the citizens? When will this battle end? Next chapter will bring all the answers!  
**


	79. Vivi's plea! The battle nears the end!

**Chapter 79**

**"Will the dust ever vanish? A battle to be recorded on history!"**

* * *

With a deafening bang… the bomb finally detonated.

Such was the intensity of the explosion that a bright, blinding light glowed across the sky of Alubarna and seconds later, a massive shock wave hit everything surrounding it. Windows were blown out; buildings were hit, cracked or even partially destroyed.

An authentic gale, whose raw power surged through the Central Square, dissipating the dense cloud of dust and spreading it further through the surrounding streets, also tossed around like rag dolls most of the people standing in the middle of the square. The sheer noise resulting from the explosion echoed across the whole capital, still lingering for a few seconds before it was gone.

What about us, you ask? We kept standing near the clock tower, just letting destiny decide our future. Already with only a single sliver of hope, simply praying for the explosion to miss us, I just looked blankly at the sky, waiting for the liberated energy to come down and end my life.

However…

…

…

After everything was over, the noise could still be heard as it slowly dissipated. The furious gusts of wind, dust and debris flowing around my body calmed down little by little. I could still feel my heart beating rapidly and tears wanting to roll down my face yet again.

The first thing I could imply of all this:

_We're not dead…_

_We're saved._

_We're saved!_

At a terrible cost, though. Along with the happiness of avoiding certain death, we felt a hard shock because in order to save hundreds of millions of lives, a brave super-human warrior had to give his life for the sake of the country.

"He's crazy…" Sanji whispered, still stunned.

"He protected… his country…" Nami, equally perplexed, couldn't say more.

The rest of us just stared to the sky in an astonished silence, broken only by the sounds of wind carrying dust around… and Usopp's occasional grunts as he slowly stood up after the powerful gust of a while ago took him off the ground.

"No… oh no…"

Chopper and I turned around to check what's going on with him, but we saw a much more worrying scenario.

Concern that turned to absolute terror when we saw that the warrior citizens and the royal soldiers, even when dizzy, even on the verge of dying due to the explosion, slowly stood up again…

…once more raising their weapons.

"No… don't do that…"

I just stood and whispered, wishing mentally that there was some miraculous spark of logic to make this war end once and for all.

Once again, the silence surrounding me was too discomforting for a single person to handle. Until…

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

…

…

Moments later, the lonely scream in the middle of the crowd was joined by many, many more…

…

…

All of us could do nothing but to turn away from the tower and stare in an absolutely astonished silence to the scenery right before us.

The armies… went right back to war.

The sounds of gunshots, explosions and desperate screams slowly reentered our ears, echoing through the streets of Alubarna and the chaotic amalgamation of bodies was on the move once more.

Not even the explosion of a bomb was able to wake up the collective unconscious of this crowd, utterly blind by their desire to bring revolution for the sake of their country… but the longer this battle continues, more it loses its reason to be, turning in a complete insanity.

"Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting!"

Another voice, shrilly, desperately shrieking and trying to overwhelm the sounds of war, soon started entering our ears too.

We immediately recognized this voice, turned and looked back at the clock tower…

…

…

"Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting!"

"Vi… Vivi-san…"

Vivi. She shouted continually, repeating a tormented mantra.

To see her trying to scream louder than an enraged crowd…

"Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting!"

…

To see her trying to overwhelm the noise of an ongoing war…

"Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting!"

…

To see her just trying endlessly to get people to listen, stop and rationalize…

"Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting!"

…

…and see her voice be completely drowned out by the madness of war…

"Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting! Please… stop fighting!"

…

It's just too much.

"Vivi… san…"

At that time, all the sadness I wanted to suppress, all the mixture of emotions created by the sudden unfold of events, burst out full force, by simply being too much to hold.

I just knelt on the ground, facing away from the carnage, with a paralyzed and stunned expression, already making no effort to contain the river streaming down my face.

All of this is too saddening… and I'm too weak. This whole situation hurts deep in our souls… and it just makes me break like soft glass, melt down and weep.

At each desperate shout I heard and at each time the immense crowd, blind by the curtain of war, ignored her outcry, I kept going down and down.

"Silly…" I heard Nami whispering softly.

"WHAT ABOUT YOU? WHY ARE YOU ALL JUST STANDING HERE?"

I then heard her trembling voice, all of a sudden filled with irritation. I looked back to see her with watery eyes, pushing the others to the middle of the battlefield.

"PUNCH'EM, KICK'EM, JUST DO SOMETHING, DAMMIT! GET MOVING, DO SOMETHING TO STOP THIS WAR! WE HAVE TO KEEP CASUALTIES AS LOW AS WE POSSIBLY CAN!"

She held Usopp by his shoulders for a few seconds before she pushed him as well to the center of conflict. After that, she walked towards me.

"COME ON, YOU TOO! STOP CRYING OVER THERE, GET MOVING AND GO HELP THEM!" She screamed in utter desperation.

"I CAN'T HOLD IT ANYMORE!" Involuntarily, I shouted back at her, just wanting to let out the pure horror I was feeling as I witnessed the continuing bloodbath.

"It's just… too much for me to handle…" I said, almost choking on my own tears also. My brain was about to 'shut down' before such madness…

"IDIOT!"

I just know I felt a strong slap on my face…

"Nami… chan…" I said, still feeling the stinging pain on my cheek.

"To stay in a corner, depressed, sharing her pain won't do shit to help her! The only thing we can do is this: try to stop this war with our own power, no matter what it takes!" Nami shouted while grabbing me by the shoulders, almost crying with me.

"You're supposed to be a man, aren't you? Didn't you learn somewhere… that men don't cry?" She continued trying to call me back to reason…

I couldn't see her crying. I didn't want to see her crying. Then it was there that I realized if I wanted to keep her tears from coming down… I had to keep mine as well.

"I got it…" I said after sniffing a few times, as I cleaned my nostrils and rubbed the tears out of my eyes. "…say no more…"

"Nami-chan…" I looked at her.

"Vivi-san…" I looked up.

"Please cry no more…" I stood up, pulling out my pencil.

"…let's end this all with our own hands!"

With a simple mental invocation, I turned my pencil to a staff, immediately charging against the immense crowd.

It's time to throw away my weaknesses and my sorrow! Just plunge to the action!

Crying won't solve a thing!

"Please… stop fighting!"

I found myself voicing Vivi's desperate shriek as I made my way through the mass. Needless to say, I had lots of trouble to avoid being hit by swords and stray bullets while I knocked out as many people as I possibly could. I also had to keep alert not to hurt them too much more, since they're still fragile, normal citizens.

"Please… wake up!"

I tried to make the civilians come back to reason, but at the same time, I kept losing hope to do so by myself… the sheer overwhelming numbers of people battling each other put serious obstacles to our work.

"Please… listen! Vivi-san…"

Every one of us, tired, beaten, far beyond exhaustion, but still…

As long as there's still a sliver of hope to end this war…

We'll try everything necessary to bring people back to their minds!

"…your Princess…"

There has to be something that can wake them from this daze!

"…WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!"

All of that as I wished… prayed… begged…

Please, Luffy, beat the crap out of Crocodile once and for all…

JUST END THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!

…

…

…

Suddenly I hear a stronger, louder rumble joining, almost surpassing the noise of the commotion in the Central Square. The rumble noise prolonged itself, being accompanied by the sound of buildings falling, ground cracking and stone and rock being moved abruptly.

I could feel the ground trembling, but I just couldn't interrupt what I was doing to stop and admire or else I'd be beheaded, even if it was by pure accident!

Every one of us continually tried to forcefully convince all of those we could and by all means to stop the battle.

…

"Hey, look!" Sanji pointed.

After scrambling through the crowd to find a safe place, we stopped to check what it could be. Far away… a dark point floated right above toppled buildings, cracked ground and a sand 'serpent' undoing itself in midair…

…

…

"Cro… CROCODILE?"

Yes. It's him.

The man who wanted to be king.

The man who stole the water from the people of Arabasta.

The man who fed the sparks that combusted this war, the one who caused so much suffering to so many people…

The man who tortured the soul of our comrade, Princess Vivi.

And now… he's the one who's floating in the air… slowly coming down…

That can only mean one thing!

…

…

"How the hell he got all the way up there is beyond me…" Sanji asked himself, calmly but already twitching his face to sketch a smile.

"Captain…" I whispered, feeling the tears come back, but this time they were of sheer happiness!

"Hahah! HOW ELSE?" Usopp stepped ahead, fully bringing out his joy. "I ALWAYS KNEW IT FROM THE START!"

So, finally we could let out the scream that we wished to shout for way too long!

"LUFFY WON!"

…

He might have won, but we still need to tell it to both sides!

Please… let it definitely open the eyes of the people to this whole situation!

There are no more enemies! There's no reason to fight anymore!

The true mastermind that plotted this whole crisis… finally was defeated!

PLEASE, WAKE UP!

"PLEASE, STOP FIGHTING!" Vivi… don't give up! Don't lose your voice… keep trying to make your people wake up! Talk to them!

The scenery was the same. The battle still raged on and we kept determined to stop them at any cost.

Until…

"Hmm… what's this?" I rubbed two fingers through my forehead as I felt something hit it. "Wa… it's water?"

It was a small droplet of water. It didn't take long until another one hit my eyelid. And other one. And one more.

I looked to the sky and I saw that in a matter of moments, the bright sunshine was gone, giving way to relatively dark clouds.

It was drizzling.

Slowly, the weak drizzle intensified until it matured into a strong rainfall.

As the rain fell on the Central Square, I noticed the sounds of the battle diminished. More and more people around me lowered their weapons and stopped the fight, noticing the rain and looking up.

I widened my eyes when it finally hit me.

That's it!

That's what was missing for the citizens to realize that this whole battle makes no sense anymore!

After three long years of drought… the first drops of rain finally fell to the ground of Arabasta!

"The rain… it's undoing the dust cloud…" Chopper said.

Indeed, the curtain of sand that shrouded the Central Square faded out until it completely vanished.

…

…

"EVERYONE… PLEASE… STOP FIGHTING!"

The noise that until then drowned out any single voice was replaced by the sound of intermittent rain. The resulting silence was the perfect opportunity for the scream of Princess Vivi to echo through the whole square.

…

…

After she insisted so much… after she strained herself so much…

"Vivi's voice… they heard it." Nami whispered.

The moment they heard the voice of their Princess originated a few confused murmurs here and there between the citizens.

Moments later…

Crocodile finally fell unconscious in the middle of the crowd.

"Croco… dile-san?" One of the citizens said confusedly.

"'Crocodile-san', you say?" Usopp got angered. "Let me just tell you what he's been doing to your country, you… Hey!" Usopp, making an angry face, wanted to go there and personally tell that poor citizen every last detail, even punctuating his words with a few wake-up slaps, but Sanji stopped him. "Hey, calm down, keep quiet, Usopp…"

The citizens surrounding me all looked at the clock tower where their Princess stood.

"The rain falling now… just like it always fell since a long time ago… it will fall again!"

Vivi proclaimed and her voice echoed through the square, being heard by everyone.

"Because… the nightmare… is finally over!"

I've never witnessed the immense importance of silence as I'm doing right now.

"The nightmare… is over?" One of the citizens asked with signs of irritation on his voice.

"Don't joke with us! You can't just get off and say all of this was nothing but a nightmare!" Another citizen screamed.

His words triggered some screams in agreement, prompting all of those still holding their weapons to hoist them in protest.

"We saw the King attacking and destroying Nanohana with our own eyes!"

"Yeah! We saw Kohza-san being shot by the Royal Army too!"

"The King's soldiers played dirty the whole time! How can you explain that?"

Bit by bit, the citizens' questioning built up again.

"How can we ever accept it in the name of all of those that died in this rebellion?" Yet another citizen screamed.

Bit by bit, the citizens restarted their riot.

The armies in both sides already started facing each other, ready to recharge.

Please, don't tell me everyone's gonna go back to war just like this?

"LOWER YOUR WEAPONS, ROYAL SOLDIERS!"

…

…

"Chaka-sama!" Some soldiers shouted as they looked somewhere above us.

I tried to spot where was the person who screamed, to find a man in the top floor of the Royal Palace.

"Hey… all of yo… hmph, ma~ma~maaaa… all of you as well! Rebel soldiers!"

What now… who said that?

We didn't have to search, for the man walked towards us.

He wore a dark-blue stylized classic gentleman suit, sporting curly white hair, an easily strained voice and carrying a wounded boy…

"I… IGARAM-SAN?"

"Hey… isn't he that old man from Whiskey Peak?" Zoro asked, surprised.

"He survived? How?" Nami did the same.

But… but we saw him inside that small boat that blew to smithereens!

Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Did I ask that same question before?

"Hey, guys! Who are you talking about?" Chopper looked left and right confusedly.

"Sensei, we'll tell you later…" I replied, trying not to miss any detail of the situation.

Soon the crowd approached the man and the boy.

"Hello, little lad… can you say something?" Igaram asked.

Slowly, the boy, who was dirty from head to toe and seemed to be unconscious, woke up.

"Hey… that's the boy from Nanohana!" A citizen stated.

"Yeah, he was shot by the Royal Army." Another completed.

"No!"

The little boy quickly interrupted them, using what little strength he still had to tell everyone a message.

"No… who did this to me… was someone completely different! Everyone, listen! I saw them!"

The boy explained, in his terms, that he saw the King speaking in a strange way… before changing his face to one completely different.

It was Mr. 2 Bon Kurei. While we were trapped in that cage at Crocodile's secret lair, he went to destroy Nanohana and blame the King for it.

"Yeah…"

Another voice joined the clarifying.

"This battle… was manipulated from the very beginning."

This is the voice of the rebel leader.

"Kohza-san!"

"Leader!"

Slowly, the people started to come to their senses and realize the extent of the absurdity they were doing, although still in a very confused way.

"To all citizens… I will explain what happened to this country to the smallest detail. Therefore… I command you all to drop your weapons right now!" Igaram ordered…

…and everyone promptly complied. The moment that the sound of weapons touching the ground started spreading through the entire square was the signal… that the conflict was over.

As for us… we did what we had to do to help. Mission accomplished, we could say.

"Finally… calm after the storm." I whispered, smiling slightly and moving my hand through my somewhat messy hair.

"Nee… where's Luffy?" Nami asked.

"Let's go after him, we have nothing else to do here." Zoro replied, already packing his stuff and leaving the Central Square. The rest of us soon followed suit, calmly strolling through the streets of the capital ravaged by war, but once again peaceful with the rainfall.

"C'mon, Usopp… stand up and walk by yourself!" Sanji grumbled.

"Hey, no, wait… I'm suffering from 'if-I-walk-more-I'll-diosis'… please, leave me here…" Usopp complained because he didn't want to stand up anymore.

"Then, stand here." Zoro flatly added.

"Oi, oi, wait up!" Usopp still whined when Zoro decided to just grab his leg and drag him around, since he was protected by his 'mummy costume'.

"Oh…" Sanji exclaimed.

"What's up, did you find him?" I asked, walking to the front.

Right before us stood a man wearing a purple robe that covered another green and yellow full body garb and an orange cloth sash. He wore a necklace and had black hair.

He was carrying on his back…

"Who are you youngsters?"

…none other than our captain Luffy.

"Ah… well, old man… the guy you're carrying on your back, he's with us. Thanks for bringing him here." Sanji approached him, putting a hand behind his head and talking humbly. "You can leave him with us from now on."

"Who are you? By any chance, are you the pirates who brought Vivi back to our country?" He asked that out of the blue.

"Hm?" Sanji grunted, blankly staring at the old man. "Um… I'm sorry, but who are you, old man?"

"Dad! Everyone!" This voice…

We looked to a side to catch Vivi running towards us. Oh wait…

Dad?

"Y'MEAN, YOU'RE VIVI-CHAN'S FATHER?" Sanji immediately freaked out when he made the connection.

"You… y-y-you mean, you're the King?" I asked, totally caught off-guard. "Forgive our rudeness for not recognizing you right away, Your Majesty!" I immediately bowed, only to be hit by Sanji.

"What are you doing, man?" He reprimanded me.

"Oh, don't mind that, young man…" The King was unexpectedly nice. After that, he laid our captain against a wall and let him sleep in peace. "I was prepared to die once… but this young lad saved me. After fighting so much against Crocodile, as tired, as worn out as he was and with poison running on his body, he still had enough strength to carry two people out of the crumbling tomb we were in. It's almost impossible to understand how he's so strong…"

"If I can say so, it's complicated even for us, Your Majesty…" I said, still in a humble tone and putting a hand behind my head.

"You don't need to treat me so formally, be at ease." How nice of you!

"He was poisoned? Do we need to worry?" Usopp asked while he eyed Luffy's condition.

"No, no… you can relax, he already took the antidote." The King stated, immediately reassuring all of us. "He's fine, although he still needs extensive treatment for the rest of his injuries… as much as all of you."

Zoro walked towards a wall, sitting against it. "Vivi, hurry up and go."

"Eh?" She blinked.

"Get back to the Square." He completed.

"Heheheh…" Usopp, smiling broadly. "Now that the revolution is over, we just can't finish it all without a word or two from the King and the Princess, right?"

"Ah, then all of you should follow me…" Vivi tried to suggest but…

…Sanji cut her word. "Vivi-chan, you're aware of this, aren't you?" He turned his back to the Princess, lit his cigar, throwing the match away. "We're wanted pirates." He then turned to face her, smiling from ear to ear: "We don't really care 'bout countries or stuff like that!"

"We'll meet you at the Palace as soon as we can, Vivi. We're beaten up now." Nami commented.

"I'm hungry!" Chopper, naturally, with his tongue out.

"Get together with your people, Princess… they're the ones who need you the most." I said.

She and her father smiled back before walking away.

"We'll meet you at the Palace! See ya!" I walked a few steps and waved them goodbye, smiling broadly all the way, before walking back to my group. "Hmm… so, they're gone…" I said.

"Mission complete, so to speak?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah… Now that it's all over, can we… collapse now…?"

"I… guess so…"

As soon as the last word of that sentence left my mouth, the willingness to keep standing also ended. Finally I let exhaustion win, simply letting my body fall to the ground, hearing the others do the same and letting the world around me go black again. This time I had nothing to worry, since this is the slumber of victory.

The battle that will forever have its own place in the history of Arabasta… is finally over.

Now it's time to enjoy a peaceful and more than deserved rest.

* * *

**It's over.**

**The Straw Hats collapsed from their wounds, but ultimately they defeated Crocodile and Baroque Works. A three-year-long drought later, rain fell in the whole country and doused the fire of revolution. **

**The King and the Princess may now lead the reconstruction of a land torn by a crisis and a subsequent war that will forever be a important chapter in its several thousand-year-long history.**

**Next chapter: Our adventurers enjoy their rest and begin to prepare the farewell from the desert country!  
**


	80. A great banquet before the great escape!

**Chapter 80**

**"The pirates' banquet and the operation to escape Arabasta"**

* * *

"Oh my… it's impressive, young boy, this medicine is truly fascinating! Very original and extremely logic!"

"Um… huh?"

Said a wrinkly old doctor with a gray beard, dressed just like a wizard. He was watching very interestedly every step of our reindeer medic as he prepared his medicines, stirring in a bowl. Without taking his hands from his utensils, Chopper slowly turned his head, staring slack-jawed at the old doctor.

"How does someone as young and lively as you possess such medical expertise?" Asked the doctor, quite intrigued with our doctor's medical skills.

"Tony-kun is a doctor hailing from Drum Island." Vivi replied as she walked past the two, carrying a bowl full of water.

"Splendid! An apprentice of Drum, the great land of medicine?" The doctor continued, impressed.

"A… agh…" Chopper reacted, looking quite annoyed by the people looking at him while he's working. Been there, my friend… Oh how I can relate to that feeling…

"So it's true… they just don't stop advancing! Even with my forty-odd years of experience, I had no idea there was such a technique! This is truly fantastic! You're so young, yet I can't help you in the slightest…"

As he praised Chopper once more, our reindeer only fought harder not to panic, not having any idea how to react.

"Aw, come on, you're so annoying! Stop looking at me like that and go somewhere else! get it?" Funny, Chopper basically wanted him away while pulling the chair beside him as if saying 'have a seat', and offering the old doctor a cup of tea.

"Can I take that response as 'Please, by all means, have a spot of tea and watch as much as you like'?" Wow, dead on. The old doctor asked Vivi, apparently decoding Chopper's true message.

"I guess so." Vivi replied with a smile.

As the doctors talked with each other, Vivi walked back and forth treating our captain's wounds.

Three days passed since the great battle.

We were brought to a room of the Royal Palace to rest and recover from the extensive wounds and immense strain put on us by the fight.

The rest of the group had already rested and recovered enough to go walk around the palace and the streets of Alubarna to do some shopping. Our captain and I were the only ones still resting in the bedroom temporarily turned hospital. Even three days after the battle, I still had bandages in my torso, enjoying much of my time in bed. Yet, that didn't bother me since what I most wanted was some quiet.

"He naps like a baby…" I said smiling as I stared at Luffy, sleeping with his mouth open and snoring really loud, covered in a white blanket.

"Yes…" Vivi didn't say much, trailing off. She walked to his bed, dipped a piece of cloth in water, wringed it and put it on his forehead. After that, she looked at the window, smiling as she felt the breeze coming from outside.

The wind spread and filled the room with a refreshing sensation.

"We're back!" Suddenly, the door of the room opens, revealing Usopp and Sanji who were back from their shopping with huge bags.

"Welcome!" Vivi and I greeted them.

"So, how's he doing?" Usopp asked, breathing out as he put the bag, seemingly quite heavy, in the ground.

"He's still soundly asleep… but his fever is down already." Vivi replied.

"I'm ba~ck!" Nami said as she entered the room as well, pushing the door with a foot. Her hands were full of books.

"Ah! Nami-swan! You're always welcome!" Sanji immediately greeted her with hearts on his eyes.

"Hey, Nami! Welcome. Where you've been?" I asked.

"The King invited me to see his personal book collection and he gave me some of his books he'd already finished. I found so much good stuff!" Nami said happily as she put the books on a bed, turning some pages.

"Ooh! Hey, not fair! So, you go around scavenging others' libraries without telling me first? No fun!" I said, pouting, crossing my arms and turning my face away.

"You were still sleeping, silly! I didn't want to wake you up." Nami replied. I turned my head back to look at her. "You're thinking I forgot about you, right? Actually, I thought… 'Hey, I think Dan might like these'. Here."

She put some of the books apart and gave them to me. I leapt out of my bed and happily walked to give my 'gifts' a good look.

"Oh, thank you very much! I was running out of books to read already. When we're back at the sea, now I know how I'm gonna spend my time." I said as I checked the book at the top of the small pile.

"WAAHH! WHAT A GOOD NAAAP!"

No prizes for guessing who yells like that when he wakes up…

"Oh man, this guy is loud even when waking up… For a change." Sanji commented.

Always with a sunny disposition, raising his arms up high and smiling broadly, Luffy finally woke up from his three-day slumber. No, really.

"G'morning, guys! Hm? Are? My hat, where's my hat?" As soon as he greeted us, he passed a hand on his head, immediately noticing the absence of his straw hat. "Hey, what about breakfast? …and my hat?" He looked around back and forth, searching for both things.

"Hey, hey… good morning my ass, dude! It's no time for breakfast anymore, Luffy. It's afternoon." Usopp updated him, then he pointed to the straw hat, resting in a table. "Your hat's over there. A soldier found it lying in the street and decided to bring it up here."

Luffy quickly stretched one arm and soon he was in possession of his dear treasure. "Nice!" He smiled yet again when he put it back on his head.

"That's great, Luffy-san! You're healthy again!" Vivi said in relief.

"Healthy? Again? I've always been healthy, haven't I?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Fool… you were sick and with a high fever! Vivi and Chopper had to take care of you the whole time, you know?" Nami told him.

"Oh, really? Thanks!" Luffy smiled.

"Ah, Luffy! You're up already?"

The door opened yet again to reveal Zoro, dressed in a gray robe adorned with his trademark haramaki and carrying his three swords.

"O-hey! Zoro, what's up? Long time no see… Long time?" Luffy greeted him.

"AAH! Hold it right there! Don't tell me you snuck out to go train again?" Exasperatedly, Chopper jumped from where he stood to go scold Zoro.

"Yeah, so what? I do what I want." Zoro scoffed.

"When I say no it's a no!" Chopper complained. "I'm this ship's doctor, dammit! Speaking of which, where are your bandages?"

"I took them off. They hinder my movements." Zoro flatly replied.

"Then don't friggin' move!" Chopper yelled.

"Long time? Long time?" Luffy asked, confusedly tilting his head left and right.

Usopp sighed. "Well, it isn't that strange you feel like that, huh? You slept for the past three days!"

"Three days? I slept for three days?" Luffy asked, startled. Usopp confirmed. Some moments of silence later… "I missed fifteen meals."

"How can you make these calculations so fast?" Nami commented.

"He even counted five meals a day!" Usopp stated, surprised.

"When it's about eating, he even does arithmetic!" I noted.

"So, your Captain's finally awake?"

"Wah!" I was caught completely off-guard by another visitor suddenly bursting through the door.

"Dinner will come shortly. Can you wait a little more?"

"Ah! The curly haired old man! You're alive!" Luffy greeted the… uh, um… visitor.

I found it hard to believe that was Igaram… yeah, he had curly hair… but he also wore pink clothes, a frilly skirt and, gasp… he used lipstick! I don't even know if he's a _he_ anymore!

"You… I always knew you had those hobbies!" Zoro said, equally incredulous.

"No, no, guys. This is a lady and her name is Terracotta-san. She's Igaram's wife and the Palace's head chef!" Vivi clarified.

Oh, so he's a _she_ after all. Had Vivi not told us that outright, I'd never tell the difference! Unfortunately this whole mess brought out the (disturbing) mental image of Igaram in Vivi's attire.

"You're kidding me… I can't believe husband and wife look so much alike!" Zoro turned away from her, too shocked to even look.

"I've heard that you eat a lot." Surprises aside, Terracotta spoke to our captain. "Can you eat these fruits as a little snack and hold out until dinner?"

All the commotion around Igaram's wife distracted me enough to overlook the fact that she brought a _cart stuffed with a shitload of fruits of all sorts!_

"Nice." Luffy nodded.

In a moment, everything was there. In the next, it was gone. He. Ate. It. All!

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Sanji and Zoro asked.

That's what you get when meet someone with a rubber stomach…

"Hey, auntie, I'm gonna eat three days worth of food, y'know?" …and probably get so fat he'll move only if someone rolls him around.

"Bring it on! I'm a cook for thirty years! I won't be left behind because of the tummy of a young boy, so, you can eat to your heart's content!" Mrs. Terracotta stated confidently, clenching a fist.

…

…

…

Fast forward to the dinner and the great dining room. At the first signs of food dishes, all hell broke loose.

At wildly different paces, we started to chomp down the gigantic feast.

It had pretty much everything! Lobster, meat, spaghetti, meat, rice with gravy, meat, riceballs… did I mention it had meat?

I tried to eat at my own pace, but every once in a while I saw myself trying to defend my own plate from some intruding hands. Luffy didn't give a rat's ass about manners and unabashedly tried to steal everyone else's food whenever we lowered our guards.

"Eat it fast or else… hey!" There goes Zoro's piece of meat…

…

"Here I go… Aaah-hey! Luffy, stop stealing my food!" Usopp angrily yelled over losing his crab…

…

"Stop spitting in my face!" Nami punched his cheek stuffed full with food…

…

"Oi! It's my plate! Give it back!" I lost my piece of meat, rice, plate and everything else!

…

"Hey, hey, Chopper, don't eat so fast, you're gonna end throwing it out again!"

Even with Sanji's warning, Chopper was all about vacuuming his whole plate of spaghetti before our captain snatched it from him.

"There's still more of it!" Vivi offered another dish for our mascot reindeer.

…

"If you wanna eat so much, then take this… Tabasco sauce!" Usopp set up a malicious trick…

Luffy soon snatched his rice ball, ate it and spat out a stream of flames! Turns out it was a spicy rice ball!

As soon as he saw his plan working out, Usopp laughed his butt off…

"Hey, where did you come from?" …before almost falling off from his chair when he saw no one other than the camel Eyelash caught him by surprise! Curiously, he ate his meal with a fork and knife, trying to keep some class amongst the ruckus.

Rounds and more rounds of food were continually being served as long as the chefs felt they weren't filling our bellies enough. I thank them, but at the same time, I feel sorry for them, having to work non-stop to feed us. However, it was way past the time I needed to recharge my batteries and this feast is everything I needed! And I'm still hungry!

Sanji appreciated the different traditional foods, Nami praised the high quality of the food in general, Luffy tried to speak through his chewing to the King, Zoro asked for another mug of beer… I tried not to belch too loudly… Chopper begged for water 'cause he couldn't swallow his food properly… all of that as I looked around and noticed the weird and disgusted looks of the soldiers watching the feast and trying to understand what they were seeing…

Meanwhile, amid utter chaos… Vivi was heartily laughing!

"Incredible… How can the Princess laugh at all this?" The wondering mumbles I could hear were mostly about that.

Sooner than anyone would expect… the disgusted faces of the soldiers…

…were struggling not to giggle…

…but couldn't and after all, they were laughing anyway!

The feast was getting over, our bellies were getting full and so the true craziness could start!

Chopper and Usopp soon got on the table and did their full set of crazy antics, drawing lots and lots of laughs from everyone in the room! The party atmosphere was in full swing!

I think I've never laughed so much in my life!

…

…

…

Let's skip to later in the day. With the sun setting, with our bellies full and the food already being digested, the King invited us to a refreshing bath.

"This is our vaporized bath hall. Usually, we only use it when it rains." The King introduced us to the royal 'bathroom'.

"Woow! Sugee!" Luffy fanboyed.

"Incredible! Gorgeous! Hey, Luffy, c'mon! Let's race!"

Usopp praised too and went right to racing around the hall. Luffy followed suit and there goes the duo running to bathe in the waters of the fountain, only in their birthday suits. Not surprisingly, they slid in the slippery floor and bounced across the hall. After they recovered, they went to play around in the fountain like two pesky kids.

"Surely the banquet has been pleasant… I normally enjoy my meals quietly and mostly in silence, but it seems that everything turns into a party whenever you're around, right?" The King smiled as he stated that.

I don't know what star we were collectively born under for that to happen, Your Majesty…

I decided to stay by myself in a corner and scrub my body, watching everything around me. Zoro was occupied scrubbing Chopper's back. Usopp and Luffy tried to catch their attention, making poses as if meditating under the waterfall. The King was… well, meditating near the fountain.

"Heey!"

"Wah!"

All of a sudden, Sanji snuck behind me and put a hand in my shoulder.

"Hey, man, what if we asked the curly hair old man about… the secret!" Sanji whispered, scheming something.

"The… secret?" I asked, quite puzzled.

Sanji looked left and right before whispering again. "Let's peek on the girls bathing!"

There you go. A man's greatest dream: peek at naked women in the bathroom. Just as he was finished telling me that, I felt my face rapidly heating up.

"T… t… t-the girls? No… I-I-I… I'm too shy for that…" I said, at loss and getting embarrassed with the idea.

"Aw, c'mon… you do share my dream of seeing them in all their naked glory, don't you?" He asked in a teasing tone. "Let's go! This is the perfect chance!"

My more gentlemanly and timid side didn't want to disturb the girls' bath. However, at the same time, there was a growing (no pun intended) bit of curiosity of my decidedly male side who wanted to peek just a little.

"B-b-b-but… Ah!"

As I lost myself in this little dilemma, Sanji just decided for me and dragged me to go ask Igaram… the question.

"So… where's the… ladies room?" Sanji asked, poking the royal guard with his elbow.

"ARE YOU NUTS? Don't think I'm ever going to tell you that, because Vivi-sama is over th-" He refuted, vehemently denying any answers…

"At the other side of this wall!" …but the King cut his word, bravely pointing to a wall ahead of him.

"YOUR MAJESTY, HOW DARE YOU?" Igaram almost freaked out with the King's antics…

"Nice! Let's go!" Sanji dragged me to the wall and there went all of us (including Zoro) to spy on what the girls were doing…

I only hope Nami doesn't charge me for what we're about to do…

We all climbed mightily the wall, hoping for the steam to dissipate and reveal… the wondrous ladies room! We saw Vivi covered in a towel, scrubbing Nami's back…

"Huh? Guys! What are you all doing there?" Vivi looked behind, getting startled by the presence of so many glares directed at her.

"Aw, c'mon…" Nami merely sighed, standing up. "You want to satiate your eyes, huh? So, listen up… this'll cost 100k for each of you."

Oh shit…

"I'm not looking… I'm not looking… I'm not looking…" I whispered as I put a hand covering my eyes.

"Happiness Punch!"

I ended up succumbing to the temptation and staring at her. I almost passed out when I saw her showing off her nude body. That sent a stream of blood through my nose… that was enough to make me let go of the wall and fall flat on my back, banging my head in the ground. Apparently, the same happened to everyone else…

"Mellorine…" Sanji said, stunned.

"Ow, ow, ow…" I rolled back and forth, trying to massage my new bump.

So I spent the rest of the bath trying not to think about… my, uh… issues 'down there'.

And… now I have a debt! Hooray!

…

Skipping ahead…

…

"Thank you…" The King said… as his nose was bleeding.

"Dirty old man." We said.

"NOT FOR THAT!" The King explained himself, wiping the blood off his nose. "It's for what you did for our country."

The King then sat down in the ground and did something you'd never expect someone from the royalty to do.

"Oi, oi, are you sure you should be doing that?" Zoro warned.

"This is pretty serious, Cobra-sama!" Igaram alerted. "A king never lowers his head before others!"

Yes. The King bowed to us as a token of thanks.

"Igaram." The King didn't change his stance. "Power is something you wear over your clothes. We're at the bath now. Or is there something as a nude king?" He asked. "I want to express my gratitude as a man from this land and, above everything else, as a father. Thank you… thank you very much!"

Luffy replied for every one of us, smiling broadly.

Don't worry, Your Majesty, we surely receive your thanks with pleasure.

…

After we took this relaxing bath, we wore the sleeping robes the Princess lent us and headed to the room to discuss our next moves.

"This night?" Usopp asked.

"Yup." Nami replied.

Since our mission in the land of the deserts was pretty much accomplished, Nami suggested that we leave this night.

"Well, we have no reason to stay anymore." Zoro agreed.

"And the marines are getting even more stubborn." Sanji recalled.

"So, Luffy, what do we decide?" Usopp asked.

"Hmmm… ok, we're leaving! But only after another of those giant feas-" Luffy declared…

…or he would if Zoro didn't bonk him in the head. "We're leaving right away, you doofus!"

As we talked amongst ourselves, I couldn't help but notice that Vivi didn't seem to be comfortable with the idea.

"What's up, Vivi-san? You look sad…" I talked to her.

"No… it's that…" She tried to reply, but couldn't find the words. After she swallowed, she talked. "It's funny… when we met for the first time, I was alone, willing to capture you all just because you stood in my way… but now that we spent this time together… I'm divided."

All of us remained silent.

"On one hand, I want to stay because I have a country to take care of… on the other… I don't want to be away from you… I want to cruise through the world, go in adventures, find where I can go…"

"Really? You wanna go with us?" Luffy's eyes were shining with Vivi's confession.

"I do… but I don't… I don't really know." Vivi was still indecisive.

"Pardon the interruption!"

After a few knocks on the door, suddenly it opens and a royal servant-looking man enters bringing a tray with a phone-snail.

"A phone call? From whom?" Nami asked.

"A man called… Bon-chan." The servant replied.

"Bon-chan? Who is this guy?" Sanji asked, confusedly.

"Never heard that one." Usopp stated, equally puzzled.

"But, he says he's an acquaintance of yours, so…" The servant said.

Sighing, Sanji finally stood up and walked to pick up the phone.

"Hello, hello? Hi, ho! Hello! Haaahahaha! It's meey! It's-a… a-me! A-"

With a weird look on his face, Sanji hung up.

Soon the phone rang once again. "Aw, what now? So annoying!" Sanji got irked. Luffy stretched his arms, snatching the phone from the tray and picking it up.

"Hey, you! What do you want with us this time, huh?" Luffy went straight to the point.

Oh, wait, it's Mr. 2 Bon Kurei! He's still alive?

"Ara? This voice… if it isn't my little Straw Hat! Aw, you're so strong, little boy! I was surprised!" We heard his rambling in silence. "Ah, yes, yes! Don't call me Mr. 2, ok? See, if Marine's really overhearing us talking, that could mean serious trouble for me!"

"You just said it right now!" Chopper called out.

"Spit it out already!" Zoro ordered.

"OK, OK! Y'know, about your ship? I took it!"

Wait, what?

"YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?"

"You bastard! What, came to laugh at us, huh? Where are you?" Usopp asked angrily.

"Sailing in your shi~ip!" Bon-chan replied singing.

"Of all people, it had to be this weirdo?" Sanji cursed.

"No! No! You don't understand! Mou… why can't we be friends again?" Bon asked before giggling some more.

…

"He's at the Sandora River now…" Luffy thought aloud.

"Can we really trust him?" Sanji wondered.

"We were friends once…" Luffy said.

"The idea of doing it again scares me to death!" Zoro quipped.

"Yeah, I remember… that bastard almost killed me to go after the Princess…" I recalled.

"But… we don't have much of a choice." Chopper sighed.

"Yeah, that's true…" Sanji agreed. "He's with our ship… Well, if he tries any of his funny stuff, it's a matter of kicking him out."

"If everything's settled, let's go, then." Zoro stood up, sighed and started to pack his things. Soon, all of us followed suit.

"Guys…" Vivi interrupted, making us stare at her.

"Huh?"

"Ne… guys… I… I don't know what I should do…" Vivi looked down.

After a few silent moments, Nami came up with this plan:

"Listen closely, Vivi. We'll give you until noon to make up your mind. After we catch back our ship at the Sandora River, we'll leave through the West Seaport. We probably won't be able to lower anchor so, if you wanna join us, this is your only chance! If you come, we're gonna celebrate… as pirates!"

"You're this kingdom's Princess so, this is the best offer we have for you." Sanji said, already preparing to go down through a rope.

"Come with us, Vivi! It's gonna be fun! Let's go! Let's go now!" Luffy pressed.

"Stop bugging her, Luffy!" Usopp interrupted. "This is something she has to decide by herself."

"Oh, wait!" I said, earning some blank stares.

"Before we leave, I wanted to give you a small gift."

I pulled out a sheet of my sketchbook and gave it to Vivi.

"What's that?" She asked as she turned it.

"See for yourself." I said. "It's something I completed during my spare time. Didn't want to leave without giving it to you."

"Oh… it's my portrait!" Vivi smiled. "Thank you, Dan-san. It's pretty well done!"

"I say only this: decide what's best for you." I said as I stepped away.

"Come on, Dan! We're leaving!" Usopp called. I looked behind me to see the others already down below.

"Coming!" I replied, then I stared at her for the final time. "Goodbye! Until noon!"

At last, I climbed down the rope, trembling a bit due to the height, but firmly gripping to it until I stepped safely the ground. I got surprised to see the Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad (without captain Carue) already waiting to take us back to the Sandora River.

Wasting no time, the seven of us mounted the ducks, gripped the reins and sped away, starting our journey through the desert back to the Going Merry, waiting for us in the hands of Mr. 2!

"Wahh… goodbye, land of the sand!" Usopp lamented, but he turned to the side to see Luffy chomping on a piece of meat. "Dammit, Luffy, you're still eating?"

"Hmmm! This Arabasta food is delicious! Sanji! When we're back at the ship, I'm gonna want some more, ok?" Luffy turned to his side, asking.

"Leave it to me! I got some recipes with Mrs. Terracotta." He replied.

On my side, Chopper couldn't stop looking to his side. I looked as well and spotted Nami with her head down, looking sad, through the dust cloud.

"What's up, Nami-chan?" I asked.

"Is she feeling sick?" Chopper wondered.

"Hey, Nami, do you want a piece of meat? A tiny bit, ok?" Luffy said.

She didn't say anything.

"Nami-san… it's because of Vivi-chan, isn't it?" Sanji intervened. "It's not gonna do you any good to keep thinking about it now. Can't help it though, you got along so well in such a short time… but, c'mon, cheer up!"

"I… it's for Vivi's sake… I'll give… my billion beri."

…um, what?

"OF COURSE YOU WILL!"

"YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE MONEY?" Sanji yelled.

"What? Whoa! Guys, Usopp fell down!" Chopper and I screamed when we saw Usopp facefaulting hard in the sand.

"Nami! Quit being so damn misleading!" Zoro complained.

"Huh, what? Why are you flailing about? I don't need to worry about Vivi, do I?" Nami replied as if nothing happened.

"Guys, Usopp fell down!" Chopper and I insisted but no one seemed to listen.

"It's his problem!" Nami replied…

"BUT IT'S YOUR FAULT!"…and everyone yelled at her.

Ay, ay… She always surprises us at every corner…

* * *

**Through the night, the Straw Hat Pirates cross the desert to get back to their ship and escape Arabasta before Marine catches them!**

**But what about Vivi? Will she join them? Or is she going to stay?**

**We'll see her decision in the next chapter!  
**


	81. The travel goes on! Goodbye, Arabasta!

**Chapter 81**

**"Goodbye, Arabasta! Vivi's tale and a heartfelt farewell"**

* * *

"Ok, we're here." Zoro called.

"Alright, you can unload now!" Sanji ordered.

After a long final journey through the deserts of Arabasta, now cold with the daybreak, we finally arrived at the shore of Sandora River where our ship was anchored.

"Thank you, everyone! Goodbye!"

Sanji thanked the members of Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad for volunteering to bring us back to our ship.

"Now it's time to say goodbye…" Usopp said while petting one of the ducks.

"Take care on your way back!" Zoro said.

Receiving our gratefulness, the ducks, always adorned with their very cool hats and jewelry, saluted us for the final time before they returned to the Royal Palace and stay with their captain and the Princess.

"Take care, all of you!" Nami screamed as she waved them goodbye.

"Send our thanks to the King and to the curly old man!" Luffy waved with both hands.

"Goodbye! Thanks for the ride! See y'all later!" I joined them and waved too.

"Waaaahhhh! Hey… waaaait a minute!"

"Hmph… what now?"

It was Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, who leapt from the crow's nest to stand at the ship's railing.

"'What now' my butt! What kind of attitude is yours towards your friend, by which I mean me, huh?" Mr. 2 complained while repeatedly stomping the ground like a spoiled brat.

"What do you mean 'friend'? You're our enemy, aren't you?" Luffy retorted. "Fooling us like that…"

"Hey, tell me when did I fool you again? I didn't know either!" Mr. 2 tried to explain himself. "Ohh… it's all good now, though… anyway, this is a thing of the past now. Baroque Works has crumbled after all! We're not enemies anymore." He then sighed in resignation, sitting on the railing.

"If we're not enemies anymore, what the hell are you still doing in our ship?" Luffy asked, a little annoyed.

"Aaahnnn… you're such a moron!" Mr. 2 insulted.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Luffy angrily shouted.

"Pay attention: had I not been in your ship this whole time, what do you think would have happened to it, huuuhh?" Mr. 2 asked, equally ticked off.

"It could've been snatched by the Marine." Nami took Luffy's place and replied while she put a huge bag in the ground.

Cue blank eyes and a shocked look on Luffy's face.

"Not only could but effectively _would_ be taken!" Mr. 2 stated firmly. "Do you have any idea of what on earth is happening around this island? It's completely isolated by Marine ships! I-so-la-ted!"

"S… so… you protected our Going Merry from Marine's siege?" Wow, Luffy deduced that quite fast…

"Why'd you do that?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah, why?" Chopper followed him.

Mr. 2 replied, teary-eyed, doing a thumbs up: "'Cause we're friends!"

Just as he said that, Usopp, Luffy and Chopper were instantly moved by this altruistic gesture coming from where we'd never expect, quickly getting aboard to celebrate and sing together with our strange guest…

…as the rest of us stared at the scene, trying not to be weirded out.

"Nee, is there still any luggage left?" I heard Nami asking.

"I guess there's still…" I heard Sanji thinking aloud…

"The last one!" …while I climbed the rope ladder carrying whatever was left of luggage lying in the ground. "There. Everything inside. Let's get going, shall we?" I wiped off the dust on my hands, doing a quick salute. "Sir, yes sir!"

"Hey, Mr. 2."

As I put the luggage on the floor, I heard Zoro speaking to our guest.

"Since Marine ships are surrounding this island, that means you have no way to escape as well… so, you meant to take a lift on our boat so you could run away?"

That question was enough to make Mr. 2, totally caught off-guard, jerk and jump back, hitting his head against the wall and sulking immediately afterwards while the other three gawked at him…

"Bon-chan!" They shouted.

"Yes… that is correct! It's in these times that we need each other! The situation we're in demands that… demands that, in the name of our sacred friendship… WE COMBINE ALL OUR POWERS AND FIGHT AGAINST THE ODDS!"

"YEEEEAAAHH!" The four of them screamed energetically…

"Ahn… could we just set sail already?" …weirding Nami out again.

"Thanks for the help!"

Totally out of the blue, Mr. 2's swan-ship appeared! I mean, just like that!

"How long were you here?" Zoro commented.

…

…

…

"FIRE! FIRE! OPEN FIRE!"

Hoo boy… The loud booming sound of cannonballs being shot only manages to unnerve me even more…

"Aahh! Screw it! Bring it on! Just try sending another of your shots at me! I'll send them back!"

It's morning already.

Daybreak was relatively peaceful, but the morning will surely be intense! Despite our best efforts to sneak past them, the Marine ships found us, we're surrounded with no way out and they don't stop shooting at us!

"Damn bastards! If they keep hurling these huge-ass iron spears at us, sinking will only be a matter of time!" Sanji alerted as the spears pierced Merry's hull.

"Seriously, guys, don't joke with meeeeey!" Mr. 2 complained.

"MORE COMING!" Nami screamed.

Huge iron spears coming everywhere… here we go to defend our ship with everything we have!

Mr. 2, me, Sanji, Luffy and Zoro were tasked with repelling the projectiles… Usopp and Chopper currently are frantically working to patch the damages to our ship's hull… and Nami was left to oversee everything… and freak out.

"Hey, I can't patch all holes if we stay like this!" Chopper went through the trouble to get up here just to complain…

"HURRY UP, DO SOMETHING!" Nami's alarm level kept going up.

"We can't protect both sides at the same time!" Sanji shouted.

"Dammit… eight ships against us is just too much!" I could do nothing but grouse at our situation.

"Even when we're at an advantage in close combat… If we don't charge or retreat, they're not going to move away from their formation!" Zoro said.

Two ahead… two on our left… two on our right… and two behind us.

We. Are. So. Fucked!

"Black Cage Division: Black Spear Squadron!" Shouted one of the officers in the ships on our right.

"Aahahahahah! Those bastards won't defeat us! They're a bunch of idiots!" Shouted the other one… hey, wait. I've got the feeling I met that guy before!

"Hey! Hypnotist! I thought you were a pirate!" Luffy wondered.

"Shut up! I have my reasons for being a marine!" The 'hypnotist' replied.

"H-hey, have you met before?" I asked.

"He's a weirdo who was a friend of the guy who tried to kill Usopp's friend!" Whoa, whoa, whoa… Luffy explained that in a way that made me impossible to catch it all… well, screw it. I'll ask him about it later…

"I AM NOT A WEIRDO!" The 'hypnotist' took offense.

"Hey, I think I know the guy in the left…" Sanji put a hand on his chin, having the same 'familiar face' feeling.

"It could've been a hundred years since we last met! That arrogant cook and his friends… Today I will be the one to sink you all down! I powered up since the last time, y'know?" Said the guy sporting knuckles on his hands, whose name I can't quite recall…

"Pay attention to this ring. Today I'll prove to all of you I'm not a weirdo!" The 'hypnotist' standing at the right, prepared his trick. "ONE… TWO… JAN-"

BOOM!

Without any kind of warning, the ship in the right blows up, breaking in pieces that fell right in the ship in the left, sinking both of them to the bottom of the ocean!

"Um, what?" Don't worry, Luffy, I'm just as confused as you!

How on earth did that happen?

Luffy looked to his side and so did I.

We spotted Usopp, standing at the other side of the ship right beside a cannon and staring slack-jawed at what happened or… probably at what he has just done!

"Usopp? It was you? That was awesome!"

He slowly turned his head to look at us, still gawking.

"Ah! AAHAHAH! YOSH, JUST AS I CALCULATED! HAHA! THEY'RE NOT A MATCH TO MY MAD SHOOTING SKILLS!" Suddenly, he snapped back, quickly gloating about his achievement!

Yeah! He has just shot a cannon ball far away and hit right in the Marine ship!

"You're fantastic, Usopp-kun! Superb aiming!" I jumped.

"Longnose-chan, t'was beautiful! Good job!" Mr. 2 praised. "Both ships at south are down! Let's get there full speed!"

"BON KUREI-SAMA, WE HAVE TROUBLE!" Shouted one of the crewmates at the ship close to ours, Mr. 2's swan-ship.

"What now?" Mr. 2 asked, annoyed.

"THE BLACK CAGE!" His subordinate shouted, pointing forward.

"Black Cage? What's that?" Luffy innocently asked.

"It's… it's Black Cage Hina! The Marine HQ Captain who's in charge of this area of the sea! This is bad! This is really, reeeallly baaad! Let's get out of here, out, out, out!" Mr. 2 panicked.

"SIR, YES SIR! BON KUREI-SAMA!" His subordinates quickly acknowledged his command.

"Sooo, how about you, what the hell are you doing? Let's get going already! If we escape by south, we'll escape with minor damage! If we stay, it's going to be our end for sure! We'll be captured! I don't even want to think about what they'll do to us! Do not want!" Mr. 2 kept panicking even more.

All of us stood at the lower deck silently thinking.

"You're free to go that way. We won't follow you, though." Luffy stepped forward.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YOU WON'T'!" Mr. 2 asked, shocked.

"BON KUREI-SAMA! PLEASE HURRY! WE'RE GONNA RUN AWAY WITHOUT YOU!" Shouted Mr. 2's subordinate back at the swan-ship.

"See? Let's go!" Mr. 2 kept insisting…

…but we can't follow him.

"We agreed to pass through the East Dock at noon." Nami said, turning her back at an upset Bon Kurei. "We have no time to turn back… we need to go forward."

"Aahhnn… that's bonkers! What treasure could be greater than your own lives?" Mr. 2 asked.

"It's for our friend."

These words automatically stopped Mr. 2 dead in his tracks. He stopped and thought deeply.

"F… for… for a friend?"

He spoke slowly, realizing the weight what he just heard had on his spirit.

After silently thinking, he turned his back to us, facing his followers and letting his pink long coat float with the wind.

"To run away now would be a great offense against my principles! Friends who are willing to risk their future just to go see a comrade… would they be at ease in their minds, knowing that they just abandoned their friend?" Mr. 2 proclaimed while making confident stances.

His words instantly touched the hearts of his crewmates.

With a confident tone of voice, Mr. 2 went on: "Listen you all… that goes to you as well, Team Mugi-chan! Pay close attention!"

Mr. 2 volunteered to offer his ship as a distraction, telling us he would try his damnedest to make the Marine fleet chase his boat.

"After all… we're the masters of disguise! Farewell… my friends! See you later!" Confidently, he jumped back inside his ship, steering away from us.

For the time being we let ourselves stay where we were to check how the Marine ships would move. According to the plan, all of their ships ran after the swan-ship, leaving an open freeway for us to escape. Still, we waited until Nami's command. She marked the right time in a chronometer, which is…

"Now! Full speed ahead!"

Just as the swan-ship managed to grab the attention of the entire Marine fleet, we sneaked past them, successfully running away!

"There are those who deviate from the masculine way… there are those who deviate from the feminine way… but the way we all must go through, whether we want to or not… is the human way! All friends should fly in the skies of truth… and bloom! OKAMA WAY!"

He still had time to give one last rousing speech…

"By… Bon Kurei."

"Wow… beautiful…" I felt a solitary tear in the corner of my eye as I heard him talking…

Everyone rushed to the back of our ship to check the aftermath of Mr. 2's distraction. Sooner than anyone would expect, the vessels started attacking each other and it didn't take long before they all disappeared completely under a smoke cloud and a column of fire above the sea.

"Bon-chan… Bon-chan! We… WE'RE DEFINITELY NOT GONNA FORGET YOU!" Luffy said while bawling his eyes out, witnessing Mr. 2's unlikely heroic sacrifice… a scene that touched all of us.

Thank you, Bon Kurei! You certainly don't look like a bad guy anymore!

Just as we started to think that our route to the East Dock would be peaceful onwards…

"OH NO, THEY GOT BACKUP!" Usopp shouted.

Yeah… looks like that Hina's fleet had a backup unit in standby! And they're coming right at us!

"DAMN IT, GET OUT OF OUR WAY!" Luffy angrily shouted.

"Shit… we have to take them out by ourselves this time!" Zoro cursed.

"No sweat, man… when the time comes, let's just kick their asses!" I tried to raise his spirit, cracking my knuckles and getting ready to battle!

Just as the Marine ships started to gang up on us… we didn't waste time, rushing to sink them as soon as possible!

"We have no business with you jerks! Piss off!" I screamed as we invaded one ship, immediately proceeding to beat the crap out of every marine in it.

…

"I… I was in a… little adventure."

…

While we wreaked authentic havoc inside the Marine ships, I could hear a voice… a female voice… it's Vivi!

"This adventure… started as a journey guided by utter desperation. I fell head-first in a dark and tempestuous sea."

Yeah, it's the Princess! Looks like her speech already started! One more reason to kick these pesky marines' asses in a second!

"Bastards, get outta our way!" Sanji screamed as he spun-kicked a bunch of marines.

"Waaaahhh!" Luffy, in mid-air, sent a flurry of high-speed punches to reduce the ships to dust!

It was tough, it was hard, but we ultimately were able to find a way past the Marine backup and keep moving towards our meeting point.

"Far away from home… the sea ahead of me is endless. And its islands are full of secrets hard to understand. Animals I've never seen before… Sceneries I've never even dreamed of."

"Hey, guys, listen! It's Vivi's speech!" I screamed, rushing to the side of our ship facing the shore.

"Ah… it's the transmission from the Central Square." Sanji confirmed.

"The music from the waves was calm at times. It flowed smoothly, taking the minor problems away from me. However, at times it could be noisy, violent. Loudly laughing… crushing the weak hearts…"

Such beautiful words… never in my humble imagination could I conceive such a nice speech…

"Amid a dark… dark storm, I stared at the horizon to found a small ship. Its crew members put a hand in my back, telling me: 'Can't you see? The light at the end of the tunnel?'… Without losing track of their way, nor letting itself go down by the dark sea it faced, that small and mysterious ship traversed through powerful waves as if it danced around them. Never challenging the superior will of the sea… always marching forward, even if the wind blew against it!

How inspiring…

"So, they pointed ahead and told me: 'Look! There's the light!' Even if history comes to record this as a mere illusion… I know that for me, it is and will always be the truth!"

"Amazing… I could hear this all day…" I dozed off as I heard Princess Vivi's speech.

"Vivi…" Chopper said.

He and Luffy were ever so anxious to see Vivi standing at the shore… but she didn't seem to be coming anytime soon.

"Is she gonna come here?" Chopper wondered.

"Not likely… this is her ceremony." Sanji said, already in a sad tone.

"Don't say bullcrap! It just _sounds_ like her voice, I'm sure of it!" Luffy said, still holding high hopes on her. "She's _going_ to meet us!"

"Maybe… maybe not…" I said, still daydreaming.

Luffy looked left and right… patiently waiting to see a little silhouette or any signal that the Princess would join us.

"Nah… let's get going already, it's way past noon. She's not coming." Sanji already gave up.

"No! She has to be here! Let's leave the ship and search for her! I'm sure she's gonna be here!" I don't know how he can stay so confident about it… well, it's Luffy we're talking about.

"Hey! Problems, everyone! Marine's going to charge at us for the third time!" Usopp called from the back of the ship.

"Aw, come on, how many friggin' ships do they have anyway?" Zoro angrily asked.

When I went to check, I spotted other six vessels coming out from a rocky formation.

"Shit… let's run away!" Zoro ordered.

"Turning starboard!" Usopp rushed to the helm…

…as I leaned on the railing, seeing the ship turn and hoping, wishing, asking for an answer. Vivi… will you join us or not?

"Give up, Luffy… we and she belong to different worlds." Sanji said.

Luffy just grunted. He wasn't in the mood to leave without her, but under our current circumstances, it's way too difficult.

…

…

…

"GUYS!"

Suddenly, we heard a loud scream, amplified by the loudspeakers, coming all the way from the shore.

We all rushed to the back of the ship, frantically looking left and right until…

…we spotted a little white spot and a yellow spot amongst the rocks.

"VIVI!" Luffy screamed, joyfully leaping to stand over the railing and smiling broadly when he spotted her.

It was hard to see, but I could notice that she was in her full princess garment and that she let her light-blue hair down, flowing with the wind.

"CARUE!" Usopp stepped forward too, happier than ever.

"Vivi!" Nami…

"Vivi-san!" Me…

"Vivi-chan!" Sanji, already melting away…

"See? I told you she'd be here!" Luffy turned.

"Quick! Someone, turn around the ship!" Usopp was so eager to do it himself.

"The Marines are near us! Get onboard!" Chopper ran to wave at Vivi.

"I CAME HERE TO SAY GOODBYE!"

"Ahahah… huh? What did she say?"

Say goodbye? But… but…

"I can't go with you! But, thank you very much for everything!"

In a few moments, the celebrations waned away and all of us stared in silence.

"I'd love to live lots of adventures with you all… but I just can't… that's because… because… I LOVE MY COUNTRY!"

It's settled. She's not joining us.

Well, at least we tried… but it's a decision she made by herself. I don't think it's gonna do us good to go against it…

"Really? Um… Ok, then!" After thinking silently for a few moments, Luffy took it with a good spirit, smiling as he accepted Vivi's choice.

"I…" Vivi continued. "I…"

Or rather, she wanted to continue, but suddenly she was struggling to keep going. Her voice was beginning to tremble, as it was clear she was fighting not to cry.

"I… I'll stay here!" Oh, no… here we go again… Please, Vivi…

"Please, Vivi-san… stop crying already…"

The Princess's shaky voice deeply touched me. When it comes to emotional moments like these, I'm too weak!

"Or else… I'm going to cry too!" I touched my face, trying my hardest to keep from crying.

"But…" Vivi tried to keep on. "…if we come to meet again someday… am I still going to be… a friend for you?"

Of course! Of course you will! There's no doubt about it!

Wait a second… how do we tell that to her?

"OF COU-"

"DON'T! IDIOT!"

Before Luffy could shout it directly to her, Nami quickly taped his mouth shut, forcefully pinning him down to the floor.

"Nami…" I whispered.

"Do not reply!" Nami said firmly. "The Marine spotted Vivi already. If you reply, the marines are going to suspect she has a connection with us. And if they manage to find out our connection, she will be labeled as a criminal."

Under such pressure… she's got a point.

Now, how should we tell her?

"Our farewell must be silent." Nami then helped Luffy to stand back up. We slowly walked a few steps away from the railing, lining up and turning away from the shore.

It turns out that there's still a way for us to show that she is our comrade.

I almost forgot about it… About…

…

…

…the symbol drawn on our left arms.

"From now on, no matter what may happen… this thing on our left arms… will be the sign of our friendship!" I recalled what Luffy said before we first stepped on the land of the deserts.

Yes! The X that has been drawn in each of our left arms, which initially served as a second countermeasure against Mr. 2's impersonations now has become… the symbol of our camaraderie. The symbol that connects us!

As I played that film in my mind, I didn't bother anymore, just letting the tears roll down my face like a cascade. It's too touching… I simply focused in standing up and raising my left arm as high as possible!

Around us, the Marine fleet still tried to shoot us down and interrupt this moment, but the seven of us firmly stood tall and proud! They might make the sea shake around us, its water may ripple violently around our Going Merry, but our willpower shall stand!

Yes! No matter what happens we will keep going on our journey! We will fight to protect our friends and chase our dreams!

Farewell is always a sad moment for everyone involved, but this will not be the last time we meet!

Yes, Vivi! After we sail around the world…

…when our dreams finally come true…

…when we meet again…

…you are and will always be… ONE OF US!

Goodbye, Vivi! See you later!

"SET SAAAAAAAIIIL!"

* * *

**In the middle of a fiery salvo of threatening cannon shots from Marine vessels, the Straw Hats bid farewell from the land of the deserts.**

**Unfortunately, they weren't able to make Princess Vivi follow them on the journey, due to the duty she has to fulfill and her undying love for her country.**

**However, that doesn't stop her from having a very special place in all of the Straw Hats' hearts! No matter how far they're apart, no matter how long it may be, once friends, forever friends!**

**In the next chapter: The endless sea is full of surprises... but for once, they're coming from inside the Going Merry! Don't forget to check out!  
**


	82. With her, now we're eight!

**Chapter 82**

**"Danger aboard! An attractive stowaway in the Going Merry!"**

* * *

"OPEN FIRE!"

Kaboom! Suddenly, cannonshots! Lots and lots of 'em!

"Zoinks! They're fast!" Luffy noticed.

"Fast? It could just be me, but, don't you have a feeling that _we_ are the ones losing speed?" I said.

For some reason I can't quite explain, the Marine ships that shot at us when we left Arabasta's shore, that we were able to run away from… managed to get back at us and are relentlessly opening fire at us yet again!

"There's too much water in the storage deck! If those two don't patch the holes right now, we're gonna be in serious trouble!" Nami shouted, trying to keep standing up as the ship rocked back and forth.

Usopp and Chopper frantically worked down at the deck to fix the holes in the hull… but the marines keep pressing further in their assault!

"Three enemy ships…" Zoro said, already clutching his swords.

"There's no other way…" Sanji stepped ahead.

"Yosh! Here we go!" Luffy wanted to rush right away…

…but the three of them bumped in a seemingly insurmountable huge pile of iron lances taken from the lower deck, resting right below their waists.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" They shouted to no one in particular.

"Ah, this? Usopp asked me to keep these in case we came to need them for something… that's with him, though." Nami said.

"THEY'RE IN THE WAY!" Zoro screamed.

"THEY'RE WORTHLESS!" Sanji whined.

"Ah, I'll throw them out then." Luffy decided.

As soon as he settled in what he'd do, he turned away. I watched as he slowly started to hurl the lances away, increasing the speed as the lances went away faster and faster.

In a matter of seconds, dozens of the iron projectiles stored in our deck were thrown away… hitting right in the three Marine ships chasing us! Call it coincidence or whatever, but it's amazing nonetheless!

"Yosh! Done! Now that I got rid of the garbage, we can fi-huh?"

Luffy turned around and only then it dawned on him.

"Uh… problem… solved?" I said, staring slack-jawed at what just happened.

"We didn't have to move a finger…" Sanji slowly commented, still agape.

"Before it's too late… let's get the hell outta here! Full speed ahead!" Zoro, quickly snapping back from the trance, shouted his loudest.

"Hey! Someone help me patch the holes down here! Chopper's knocked out!" I heard Usopp screaming and as I rushed to the deck hatch, I saw him popping out to lay Chopper in the deck floor. The poor reindeer's eyes were spinning.

"Guys, take care of the rest! I'm going to go help Usopp!" I said before entering the deck.

As I climbed down the ladder, I saw myself thigh-deep in a lake inside the storage deck.

"Is there still any planks around here?" I asked Usopp as I looked from one side to the other.

"Not a lot of them, but I guess it's just about enough." Usopp replied while he worked with his hammer and nails.

I immediately walked and grabbed as many available dry planks as possible, quickly carrying them over to Usopp so he could patch the hull.

As the two of us spent our time hurriedly preventing our ship from sinking, the others were in charge of keeping it moving in the current lack of wind. I could tell that because Zoro and Sanji went down here to fetch the giant paddles.

They went back up again to paddle the ship as we were finishing the repairs. When we were done, and I should add, it took quite a lot of time, we immediately started taking the water out of the deck. Slowly, one or two buckets at a time, we returned the water stuck in the deck to the sea.

After the great hassle that it was to outsmart the marines and fix the ship while it still was moving… I finally could enjoy a little rest and be greeted again with the sweet music of the sea waves.

However, folks, there couldn't be a perfect time other than now for a small dose… of moping!

"Whew, looks like we're free from those damned marines." Zoro sighed in relief.

"Aahhnn~n…" Only to receive grunts in response.

"Hmm… they're not following us anymore! That's good news, right, people?" Zoro insisted, slightly annoyed.

"Aaaahhhnnn~~n…" To no avail.

"Pfft… c'mon guys, what's wrong? Why are you groaning?" Upset, Zoro asked.

"WE MISS HER!"

Zoro stood in the lower deck, making an annoyed face at us and asking himself what suddenly made us go down in such a short time. I was down as well, deciding to sit in the stairs and wail together with them. As for the rest of them… well…

The remaining five crybabies were lying down in the upper deck, looking to my side, already with watery eyes.

"VIVIIII~~nnn…" I moped with them.

Honestly, after having to say goodbye from such a nice friend, it can't be helped, can it?

"Grr… CAN YOU STOP WHINING FOR ONCE?" Zoro snapped after a quick facepalm. "If you wanted her so badly to join us… why didn't you bring her by force?"

"AAH! YOU'RE HEARTLESS!" Chopper yelled…

"You're the worst!" So did Nami…

"Moss ball…" And Sanji…

"Three swords." And Luffy-oh, wait.

"O-hey, Luffy! Three swords is not an insult!" Usopp corrected him.

"Four swords." No… that still doesn't count as an insult.

"It's not the number that's the problem! Listen: an effective insult must involve some personal detail about the recipient…" …then Usopp spent some time giving Luffy a quick lesson on how to come up with a witty insult since our captain had such a hard time doing it.

"Finally, we're out of that island, aren't we?" Hey, who's that voice?

"Yeah." Wait, Zoro, who are you talking to?

"Excellent work."

"Wha-what?" He turned around and looked at the door with a strange face. "You!"

I quickly wiped my face, running down to check on who it was.

"Na… w-w-what's wrong, Zoro, who're you… AAAH! YOU!" I got startled when I saw…

…a good-looking black-haired brunette wearing a baby-blue shirt and purple pants. That face of hers is strangely familiar.

"You came to get your revenge, eh? Bring it on, I'll fight you!" Zoro threatened, quickly readying his swords.

"What are you doing here… Miss All Sunday!" I asked, 'showing my claws' as well.

"MISS ALL SUNDAY?"

The other five immediately reacted, quickly standing up and bumping their heads in the railing.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Nami asked as she tended to her massive bump in her head…

"Emergency! Emergency! Enemy attack!" Usopp grabbed a megaphone out of nowhere, continually announcing as Chopper desperately ran back and forth.

Then the others came to the lower deck and those of us weapon wielders wasted no time to pull them out and point them to the unsolicited visitor. Nami pointed her staff, I pointed mine and Zoro pulled out one of his swords.

"Who is she?" Chopper asked.

"Like that matters! She's so damn beautiful!" Oh fudge, Sanji and his goddamned love-mode again…

"Hey, Sanji-san… is it really the right time for you to be in love? Don't you remember? It's that Miss All Sunday! Crocodile's former right-hand woman!" I tried to alert him but he didn't seem to care.

The woman walked a few slow steps toward the ladder and…

"Ouch!" / "Hey!" / "What gives?"

…suddenly I felt a hand strongly slapping my arm and making me let go of my staff. Zoro and Nami were similarly attacked by All Sunday's strange extra hands.

"Didn't I tell you before? Don't point your dangerous toys at me. Are you _that_ slow?" She said smugly.

"You… how long have you been here?" Nami asked nervously.

"The whole time, actually." All Sunday calmly replied. "These are your clothes, right? I'm borrowing them for now. Can I?" The lady simply didn't give two halves of a damn. She did what she wanted, simply adjusting a beach chair and standing in a way as to emphasize her… *ahem* assets.

"HOLD ON A SECOND, LADY, WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" Nami angrily asked, flailing her arms.

"Monkey D. Luffy…" Oh, screw it. Give up, Nami… she's not listening to you. "You… please tell me, you still remember what you did to me, right?"

Hm? What could she possibly mean?

"Aaahhh! Luffy, you son of a bitch, spit it out!" Sanji didn't waste time, quickly grabbing Luffy by the collar and shaking him senseless. "What did you do to this beautiful lady, huh? Answer me, dammit!"

Maybe he would if you stopped shaking him so much, Sanji…

"All stowaways must leave the ship immediately!" On the other hand, Usopp kept clinging to his megaphone and giving his 'threatening' announcements…

"Hey, you! Don't lie! I did nothing to you!" Luffy explained himself, simultaneously trying to get some explanations from our mysterious lady.

"No, no. We won't get anywhere this way, Luffy. You made me go through an excruciating ordeal. Go ahead. Admit it." …but Miss All Sunday barely cared about him, peacefully sitting in her chair, crossing her legs and putting her arms on the back of her head to emphasize her, uh, quite ample… er… chest… underneath her shirt.

Oh boy… If she's joining us, I'm going to have so much trouble to stare at her face depending on which clothes she comes to wear… She's too attractive! A brunette… with pitch-black flowing hair, going until just above her shoulders…

Oh, sorry. I'm getting too distracted. Back to what matters…

The situation's still the same. Sanji started shaking Luffy until leaving him on the verge of passing out once again, Usopp kept going on with his fruitless threats and Chopper somehow grabbed the mast and hid behind it.

"If you don't leave this boat, I'll call the Marines! Listen, lady, I'm serious! The manly Usopp doesn't joke around when he's serious!" Seriously, no comments…

"Like I said, I have no idea what you're talking about! What am I supposed to do anyway?" Luffy at last asked when Sanji stopped tugging to him.

"May I… join your group?"

…

…

…

…ha-huh?

"WHAAAAAAT?"

Before any sudden outbursts could occur, she volunteered to tell us a brief update on what happened with her during the battle.

She, our captain and the King were trapped in the royal tombs as everything around them crumbled at a fast pace… she had searched for a monolith for the last twenty years, but ultimately her struggle would be a complete failure. She cared about nothing else and that was the perfect stage for her to end her life.

However…

"Thanks to your stubbornness, I'm here. A-li-ve. At that time, you forced me to keep living when everything I wanted was to die. This is your crime." She said.

When she said that, I recalled that the King told us that our captain carried two people on his back all the way from the tombs to the center of the capital…

Turns out the other one was her…

"Now that you did this to me, I have no place to go or to get back. So… are you willing to let me stay here and be your companion?"

"Ah, that's it, then… got it. There's no other choice, right? Welcome."

"LUFFY!"

Quick and straight to the point. He instantly accepted her offer.

A shocked reaction and suspicious stares amongst the rest of us… except for Sanji, who was with hearts in his eyes since the first moment he laid his eyes in this lady.

"Ah, you're worrying too much, guys… she doesn't look like a bad person, I'm sure of it." Luffy turned and tried to reassure us, always smiling.

"Mellorine! Mellorine!" Sanji, still swooning…

"Hmmm… ah! Yosh! It may be so, but we will not consider you officially our comrade without an interview!" Usopp stepped ahead and declared. "I need to have an outline of what we're about to get ourselves into. DAN!"

"W-what?" Caught by surprise, I instinctively saluted his call.

"I need a desk by yesterday!" Usopp ordered, snapping his fingers.

"Aye, aye!"

I quickly dispatched myself and hid behind the mast so I could do my magic. I yanked a piece of paper out of my sketchbook, writing this: 卓(table) on it.

A swift throw of the paper in the air and a quick mental call later, a round table materialized right ahead of me. I then quickly carried it over to the other side.

Usopp brought a chair for him and sat on it. The lady also brought her beach chair, sitting on the other end of the table. I stayed standing up and watching it all with the rest. Nami decided to walk away and hear everything from the upper floor. Sanji hurriedly went to the kitchen to cook some food, I guess.

A few silent moments ensued. Everything we could hear was the gentle sound of the sea waves and the sound of the fingers of interviewer and interviewee gently touching the table…

…and Luffy and Chopper's laughter as they were entertained with… an extra arm coming off the floor! I almost forgot about her weird powers…

Just as she sent a look at Chopper, he panicked and quickly went to hide behind Luffy… in the wrong way.

"Pay attention!" Usopp firmly hit the table, calling the attention of his… interviewee. "From now on, when you answer my questions I want you to be honest above all else!" Whoa, that's new! Usopp's being demanding!

"Now, here we go. What is your name?" Usopp asked but then he twitched as something seemed to dawn on him. "Ah. My name is Usopp. Nice to meet you. No, no. Pleasure."

Before she could reply, he remembered to introduce himself, giving a slight bow of greeting. Yeah, boys and girls… quick good manner lesson: Before asking someone their name, introduce yourself first!

"Hello. My name is Nico Robin."

With formalities out of the way, Miss All Sunday… or rather, Nico Robin, could freely introduce herself.

"Yosh… Nico… Ro-bi-n." Usopp scribbled down in his 'interrogation form' he borrowed from me. "So, Ms. Nico Robin, what is your occupation?"

"I'm an archaeologist."

"Archaeologist?" Usopp parroted in surprise.

Nice… that looks totally like a job interview.

I don't remember being subjected to a interrogation when I joined the crew… at least not like this.

"Yes. I come from a long lineage of archaeologists. It runs in my blood." She elaborated.

"Oh, ok… family tradition, right?" Usopp mumbled as he wrote down.

"I decided to become an archaeologist… and I am on the run from the World Government since the ripe age of eight." She said. "After that, I spent the last twenty years travelling around the world to hide from the society."

Hmmm… she's twenty-eight then… I can't help but note she's gorgeous! Oh, sorry.

"Since you were eight?" Usopp asked. "You spent this whole time by yourself?"

"Not exactly… You think a child has any chance of surviving for this long if she leaves to the ocean by herself? No? Yeah, I thought so. Well, for the past twenty years, I've worked for a handful of criminal organizations so I could protect myself and work towards my goal. And that's it."

"You could say Crocodile was nothing more than another one of those criminals for you? A stepping stone?" Usopp asked.

"If you put it that way, yes." Robin replied. "I needed to do that… in order to keep searching for the Rio Poneglyph."

"Rio?" Usopp parroted.

"Excuse the interruption, but that caught my eye. What's this Rio Poneglyph you talk about?" I asked from the sidelines.

"It's a massive piece of rock that, if it exists, has details about blank points in our history. The True Story of the world of our ancestors. It's filled with important information written in an ancient language that the Government doesn't want me to find out. And that's all I can tell you." Hmm… interesting…

"I can tell you also that these twenty years gave me plenty of experience in covert operations. Who knows, maybe this could be useful to you somehow." Robin said.

"Heh… you sound pretty confident, no? What's your specialty?" Usopp asked, putting a hand on his chin.

"My specialty, you ask? Simple."

…

…

"Killing ."

She simply rested her cheek on a hand, her elbow in the table and said that with the straightest of faces, a little smile and a heart to boot! Usopp almost fell from the chair when he heard her answer…

"LUFFY! THE INTERROGATION'S RESULTS CONCLUDED THAT SHE'S TOO DANGEROUS TO BE A MEMBER OF OUR CREW!"

He tried to communicate the results to our captain, but…

"Forget it, Usopp… these two are out of commission now…" I pointed to…

…Luffy and Chopper suffering a brutal tickle onslaught by some hands coming off of the floor and heartily laughing!

"HEY YOU TWO, LISTEN TO ME, DAMMIT!" Usopp snapped.

Then, we heard a noise coming from the other side of the ship. Nami kicked the wall to call our attention.

"Hmmm… honestly… look how easily she swayed you all. That's just pathetic. Until a couple of days ago, she was the vice-president of a gigantic criminal organization, you know? Give me just one good reason for a woman like her to join us." Nami voiced her vehement opposition. "You may have convinced these idiots… but I'm not gonna fall for that!" She sent a challenging sideways glare to Nico Robin. "If you try your funny stuff again, I'll personally kick your ass out from this boat! Did I make myself clear?"

Usopp applauded Nami's fierceness. I did the same mentally. I'm strongly concerned about that woman… she's very pretty… and attractive… oh, dammit, here I go again! But it's true! I dare to say that she has more 'oomph' than Nami! Ok, Nami's got that 'teenage beauty' aura all over her, but this Robin is at a completely different level! If any of them seduces me, I'll be vulnerable like a sitting duck!

And I'm veering off-topic again, ain't I? Come on, Dan! Focus! Don't be distracted by the sexy!

"Of course, I'll take your advice to heart." Strange… not even this clear warning seemed to faze her. "Ah, I almost forgot."

She then pulled out a small bag…

"I brought along some of Crocodile's jewels with me."

Oh shit… Nami, don't fall for-oh, wait. Game over.

Cue Nami speedily going downstairs and…

"Iyaa~n! You're the best, onee-sama~n!"

"Oi, oi, oi, oi!" Usopp and Zoro stepped in.

"WHAT?" I jumped, equally surprised… but really, should I?

"Damn, she bribed Nami!" Usopp hissed.

"With such a dirty trick…" Zoro hissed back.

"How the hell did she know?" I stepped in.

"Everything's going right along with the enemy's pace!" Usopp whispered, before the three of us got poked by some pink hearts coming from the kitchen.

We stared at the door to see our 'adorable' chef running and sliding down the handrail to the lower deck, bringing two plates with snacks.

"Ah… this love… this love adrift… I feel like I was lying down in an aimless driftwood floating in the sea… Driven by your breathtaking beauty, it just drags me with the flow… this driftwood." Sanji spun around the table, poetically exteriorizing his admiration for the lady as he did so.

"Snacks, especially for you." As he was finished, he gently rested the plates in front of her.

"Oh, thanks." She replied.

"He's such a sissy I feel I'm gonna throw up…" Zoro snarked.

"Luffy and Chopper out… Nami out… Sanji out…" I counted the losses.

"Ah, if it's Sanji then you can pretty much count him out from the start." Usopp lamented.

"Well… it seems the three of us are the only ones standing up against that woman." Zoro said.

"Honestly, these weak-minded fools have failed us all!" Usopp cursed in a manly tone.

"Hey, Usopp, look!" Luffy called him…

"Huh?" Usopp looked…

"CHOPPER!"

It just was a matter of seeing Luffy doing a Chopper impression that the three of them writhed in the ground, laughing their butts off.

As for Zoro all he could do was to growl and be disappointed at their behavior. I simply sighed in defeat.

"Usopp out… we have five down." I recounted.

Zoro decided to walk away from all that silliness and go upstairs to the front of the ship to take some air. I walked behind him.

"May I call you Robin-chwan? Or do you prefer Robin-swan? Ah, I can't decide…"

I still glanced at a kneeling Sanji trying to decide on an affectionate honorific for Robin… oh, well.

"Every last one of them… I'm surrounded by morons…" I heard Zoro mumbling something like that as he leaned on the railing and stared vacantly to the horizon.

"Something worrying you, Zoro-san?" I asked as I went upstairs, trying to break the ice.

"To be fair, a lot." He replied sleazily, not wanting to talk beyond that.

A few moments later, our new archaeologist companion joined us at the front deck as well.

"What a nice place… this ship. Is it always this lively?" Robin asked as she appreciated the view, leaning on the railing and ruffling through her hair.

"Yeah. Always." Zoro replied, short and to the point.

"If you wish to stay, better get used to it, Robin-san." I spoke to her… always staring at her eyes and not to her… um, down there.

"Really?"

She then smiled and closed her eyes. She made such a cute face I felt a slight blush for some moments… Zoro too appeared somewhat transfixed by her natural charm, but that only managed to raise his alert levels.

"That woman…" He hissed as he glanced sideways, seeing her walk towards the sheep figurehead and letting her smooth black hair sway with the wind.

I took the time to meditate on how should I approach this whole mess, then I sighed in resignation and decided to just trust Luffy's judgment. I'll let time prove he's right or wrong in bringing her along.

"By the way, Navigator-san… are we on the right route?" Robin asked.

"The climate is good and the wind is stable! Everything's running perfectly, Robin-neesan!" Nami replied strangely happy…

"You definitely took those jewels, didn't you?" Zoro snarked.

"That's what I call greedy, huh…" I snorted.

"Did you say something?" Crap, she heard us. Nami's happy face didn't change but the purple aura behind her creeped us out enough…

"No, no, nothing!" We tried to stay on her good side.

"Hey, Sanji! Is it lunch time already?" Luffy asked.

"Hold on a little more!" Sanji replied.

"I'm starving…" Luffy whined, pouting.

"Me too! Me too! Food, food, food!" Chopper and Usopp screamed in unison…

"Ahh… it's so good to be young…" I sighed.

"Don't talk like an old man!" Zoro quipped.

We couldn't make Vivi join us, but we still managed to get someone to join us after the adventure of Arabasta! And that someone is the smexy archaeologist Nico Robin! But I do have to ask… is that going to be a good thing?

* * *

**Already in open sea, the Straw Hats found an unexpected visitor hiding in their ship. Nico Robin used some of her tricks to capture the hearts of the crewmates and ultimately, despite his comrades' protests, convinced Luffy to incorporate her in the group.**

**What now? What will be the next great adventure for these eight unique seafarers? Where this endless sea will take them?**

**Find out in the next chapter!  
**


	83. We never forget the first time, do we?

**Chapter 83**

**"Slices of life… the doctor, the archaeologist and the writer"**

* * *

Snore…

…

Snore…

…

Snore…

Oh. Sorry if this confuses you. I'm not snoring, by the way, that's just to indicate we're currently sleeping.

…

Snore…

…

Snore…

Oh, another thing. In case you're wondering: 'Wait a second, if you're sleeping, how are you able to tell this to us?'

Hey, somebody's gotta narrate the story around here, right?

…

"Guys! Guys! Wake up!"

Oh, it's Nami. We're about to get up.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"GET YOUR STUPID FACE AWAY FROM ME!"

"I WAS ABOUT TO SAY THE SAME, YOU BASTARD!"

"AAAHHH, NO, MOMMY, I DON'T WANT TO BE A WOMAN!"

Yeah… um… well, uh… I don't know the best way to put it, but the noise of Sanji and Zoro's bickering and bitching at each other made me jump from the sofa and wake me up from a really wacky dream (or should I say nightmare) I had and… literally scream the first thing that went through my head.

Ok, now that I piqued your curiosity about it, in my crazy dreams, somehow, I was turned into a woman and everyone's genders have been flipped…

Aaaaand… if I go further into this, it _will_ be counterproductive. The rest I'll leave to your overly fertile imagination.

Before I waste any more time with such futilities, let's get back to the story, shall we?

"Hmmm… dagnabbit… what's with all the noise so early in the morning…" Still half-asleep, but recovering from the shock, I mumbled, rubbing the sleep off my eyes.

"Guys! Land ahead! There's an island right ahead!" Nami screamed.

"Island? ISLAND!"

Just as he heard that, Luffy woke up and immediately jumped from the hammock he slept on, taking a still sleeping Usopp with him and bending his nose. He ignored the bickering of the usual duo, running over them and going upstairs to the deck.

In a slower pace, still waking up from the sleep, the remaining five of us did the same, heading to the front deck to watch the island slowly growing in our horizon.

As our ship approached the island, we all prepared for the landing, each one in his way. After we got changed, Sanji went to the kitchen to fix our breakfast. Nami gave one last check on our route while Usopp, Luffy and Chopper were at the front of the ship, amazed with the landscape ahead. Zoro relaxed in his corner and I waited for us to land trying really hard to think about, remember and write down what the hell happened on my dream.

Soon the island was close. A giant golden mountain, comprised of small rocky formations held together, filled the landscape. The island was painted with the green of the trees, side by side with the gray of the rocks at sea level and the light yellow of the sand.

As soon as we lowered anchor, Luffy was the first to hop off the ship. The rest of us followed him, walking our first steps in this new land.

"Waahahah… After a huge adventure in the deserts, nothing better than a small island to relax and cool down…" I said as I stretched.

"Heheh… are there any monsters nearby? 'Cause I wanna find some huge and strong ones!" Luffy said, looking left and right, already rolling up his sleeves.

"Don't step on me… don't step on me… don't end this poor, miserable life…" Usopp prayed as he righted his bent nose.

"Looks like there's nothing out of the normal here… it's a small island, after all…" Nami said.

"Hey! Nami-san! This fruit is perfect for us to store!" Sanji said, having climbed to the top of a tree. "This island is full of them! Check it out!" He then tossed one of the fruits to her.

Nami smiled as she glanced over a yellow fruit, shaped similar to the mountain, with leaves on its top. "I say we pick a batch of them and store at the ship."

"I'll search other plants that might be of any use to me. Looks like this island is one of the best spots for the chefs!" Sanji said as he slid down and front-flipped off the tree, walking to rejoin the group.

"Understood. Sanji-kun, your task will be search for supplies." Nami said.

"Hai! Nami-san!" Sanji replied happily.

"As for the five of you…" Nami turned to us, pulling out five straws. "We'll do this: the three who pick the short straws will spend the entire day picking up fruit. Who picks the long ones will stay back at the ship to guard it."

Zoro, frowning as always, stepped ahead. "Hey, wait up! Since when it was decided _you_ would be giving the orders?"

"Yeah, you have a point… usually, it's the captain who gives out orders, but…" Nami started, then she pointed to our captain. "…do you really think we have a captain able to divide labor?"

"Ohey, I picked all the short ones!" As Zoro and she discussed, Luffy went and snatched three straws at once.

"Why did you pick three?" Usopp reacted.

"'Cuz who picks more is the smartest, right?" Luffy deduced and smiled like stupid. His logic only succeeds in making me giggle.

"Yeah, point taken…" Zoro looked at him and gave up.

"Hahahahahah! I'm really a genius!" Luffy patted himself in the chest, smiling broadly.

"No friggin' way!" Zoro, Usopp and Chopper hit him in the head for the comment.

This problem solved, we got another situation on our hands.

"Naa, Nami, Chopper and I ended up with the long straws." I said.

"Then it's settled. Zoro, Usopp and Luffy will pick fruits and you two will watch our ship!" She concluded.

"Sir, yes sir!" I saluted.

"Quick, quick, quick! Let's go! Let's go already!" Suddenly, I see Luffy with a stomp mark on his face and a bump on his head. He recovered and already was carrying a giant bucket on his back, more than ready to dash off to the task. "You're coming with us, right, Nami?"

"Me? No, I won't!" Nami replied. "I'll spend my day studying this island. I want to finish a map of it before the sunset! And I'm itching to do it!" She stretched, ready to put her grey matter to work.

After everything was settled, the five walked away to explore the 'mysterious fruit island' as Chopper and I stayed back at the Going Merry.

"See ya! Take care!" Chopper waved.

"Take care of our ship!" Nami waved back.

"Leave it to us!" I waved them too.

"Yoosh! Who picks out most fruits wins!" Already far away, Luffy jogged to the harvest way before everybody else…

"Yaay… I'm soooo excited…" …as Usopp was equally pumped up… or not…

"Why, in the name of all that's holy, do I have to obey that woman?"… and Zoro still wondered. Hey, man, if you ever happen to get married, you'll understand why you have to obey your future wife… oh wait.

Dammit, I think I just inspired another two thousand fanfics about those two…

"Mapping, mapping! Here I come!" Nami walked off much more well-disposed than normal with her cartography tools…

"Aahhn! Carrying your research equipment, Nami-san's so beautiful! Nami-san! You're magnificent! Mellorine, mellorine!" …and Sanji melted down cooing her.

"Have a nice trip!" I smiled, shouting at them for the last time before they left. As they walked away from Going Merry, Chopper and I turned our backs to the shore as well.

"Yosh… while they tire their asses picking up fruits, I'll rush to my favorite pastime: read and do nothing whatsoever!" I said as I rubbed my hands together.

"Hey, Dan! What are we going to do now?" Chopper turned to me and asked.

"I don't know about you, sensei, but I'm going right now to grab one of the books the King of Arabasta gave us and read it while they don't come back! Look, you can walk around the ship and check on what's going on around us, ok?" I suggested.

"Right! I'm gonna do my best!" Chopper agreed.

"Heheh… don't be so stiff like that. Relax and if there's something, just warn me, ok?" I said.

"Yeah!" He replied, smiling.

"Yosh! World of words, I'm back to you!"

Speeding off from the front of the ship, I went to the room, going downstairs to our quarters to get a book. After I climbed back up, I walked around the ship and chose the back to start another 'voyage to the world of words'.

"Hey! Luffy! Stop eating others' food! Usopp! Work faster, will ya? Sanji! Cook something good for us! Hooray Captain Chopper! Hip hip hooray!" Huh?

Before I opened the book, I could hear our reindeer screaming to the wind like an angry captain. I smiled as I sit down, leaning on the wall.

…

«"Wonderful. A giant flying singing diamond." Groused Fuyutsuki, filled with sarcasm.

"An entire country… defeated by geometry. Truly, it's irony incarnate." Gendo reflected poetically while he adjusted his ever so shiny glasses. Although poetry doesn't do much to help in the situation those two were in.

However, Gendo quickly rationalized. In the end, this would be far from the strangest thing they'd encounter in their battle against the Angels. Next thing you know, a female genitalia could very well be the next one… or something like that.»

"Holy cow… the King sure reads some strange books, huh?" I said as I browsed through another page. "Who in their right mind would write a story where dysfunctional children command giant humanoids to fight against freak beings from outer space? That's weird… I know _I_ wouldn't…"

"Stop! No, don't! Sto-AAAAHAHAHAH!" Huh?

"Sounds like trouble! And it's Chopper!"

I quickly closed my book, stood up and dashed to the storage room, where the screams came from. Quite forcibly, I opened the door and…

"Freeze, whoever it may be! I have a pencil and I'm not afraid to-"

"AAAHHAHAHAH! Stop! Stop! It's tickling! Aahahah!"

Instead of finding a duel or something like that, I found some broken barrels, a very messy basement… and Chopper writhing in the ground while laughing as he suffered an onslaught of some strange hands coming out of his belly.

"Wha… what?"

I noticed that beside him stood our newest companion, Robin.

It didn't take two seconds for me to put two and two together. "Oh you…! What did you do to him?"

"Oh come on… you too?" She sighed before she crossed her arms in an X shape across her chest. Moments later, I panicked as I saw several of her arms sprouting from my own abdomen.

"Eek! Get off me, you…!"

"Maybe I should tickle you into submission as well…" Aw crap…

"No! Don't you dare! Don't come near me!"

"I don't need to."

I slowly walked backwards, away from the door, but it didn't matter to her. "Stay away from me-AAAHAHAHAH! STOP! STOP! Ahahahahahah! No! Not there!"

Cue me rolling on the floor, laughing and writhing in the ground, fighting in vain against the hands tickling me all over.

When the onslaught ended, I panted as I heard her chuckling from inside the room…

Slowly, I regained control. Still recovering from the forced laughter fit, I stood up as I saw the dark-haired brunette come outside.

"Ahmhmhmhm… you two are so cute getting all defensive like that…" I can't really see where she wants to go with that comment… I only know it made my face go red like a tomato when she passed by me. As for Chopper…

"Cut the jokes, ok? I know you like me but that doesn't make me happy at all! You bastard, you bastard, you bastard!" Yeah, that'd make sense… if he didn't say it while dancing and all-around looking happy.

"Why, you…! Cute? What do you mean by that?" I asked, almost growling amongst the embarrassment.

"Nothing special." She didn't want to talk much. "Shouldn't we get going instead?"

"Get going? Where?" I asked, calming down.

"Let's see if there's drinkable water for us to collect. Doctor-san, since you broke our water barrels, you have to get more for us, ok?" She replied while tossing an empty barrel for our doctor.

"A-ah, right." He said while struggling to get a hold of the barrel. Even empty, it still was too big and heavy for his minuscule hooves.

"Oh, wait, sensei! Do you want my help? I can carry it for you." I volunteered.

"N-no… I'm alright. I did mess up the room, I want to be the one to go get water." He refused, still struggling to walk with the barrel.

Persisting in helping him, I followed him as we hopped off the ship to go explore the island. Robin went with us as well. The three of us silently walked on the roads going through the island's forest.

"What a nice weather…" Robin said as she stared at a leafy twig.

"Wawah! S-s-s-s-so-so… so what?" Chopper asked, caught off-guard.

"Nothing. I said that the weather is nice… that's all." She turned around and clarified.

"Sensei, keep it together, ok?" I tried to calm him down. Next, I talked to Robin. "Naa… if we're the ones who have to come get water, why are you following us?"

"I wanted to walk around a bit. It's many years since I last wanted to do that." She said, with her back facing us. "I felt so suffocated by the circumstances that I lost the will to laugh."

"Really?" I asked. "Damn… living twenty years by yourself, hiding from the world… it must be tough… oh, sorry."

"That doesn't matter anymore." She tranquilized me. "Ah!" She then found something, running to see what it was.

"Hey! Wait up!" I followed her, with Chopper behind me.

"Look!" Robin whispered, amazed with what she saw. And she had reasons for that.

"Water!" Chopper exclaimed.

We found a lake surrounded by grass, bushes and a field of white flowers.

Chopper and I filled the barrel when we noticed Robin sitting amongst the flowers and sniffing on one of them, with her eyes closed.

"You… you're alone since you were eight, right?" Chopper stopped what he was doing and talked to her.

"Yes. I survived working for pirates." She opened her eyes. "Can you talk to me about her? This lady you call Doctorine."

"Eh?" Chopper turned around.

"You talked about her when we were in the storage room. She's a doctor, right? Is she your mentor?"

"Y-yeah, she is. She taught me everything about medicine. Her name is Doctor Kureha."

"Doctor Kureha?" Robin parroted. "How is she?"

"Everybody says that she's a woman, but she dresses like a pirate. And even though she's a pirate, she's also a doctor!" Chopper said.

"I… I spent the past six years learning all that is being a doctor with her."

From then on, our doctor started to tell a little of his life with Doctor Kureha. He told us that his daily life was always full, loaded with tasks and lots of studying.

At the end of three years, he read about two hundred medical books, all door-stoppers! Encyclopedia-style!

"Wow… how fast do you read then?" I asked, surprised.

Every single day, the 'witch' would leave him lots and lots of tasks to do and wanted to see them done at the end of the day. Or else…

"She usually threatened to beat me whenever I missed the slightest detail… sometimes I was scared of even looking at her!" He recalled, strangely smiling. "Especially when she caught me experimenting by myself. She never let me!"

I was about to ask him how on earth could he possibly have survived living with that crazy doctor… I shiver just thinking about it!

Chopper then told us about a particular day when, after the doctor came back home, she faltered all of a sudden, falling to the ground. Burning with a fever, she was sick. And it was up to her apprentice to save her from death.

This was the first and greatest test to the medical skills of our blue-nosed reindeer.

Without even a single piece of advice of his mentor, he had to work out what was the disease and find the respective treatment before it was too late.

"At that time, I panicked. I knew perfectly that if I failed, she would die." He said.

There started the race against time. Frantically working, with no stops to take a nap, Chopper diagnosed the disease and rushed to find the cure. Night and day, carrying an enormous weight on his back, he gave his sweat and tears to save his mentor.

Together with the obligatory rest, the remedy Chopper produced had its effect at the end of a few days.

He had saved Doctor Kureha's life.

"'It was a nice job from someone like you' she said. It was the first time Doctorine ever praised me. It was also the only one I received in these six years." Chopper said. "Instead of accepting me as a full-fledged doctor, she trusted me her life. This is the Doctorine I knew and learned to like. And I'll never ever forget. I will become a brilliant doctor and make her proud! A-ah… I guess I talked too much!"

"No, not at all." Robin calmed him down. "I would like to have someone I could keep in touch with. Just like you."

"Waah… what a nice story!" I said, touched. "Yeah… we get really nervous whenever we're gonna do something for the first time… that makes me remember when I was little… the first time I ever wrote a story." I walked until I sat in the grass.

"You're a writer, aren't you?" Robin asked.

"Yup…" I said, staring at the sky.

Since I was little, my mom Karen, a writer quite famous at the East Blue, encouraged me to read and taught me all the tricks of literary writing. She taught me that it's a vast territory, and that there were lots of ways to explore it.

Encouraged by her guidance, I decided to write my own first story. Just like children making their first scribbles, I didn't knew much and ended up doing something simple. I spent night and day trying to add awesome elements to my story and articulate the wording as to make it make sense and that special flavor they have when read.

"I guess that was my first ever case of writer's block…" I recalled, smiling. "My vocabulary still was quite limited, but I never thought about quitting because of that. She taught me to like literature and made me want to follow her footsteps."

I remember so well the moment I was done, pretty confident that it was nice…

"So, what happened?" Chopper asked.

"She read it, said it was nicely done, but then she burned the paper and threw it away…" I said, smiling still.

"EEEEH?" Naturally, he was shocked. "Why would she do that?"

"She wanted to keep me from reading it again when I grew up and getting embarrassed. After all, if that happened, I would end up doing the same anyway. 'Someday, you'll thank me for doing that!' she said. I remember I spent a whole week without talking to her because of this entire mess…" I said.

"Many years later, looks like she's right… I don't know why, but whenever I look at my earlier works, I want desperately to hide them away… I can't help but think they suck!" I said, blushing slightly.

"That's because you improved with time." Robin intervened.

"Hm?"

"I don't know much but, I do know that when people improve and gain experience, they end up wanting to hide their 'old shame'." She explained.

"Yeah, you're right…" I stood up. "Now that I'm mastering the skills I inherited… from my mother in the world of words, and from my father, about how to get around in the real world… I feel I have the power to chase after my dreams… huh? She's gone!"

I looked behind and saw that she wasn't there anymore.

"We better get back before the night." She said while walking away from us. "Thanks for the story… Writer-san."

"Oh, you're welco-hey, wait! Ok, I am a writer, but I have a name, y'know?" I said, displeased.

"Heavy… heavy…"

I saw Chopper battling with the now full barrel, so I decided to be the one who'll carry it back.

"Yikes… it's really heavy!" My turn to complain.

…

The sun was setting, the night was ever so close and, after a day of harvesting fruits and good stories, we decided to light up a campfire and have dinner at the island before setting sail the day after.

"So, tell me! Why did you two bring nothing, huh?" Nami asked, quite upset.

"Even if you ashk ush…" Luffy said while chomping a piece of meat and a chunk of fruit.

"That moment I thought… just when the giant King Condor swiped at me!" Usopp raised his arms, lost in his own world. "Waah! Forgive me, guys, I risked my life to climb the highest tree and catch that fruit… but I failed! Pow! Dead." Usopp laid in the ground and popped a pill with blood-red paint before 'dying'.

"On the other hand, Zoro did an excellent job!" Nami praised as she looked at his full basket. "So good that he'll do it again tonight!" That made him spit the drink on his mouth…

"Aahhn… Nami-san's so beautiful when she makes orders on the spot…" Sanji, still on his love-mode.

"Shut up, you pervert cook!"

"Wanna fight, moss-head?"

"I'm kidding!"

Before they even thought about anything, Nami put them apart.

Everyone, except for the usual duo, shared a hearty laugh, something we didn't do for quite a while.

"Ah, I was missing those moments…" Nami reflected.

"Yeah…" I completed. "After that frenzied adventure, I really needed some time to rest under the moonlight…"

"Sho? Whach did ya do in che schip?" Luffy asked as he chomped a piece of meat down.

"Huh? Not much." Chopper said.

Luffy stared at me. I stared at Robin, reading a book away from the rest of us. "We just shared a few slices of our lives. Well, who tells a tale, adds a tail, right?"

"Ok, whatever…" He said, indifferently.

"Want me to read a nice story to you too, captain?" I suggested.

"Yeah! Yeah! An awesome one!" Oh, he's perked up now.

"Leave it to me!" I replied and sighed.

What a beautiful day!

* * *

**************While the next adventure doesn't arrive, the Straw Hats stop at an island to recover their energies, share some good stories with each other and prepare for what comes ahead.**

**************The sea is endless and you never know where it's going to take you!**

**************The adventure continues! See you in the next chapter!  
**


	84. Dreams of a navigator and a chef

**Chapter 84**

**"Slices of life… the navigator's dream and the master of curry"**

* * *

Aaaahhh… how nice… A great sunny morning to relax under the ever so blue sky…

Yet another peaceful day. Time went by together with the waves gently touching the hull of our Going Merry. Nothing around… only us and the infinite blue. Perfect time to enjoy our favorite pastimes!

Nami smiled as she stood in the upper floor's railing, checking our route every once in a while with her binoculars.

"Thousand, eight-hundred and sixty-seven… thousand, eight-hundred and sixty-eight… thousand, eight-hundred and sixty-nine…" Every often I could hear Zoro's training. Sometimes I paused whatever I was doing just to watch him and be amazed… _he's exercising at the flagpole, upside down!_

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper spent their free time fishing. Or rather, holding their rods and praying for a single fish to appear nearby…

I opted to grab a little book, get my beach chair and join Robin in our small "reading club".

"I caught one!" Speak of the devil…

Just as Chopper called, he immediately started to pull his rod. Not particularly struggling to do so, he pulled out a little fish! It didn't stand out in any way, but hey, it's better than nothing.

Right after that, it was time of Usopp's rod to shake.

"I caught one too!" He said. "Oooh! Looks like it's a big one! Will it be the master of the fish around here?"

He struggled a lot more, but in the end, he was able to pull his catch… but what could have caused him this much trouble? A _really tiny_ swordfish.

"Master?" Chopper lamented.

"Even I don't want to eat that…" Not surprisingly, Usopp's catch wasn't enough to open our captain's appetite.

"Oh, shut up! Don't criticize me when you didn't even get one yet!" Usopp screamed at them.

"Nami-swan!" Oh, I almost forgot about him.

Sanji walked from the kitchen, spinning and smiling as he brought a plate with a special drink to Nami… and you know the drill, the three fishermen whined at him for some juice, Sanji rejected them and life marches on.

"Hmm… the wind and the currents are stable… looks like we won't have problems today!" Nami said…

…and I inevitably sighed.

If you're wondering why, remember what happened the last time she said something like that? Yeah.

"I caught mine!" Luffy held tightly his rod, and when he pulled it, we heard a loud bang. When the water calmed down again…

"What the hell is that?"

"Hey, Luffy, what did you fish this time, huh?"

"Huuuuuuge!"

…a giant snail crashed in our ship!

"You just had to say that, didn't you, Nami?" I closed my book, inevitably checking out what was so huge.

Everyone but Robin quickly circled the giant snail. Luffy immediately proposed eating it, Sanji followed suit, already planning to cook it, but before anyone could say anything else, imagine our surprise as we saw the thing opening!

Or rather, a man opened a hatch and came out of it!

"W-who are you?" Luffy asked.

Came out from the snail a man, skinny like a wooden stick, wearing a flashy light-orange suit and… looking at least five kinds of weird.

"Aah! Sorry for the lateness! With a single call, you can count on us for any delivery! I'm from the Den-Den Mushi Mail Order Service and my name's Rice Rice! Nice to meet you all!" The man talked, putting a hand behind his head, still stunned by his surroundings. After he thanked us for saving his life, the salesman pulled out piles of catalogs he carried.

"What's that?"

Luffy and Usopp quickly checked out the stuff inside his giant snail, pulling out a strange, wobbly staff with a sphere on each end. Rice Rice rushed to take it from their hands and talk about it, since they were so curious. I didn't catch a single thing he said, since he's quite a fast talker, but the gist of it is that he showed several of his products.

"…and these diet products you just saw are going to be sold together! And, as a bonus, I'll include twenty packets of the super-famous, ultra-sweet juice from West Blue, the Mero-Mero Juice! And here we also have a 26-volume encyclopedia that…" An example of how fast he's talking…

"Hey, can't we just kick him out right now? These salesmen are a pain in the ass…" I hissed to Sanji.

"Yeah, you're right… but he might have something we need, I don't know!" He replied.

And as we discussed that, the salesman still was going on and on about his products, piling them together in endless and wacky special sales, even pestering Robin, though she didn't seem bothered by his antics.

"From mineral water to cannonballs, there's nothing we don't have!" The crazy salesman said.

"What about paper, do you have it?" Nami asked.

"Paper?"

"Cartographer's paper, flexible and durable, one not spoilable by the sea breeze." She specified…

…what prompted him to draw out yet another of his valuable products: Millennium Paper. Blah-blah-blah, doesn't attract bugs, blah-blah-blah, lasts a thousand years and stuff like that.

The decisive question: "How much is it?"

After the salesman said it's a very rare item and more blah-blah-blah, he finally announced that two 500-sheet reams of that paper cost the measly price of…

…48 million beri!

Nami quickly tried to talk him into lowering the price, but you know the drill, right? When it's about that, they lower just a teensy bit.

"47 million and a half!"

"2 MILLION!" Nami pitched.

"4 million, 800 thousand!" Geh, he lowered that much?

"Come on, a little lower, please…" Nami still insisted.

"SOLD!"

"Huh?"

Sanji stepped forward, taking the deal into his own hands.

"Sanji-kun!"

"Do you have that money?" Zoro asked.

"No."

Cue facefault. How the hell is he going to buy it then?

"If you hand this guy over to Marine, we'll be able to buy it with lots of change."

"WHAAAAAT?"

Suddenly, Sanji whipped out some ropes, tying our captain up! Does he mean… he's going to sell our captain to buy the paper?

Naaaah…

"Forgive me, Luffy…This is for Nami-san." Sanji said, sentimentally.

"Hey, cut the crap!" Luffy was having none of that.

"Luffy? Luffy? T… t-t-t-t-that… Monkey D. Luffy?"

"Yeah. It's me. Sanji, enough of that. Can you untie me now?"

"Fat chance."

Suddenly, the salesman started to sweat a lot and tremble all over. He looked above, only then noticing he was in a pirate ship. Then he freaked out completely. He said he had an important appointment, hurrying back to his snail-mobile. He was scared shitless, that's why! He didn't think twice, jumping out of our ship and running away.

"Ah, ah… he's gone…" I "lamented".

"What's up with him?" Luffy wondered.

"Maybe he was afraid. Maybe your fame scared him away. Monkey D. Luffy, the wanted…" Robin said, not looking away from her book.

"Yeah, your name made him run with his tail between his legs!" I said cheerfully.

What matters is that after the whole jumble, the man forgot the paper and some other products. Looks like we didn't have to pay a single penny!

Nami rushed to store them and then called everyone.

"I'll be working now, so do not disturb me, ok?" Nami warned.

Sanji quickly volunteered to prevent the rest of us from meddling with her work. When Chopper asked what we could do if the wind changed, Nami pointed to the clouds, saying that as long as they're stable, the weather wouldn't change.

"If you notice something strange on them, warn me, but only then, ok?" Right after that, she closed the door and that's it.

"Ok, back to my reading…" I said as I walked away from the rest.

Sanji quickly called them to scrub the dust off while Nami worked. Zoro wanted to sleep but Sanji got annoyed and called him too. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper whined at him as well, screaming "It's unfair!" and stuff.

"What about them?" Zoro replied, pointing to Robin and I.

"Yeah… Come on, Dan, you have no excuse!" Oh drat…

"What? Aw, come on, leave me out, ok? I'm busy he-"

"You're cleaning the floor too and that's final!" Sanji cut my word and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. He then tossed me a broom.

"Hey, what about her?" Zoro asked.

"Fool… She's a lady." Sanji replied.

"Bullcrap… Man or woman, it doesn't ma-"

"Shut up and scrub, Mossmon!" Sanji was quick to kick Zoro's face… uh oh, sparks are gonna fly out again…

"Oh, you don't say, love-love machine!" Oh no, not again…

"Shut that trap of yours and go clean the floor! Imma tie you up, damn it!" Can't we have some peace around here?

"Hey, Sanji-san, do I still have to clean the flo-"

"YOU STAY OUT OF IT!" The two kicked me out of their scuffle, but I had reasons to complain…

Soon we were talking over each other and being noisy in general… oh wait, noise! Oh shit!

I quickly left the usual duo screaming at each other, rushing to keep the storage door closed, but as I was going to do that, the door burst open right in my face and I fell down… I saw Nami furiously leaving the room and hitting the two.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" She complained, sending Zoro to the crow's nest and going back to the room without saying another word.

Ultimately, I had to clean the floor as well, but I found a way to keep reading as I did it. I didn't pay much attention to where I was cleaning though, as I was focused on the book.

That was until I stepped on something and almost slipped.

"What… The Silky Smooth Skin Soap?" I crouched and grabbed the object that almost made me slip.

That was when I stopped to look around… and found the floor all soapy! I saw Luffy and Usopp goofing off and sliding around, clinging to their brooms…

"Hey, hey…"

Honestly… when will their batteries run out?

"Hey, guys, don't make too much noise, otherwise Nami's gonna…" I wanted to tell them, but…

"Ah, Nami-san! Are you done with your work?" Sanji asked as soon as he saw her coming out, far from being like she's done with anything.

"Too late…" I sighed, giving up.

"Watch out!"

I saw Usopp being pushed to slide again, but crashing with Luffy and pushing him out of the ship. Luffy stretched his arms, grabbing the sheep figurehead.

"Gomu Gomu no… BUNGEE!"

He then headed towards us like an arrow! We all had to swerve while we heard the noise of him crashing into so many things it's hard to count the losses… Nami quickly stood back up, because he crash-landed on the room she was working in… and totally thrashed it. Smudgy maps, splotched ink and cartography tools spread everywhere… that's what she was working on.

"Yeah… a map registering everywhere we went through after getting in the Grand Line! I just wanted to do that and you don't let me! Get out now!" Not even all the apologies in the world would be enough to calm her down. "If you ever come here again, I'll fine you 100 grand!" Nami threatened as she pushed us out of the room.

"She got angry at us…" I said, low-spirited.

We were out of disposition to do anything after being scolded like that… maybe a little nap is enough for us to cool our heads and for her to start over.

…

…

…

"Luffy! Wake up! The clouds changed!" Chopper's screaming was enough to take me away from dream world…

"Aahnn… spiders have ten legs…"

"No, they have eight… WELL, THAT DOESN'T MATTER! WAKE UP, LUFFY! Sanji! Usopp! Zoro! Flower-neesan! Dan! Wake up! We have trouble!"

I lost my sleep and decided to wake up. "What's up, Cho-HOLY SHIT, A CYCLONE!"

Just as I booted up, I widened my eyes as I saw the thing right in front of us!

"Sensei! We have to tell Nami right now!" I stumbled as I stood up, but I crawled anyway.

"No! What about… the fine?" Chopper innocently asked.

I thought about it for a few seconds and replied. "Leave it to me. I'll pay for both of us."

Without missing a beat, he and I went and knocked at the door. "Nami! Trouble! Big trouble!"

"Dan-kun! Chopper! What's happening?" She asked, surprised.

"Cy-cy-cyclone right ahead!" I shouted.

"Holy crap! Why didn't you tell me before?" She asked.

"Are you still going to charge us for bothering you?" That question stopped her for a few seconds.

"Idiots… you two, call the others NOW!"

Without wasting time, I woke the rest up right away. "CYCLONE! CYCLONE! WAKE UP!" Drowsily, the others woke up, snapping back in an instant when they saw the giant cyclone right ahead.

"Luffy! Zoro! Hoist the sails! Usopp! Chopper! Tie up everything in the deck! Sanji-kun! Dan-kun! Hard turn to starboard, now!" Nami thought fast and ordered.

The waves suddenly got stronger. Sanji and I had a hard time turning the helm to the right, just praying to avoid the worst.

"If the map I had so much trouble to make gets lost in these waves… I'm going to make your lives a living hell! All of you!" Scary…

It was hard, it was tough, but we ultimately were able to avoid the cyclone and safely get on with our route. The sky cleared once again and everything was back to normal.

"Well, guys, keep watching the clouds because I'll get back to drawing my maps, ok?" Nami said.

"Eh? You're still on it?" Usopp asked.

"Of course! My dream is to draw a world map… and I'm just at the first page! I have lots to do today!"

Yeah… so, go on and leave the rest to us!

"Full speed ahead!"

With the scream of our captain, our ship sailed away.

…

…

…

Our trip went on… right to such a dense fog we practically couldn't see anything ahead. Usopp still tried to make out where we were going, only to find…

"Watch out! A giant ship is right ahead!"

Under Nami's command, Sanji stopped what he was doing to turn the helm to the right.

"We're gonna be surrounded by the Marines!" Usopp screamed, terrified.

"Maybe so, but even they can't quite see us." Nami reasoned.

"We should blend in and escape as soon as possible." Robin suggested.

"Right, we're going to go forward, but in absolute silence, ok? Especially you, Luffy." Nami ordered.

"Ok!" He replied.

Moments later, Nami and Sanji noticed a small boy standing at the railing of one of Marine's ships. He looked back at us, freaked out and fell down!

Fortunately, Robin reacted quickly and sprouted arms from the ship's hull, rescuing the boy before he fell on the water and drowned.

Because of the shock, he fainted. We brought him inside and bundled him in a sheet so he could rest and recover. When he woke up, he got scared again…

"W-where am I?" He asked, still stunned.

"This is Luffy Pirates' ship." Usopp explained.

"Pi… pirates?" He reacted.

"Don't you remember? You fell from your ship." Nami recalled.

"Pirates! Get away from me! What? Are you planning to attack our ships, huh?" Just as he was told where he was, he reacted quite angrily.

"What's wrong with him? Even though we saved his butt!" Usopp complained.

"He's a small marine… It can't be helped." Robin calmed him down.

Sanji offered a plate of soup to the boy, but he instinctively refused. However, he paused to think for a few seconds and ultimately accepted.

"Delicious! Thanks for the food!" As soon as he finished the meal, already calming down, he thanked for it, and introduced himself. His name is Tajiyo and he's an apprentice cook at the Marine.

"Sanji-san! You're wasting your talent in this old pirate ship!" It could've been a praise, but to the others it was more like an insult…

We took him to the front of the ship. He had to be back at his own as soon as possible because…

"I dropped the curry that was ready for today's lunch… now I have to make another whole cauldron until then… I've tried many times but I can't get it right!"

"Tajiyo-kun, since when you're a cook?" Nami asked.

"I'm an apprentice for six months…" He said, still disheartened.

"Six months is way enough time, isn't it?" Sanji said.

"Not if all you do is cleaning dishes and peeling vegetables! I never cooked before!" Tajiyo retorted. "Besides… all Captains from our squad gather once a week for a curry-based lunch! And now it's my ship's turn to do it! Problem is all the curry I'll come to do won't get near the level of the Marine chefs." Disappointed, Tajiyo lamented.

"So you're an apprentice for half a year but you still lack self-confidence… just go back and apologize to your chief." Sanji said, quite unsympathetically, but surely knowing what he's talking about.

"No! If I do that, I'll be kicked out!" Tajiyo opposed his suggestion.

When we asked him why it was so important for him to stay there, the boy replied…

"All Blue! Have you heard about it?"

Hey… All Blue… the ocean All Blue! Sanji~…

Those little words made him freeze in place.

"North Blue, South Blue, East Blue, West Blue… the sea where the fish from the four great oceans swim together… All Blue! The most treasured sea for chefs everywhere, who would give their lives to see it even once!" Tajiyo said, with hope.

"The older chefs told me it was just an illusion and laughed at me, but… I know it's there! I joined Marine just to have more chances to find it! That's why… I don't want to leave that ship!"

Hmmm… this story might be interesting! Maybe if I sneak in too…

Although we do have to steer away from Marine ships, for now it was decided we would take him back to his own.

"Gomu Gomu no… Tomozuna! (Gum-Gum Ship to Ship Line)" Luffy stretched his arms and grabbed one ship.

"The fog's going away roughly at noon, ok? It's gonna get dangerous by then and we won't be able to wait for you anymore." Nami alerted.

"Ok." Sanji replied.

"Are you going to help him?" Nami asked.

"Nah, I'm just curious about Marine's cooking procedures." He replied.

"Sanji!" Luffy called.

He and Tajiyo tugged to Luffy. But at the last second before they left… I ran and tugged to Sanji! He must've noticed but it's too late. I can't just let a good story pass through me and do nothing about it!

Just as we arrived, I discreetly followed and hid together with them in a covered lifeboat.

"DAN! WHY-" Now they notice me… I must be a ninja!

"Shhh! Do you want them to find us?" I shut Luffy's mouth before he could blow our cover.

"I understand Luffy coming, but why did _you_ come too, Dan?" Sanji whispered, shocked.

"I just wanted to walk around…" My answer completely baffled him. He facepalmed before stating to me and Luffy: "Right, but stay put and wait for us here, get it?"

"Ye-yeah, we get it!" We replied, quite scared.

Sanji and Tajiyo left the "hideout" and we waited a little more.

"Wanna go around too?" Luffy suggested.

"Anything's better than sitting here!" I instantly agreed.

Out from our "hideout", we sneaked around amidst the fog, entering the rooms of the ship. We then walked around, getting lost, having no destination in particular.

"Ooh… a storeroom! Let's go!" Without missing a beat, Luffy took the chance to enter the room.

"Come on… it's all about food…" I walked behind him, always on the lookout in case anyone found us. Suddenly, loud noises! "Luffy, don't make too much noise! They're gonna find us!"

Fortunately, instead of an angry soldier, Sanji and Tajiyo were the ones to find us.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sanji asked, surprised.

"Yeah… um, we…" It left me speechless.

"Ah, Sanji! I was exploring! Exploring, I say! It's not something we do very often, right? Now, if you excuse me, I'll explore some more!" He said, walking away.

"Ok, but if the marines catch you, I don't know anything." Sanji warned. "And… empty your pockets, come on."

"Giku…" Luffy froze.

"Give back the apples, Luffy!" Caught.

…

"Aren't you going with him, Dan?" Sanji asked as Luffy went away with empty pockets.

"I'll stay… He knows how to get around." I replied.

I simply watched as Tajiyo showed Sanji the curry made at Marine.

"In the time I was an apprentice… Owner Zeff didn't teach me a single thing." Sanji said. "Every single day, I cleaned dishes. 'Hey, beansprout! Doing your best ain't enough! Why do you think I accepted you in my kitchen and let you work here for half a year, huh? Use your head and think!' He'd tell me every time I complained."

"So… the head chef wanted me to watch him while he cooked?" Tajiyo deduced.

"Cooking is not something you teach." Sanji concluded, turning his back.

"I'll try!" Tajiyo said, determined.

Before him were laid various ingredients. Tajiyo wracked his brain trying to remember his chief's teachings, then starting to work with the ingredients.

I don't know whether he's doing well or not… Sanji's the one who's gonna say that… or not, since he's not showing any signs of helping him. He just walked around the kitchen, inspecting their tools and proving the curry leftovers.

"Boy, cook with haste you must not." Sanji just cleaned his throat. That somehow made the boy stop whatever he was doing and go add some spice in the pieces of meat about to go to the frying pan, also preparing other ingredients aside.

"Ah! You're smoking in the kitchen? Is that right to you? I may have said you're too good to a pirate ship, but I take that back!" The boy got annoyed when he saw Sanji lighting his cigar with the fire under his frying pan.

"Damn… I burned my hair." Sanji ignored him and left. "Dan, come on. Let him work alone."

"Hai, hai…" I replied and walked behind him. After some time, we started to feel the nice smell of curry in the air…

"Hmmm… delicious… I'm hungry already!" I said, succumbing to my rumbling stomach.

"Let's see…" Sanji sluggishly got up again, getting back to the kitchen as he was done smoking.

We saw the cauldron full and the curry, almost ready! However, when Tajiyo tasted his own creation…

"No! It's got no taste!" Tajiyo walked away from the cauldron, shocked. "I knew it! I'm no good for this!"

Sanji blinked, noticing that, and went to grab an apple to eat, leaving the kitchen once again. "Dan."

"Ok." I followed him again. At that time it was becoming obvious, at least for me.

"Oh! This apple… it's sweet." Sanji said.

"You can stop it now, Sanji-san." I said.

"Hm? Stop what?"

"Sanji-san!" Suddenly, we saw Tajiyo running towards us. "Thank you very much!"

"Why? I didn't do anything to deserve that." Sanji refused.

"Yes, you did! You faked you were doing things to bother me, but you were actually helping me!" Tajiyo said.

"See?" I said.

"See what?" He retorted.

"Sanji! We're leaving!" Ah… Luffy! I almost forgot about him.

"That doofus… he was found already?" Sanji sighed.

"Those marines are fast!" I commented.

Luffy ran to us, quickly stretching his arms and waiting for us to leave.

"Tajiyo." Sanji called him. "I believe in it too… All Blue!"

The boy's eyes widened. After so long, he finally found someone who shared his dream!

"Sanji! Dan! Hold it tight!" Oops, time to go!

We tugged Luffy, flying back to our Going Merry. Of course, landing wasn't very comfortable… by which I mean we crashed and got stuck in the wall. Luffy tried to apologize, forgetting to _actually remove us from the wall_…

"What's up, you three?"

"AAAH! YOU HURT THE GOING MERRY YET AGAIN?" Usopp screamed in horror…

"Usopp! Nami! Sorries! The marines saw me, so we had to get back…" Luffy said, painfully honestly.

"WHAT? WE HAVE TO RUN AWAY THEN!" Nami panicked.

"THIS SHIP WAS A GIFT FROM KAYA!" Usopp kept complaining. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT?"

"Let's leave now!" Nami ordered.

"Yeah! Ow… I can't move… can you get us outta here?" Sanji and I said.

I hope that boy's curry was good enough to the lunch… I'm hungry just by thinking about it!

* * *

**Luffy: "Waah... I'm tired of this small stuff thingy! When's it gonna be the next great adventure?"**

**************Dan: "Hey, Mr. Author, forward the plot already! We're resting way too much!"**

**************Calm down, people. There's a right time for that. The sea will take you wherever it wants, not me. Until then, be patient and wait for the next chapters to come out! See ya!  
**


	85. Fireworks and the wandering swordsman

**Chapter 85**

**"Slices of life… the brave sniper and the wandering swordsman"**

* * *

"Aahnnn… how boring… WAAH! WHEN THE HELL IS THIS DAMN RAIN GONNA STOP?"

It's raining. After so many days of sun, blue skies, adventures and scuffles… it's raining. And Luffy can't stop whining because… it's raining. The never-ending rain confined everyone in the upper room.

Well, everyone except Zoro, the poor and lonely soul that has to stay at the lookout post.

Sanji's busy cleaning the dishes, Chopper's steering the helm, Nami reads the newspaper, Robin's _still _reading her book, Usopp's working on his gadgets, I'm practicing my drawing skills and Luffy… he's bored out of his skull.

"Aaahnnn~… Usopp, do you have something cool for us to do?" Luffy asked, not with enough spirit.

"I have a firework, but it's just one shot… wanna try it?" Usopp pulled out a ball with a small fuse.

"AWESOME!" Luffy quickly perked up…

…but just as fast, Nami made him change ideas. "Don't do it. What would happen if there was an enemy ship around?"

That was enough to make Usopp store his ball again and Luffy get bored once more. A few moments of silence later…

"Hey, what've you been reading all the time?"

For some reason, this simple question managed to scare everybody else. Nami and Chopper glared at him all of a sudden… Sanji and Usopp faked disinterest, but they were sweating. Oh, I get it…

"What's up, guys?" Luffy asked.

"A-ah, no. Nothing, nothing." They said.

"Heheh… they're just surprised because you're interested in a bo-"

"QUIET!" Before I was finished, Nami shut me up.

Robin giggled and decided to show him her book. "_Rainbow Mist_. In other words, it's a book about a mist colored like the rainbow. Here, the author details his adventures in a mysterious ocean."

"Adventures? Sounds cool!" He said, holding the book. And weirding everyone else out.

However, right before he could open it… "Hey guys, I spotted an island ahead." …Zoro walked into the room and called.

"Island? Yahoo!" Luffy dropped the book on the table and jumped outside, relieving everyone else of the possible "trauma"…

"Guys, what's wrong?" Zoro asked.

"Nothing…" They said.

"Ah, they're just surprised because Luffy was interested in a bo-"

"SHUT UP, GODDAMMIT!"

"O-ok!"

Before I could reveal it, Nami and Usopp screamed at me… what's wrong with them?

Skipping that, we docked the ship below a cliff, deciding to stroll around and check out the island. Or rather, everyone, except for Zoro (obvious reasons) and Robin (_still_ reading) who were tasked to watch our ship.

Going up the hill, we could see a small town at the bottom of the mountain. After walking the roads of dirt, we arrived at the town.

"Wow! It's small but it's quite lively!" Usopp said as he looked around and was amazed. We saw the town streets decorated with festive adornments and lots of people everywhere.

"Guys, check this out!" Luffy called. We rushed to see what he was looking at and found him staring at several posters glued to the wall. Instead of wanted posters, they were promotional posters of a firework festival that will be held today.

"Fireworks! Long gone is the last time I saw one!" Nami smiled.

"Well then, shall we watch it together then?"

"No, thank you. Mind your own business, please."

Wow, what a rejection, Sanji! Enough to make him sulk.

"Fireworks… fireworks! I'm excited!" Wow, she rejected an advance and went on like nothing happened.

"Hello, kids! Are you tourists?"

A middle-aged man talked to us. "Did you come to see the fireworks?"

"No, not really…" Nami wanted to explain…

"Are these fireworks famous or stuff like that?"…but Luffy cut her word.

That man and another one told us a little about the annual festival. A tradition dating back to 400 years ago that made this island really famous in this part of the Grand Line. The two pointed us to a tower at the top of the hills where an old man and a little girl live. They're the ones responsible for making the fireworks for the festival.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Usopp remembered. "I'm running out of gunpowder. Maybe if I go up there, they're gonna give me some! See you later!" He then sped off towards the tower.

"Who knows if I go too… guys, I'm gonna walk around! Back in five!" I followed him, a few steps behind.

"Don't get lost!" Nami screamed, waving goodbye.

After going up the hills and catching Usopp on the way, we slowed the pace and walked to the house where the manufacturers of the fireworks live.

"Heheh… in my hands a simple firework becomes a beautiful masterpiece! When I show it to the old man, he's gonna go all 'A person with your talents can take all the gunpowder you want for free!' Ahahahah!" I could only giggle as I saw Usopp lose himself in his delusions…

"Hai, hai…" I said.

"T-the hell are you doing here?" Only now he notices me? Hmmm… ninja!

"I wanna take a closer look at this story… it might be… interesting, you know?" I said, with a hand in my chin and my face close to his.

"W-what are you, a story chaser?" Usopp asked, creeped out.

We finally arrived to the factory. When we asked if they had any gunpowder to give us…

"No!"

The old man, called Oodama, denied. He was kinda grumpy and had strange red markings painted on his face. Even with Usopp practically begging him, it wasn't enough. He said he had nothing to give to an amateur and that's it. Still, our liar sharpshooter didn't give up. When we entered the factory…

"Wah! Ball! White! Humongous!" Usopp screamed when he saw… well, a giant frigging ball stacked in a corner of the warehouse.

"Giant Sphere of the 14th Generation… Chrysanthemum…" I read the writing in the ball. "Hey, mister, what's up with th-"

"Who the hell do you think you are to enter my house when you've already been kicked out?" The old man retorted, grumpy as always.

Usopp found it hard to believe, but the old Oodama confirmed. That giant ball was indeed a firework. He then decided to check out the work Usopp was so proud of.

"Ah…" Compared to that enormous firework lying there, Usopp's looked like a small grain in the sand… "Ah, it's nothing, nothing at all…"

"A dango-type, huh?" A little girl sneaked behind him and took his ball out of his hand. "Not bad, huh… well wrapped… why are you hiding it? What a waste! Don't you want to finish it?"

A purple-haired little girl named Kodama, old Oodama's granddaughter. She also had red markings on her face… must be a family symbol.

"Don't underestimate because I'm little… I'm almost as good as my grandpa-OUCH!"

The old man hit her on the head with his pipe for the comment. After he was done scolding her, he sent her to finish some tasks. She ran away, caressing her newly-earned bump.

"What are you idiots looking at?" The old man said.

Silence… "DON'T STAND THERE AND GO HELP TOO!"

"Why?" Usopp retorted. For that, we had to swerve the old man's pipe attack…

"What's wrong with him? First he kicks us out then he asks our help?" Usopp, confused.

"Don't mind him too much… he's just cranky. Let's work out then?" I said, already moving to do so.

"Not me! I had enough of this, I'm going ho-"

"Hey, you! Skipping your service?"

Usopp wanted to flee, but Kodama caught him.

"Just go do your work, ok?"

Out of options, Usopp gave up and here we are helping Kodama carry the supplies.

…

"WHAAAT? You're not here to become our disciples?" Kodama asked, surprised.

"Of course not! I just came here to ask for some gunpowder!" Usopp explained.

"And I'm just tagging along." I completed.

"What about that firework you were carrying? What was it for?" Kodama asked.

"It's just a hobby! It's not that good and it's far from the work of a professional!" Usopp confessed.

"But it's pretty well done! Won't you finish it?" Kodama asked again.

"Finish it? What do you mean? From what I know, it's finished already." Usopp said.

"Fireworks are supposed to spread beautiful flowers in the night sky. Only then they're finished. That's what I mean when I talk about fireworks inside the tubes still being incomplete." Kodama said, putting some tubes in a cart. "Just like these ones. They're finished only when there's a sphere inside them."

"You're quite something…" Usopp, admired.

"I told you not to underestimate me, didn't I?" Kodama bragged.

"Does the same go to that ridiculously huge one? It's still incomplete? Wow, it'd be awesome to see that firing!" As Usopp talked, I noticed she looked away from us.

"What's wrong, Kodama-chan?" I asked.

"Last year… we tried to shoot one of those." She replied.

This same day last year, her parents tried to shoot the biggest firework in the world… and died in the process. The safety equipment of the Sphere 205 couldn't resist.

A few hours later, it started to rain… yet again. If it rains, the festival's going to be canceled and with it would crumble a secret plan of the little Kodama.

Whispering in our ears… "If the rain stops, I'm gonna shoot the 205 tonight!"

"WHA-" Before he screamed, she threw a ball on his face… "Don't raise your voice!"

"Sorry… But there's no way you're gonna do this by yourself! It's too dangerous!" Usopp hissed.

"Don't worry! I called the firing squad in secret." She insisted.

"But it has gone wrong once."

"Still, I wanna try again!"

Our worries kept increasing, but so did her determination.

"No is no! I'm going to tell your grandpa and he's gonna stop-"

Before he could enter their house, she kicked him in the shin, making him fall down.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR, YOU…?" He shot up again, with a bleeding nose.

"Are you going to crush daddy and mommy's dream?" Kodama said angrily.

"Your parents'… dream?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah. The past generations had the skills to build and shoot the 205, but some time ago, they stopped the tradition. And my parents wanted to revive it." She said. "Today I'll fulfill their dream!"

"But why are you telling us all this?" Usopp asked.

"Do you really wanna know?" She turned to us with a wicked grin… uh-oh… Usopp swallowed hard.

…

She tasked us with a mission: to distract her grandpa while the firing squad takes care of the sphere… but we're too reluctant to do it. Usopp and I went to walk under the rain and decide if we would really help her in such a dangerous task. When we were doing that…

"Wait a minute…" In a cliff, he turned to look at the factory and saw something. "I got an idea! Dan, come on!"

"Huh? W-wait, wait for me! Usopp-kun!" He started to dash back to the factory and I followed him.

When we arrived there, we saw the little Kodama running away and crying for some reason… I guess she didn't find support to her big plan… poor one.

"Say, Oodama-san… are you going to go ahead with the festival even with this rain?" I asked.

"It'll stop in just a while. The wind's blowing east." Oodama replied. "What I can't understand is Kodama."

"Gramps, this tower's here for 400 years, isn't it?" Usopp asked. He went to inspect a cart for some reason.

"Yeah. Why do you want to know that?"

Usopp had an idea on his mind…

We went to the cemetery, where Kodama runs away to when she's down, according to old Oodama. Indeed, there she was, looking sad and sitting before her parents' grave.

"Daddy, mommy… if this rain stops, it's because you'll let me, right? Are you gonna let me fire the 205 for you? But… I don't know if I can do it…" She said, still conflicting.

"Of course you can do it!"

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Usopp started talking in a strange voice…

"Kodama, if it's you shooting the fireworks, we'll make the rain stop!" He said.

"But then, your dream's not gonna…" Kodama whispered.

Oh, I get it… Guess I'm gonna do it too!

"Do you think this is our only dream?" I said. Kodama raised her head and stared at the grave. "Our greatest dream is you."

"Yes, dear." Usopp continued. "Our greatest dream is to see you becoming a brilliant craftswoman. Kodama, take it easy and build your own 205. You have many years to do it. If you're able to revive 205's tradition, you would also make a dream of ours come true."

"Your mommy's right." I continued. "Leave our 205 with grandpa and go make beautiful fireworks so we can watch it all from up here."

"I get it! Someday, I'll create my own 205 and make you proud!" She stood up, reawakening her passionate spirit!

I and Usopp looked at each other and nodded.

"Thanks for understanding… now, just as promised, bring on the sun!" We said together.

The rain stopped… and through the clouds shines the sunlight!

"This was beautiful! Who are you?" Kodama asked, admired.

"Heh? We? We're Heaven's messengers! Usopp Angel… and Dan Angel!" Usopp talked on our behalf.

"Baloney!" Guess she didn't fall for it…

"Usopp Angel! Dan Angel! Thanks! I'm gonna give my best!" Kodama ran away back home.

We smiled. "Now… let's finish our mission?"

"Right away, Usopp Angel!" I agreed.

…

The night came and with it came the great moment! The firework festival!

Multi-colored fireworks glowed in the island's skies… all thanks to the never-ending work and dedication of this family of craftsmen and women, represented in the spirit of the little Kodama.

As for us…

"One… two… one… two…"

Thanks to a mechanical contraption Usopp built with the wheels of a cart, we're now pulling the giant ball inside the tower that turned out to be its proper launch site.

"Ready!" Usopp smiled and wiped the sweat off when we were done. Everything in place, now it's a matter of waiting the show down there to end!

"Beautiful…" I was amazed with the countless styles of fireworks coloring the sky of this island… the spectacle was even more dazzling!

"Is everything ready?" The old Oodama asked.

"Yeah!" Usopp replied while we heard the applause from the citizens, praising the spectacle they just witnessed. He then rushed to shoot his highly-touted creation… that made a tiny explosion.

"Wha? My first firework was _that_ weak?" Usopp was disheartened.

"At least it called the attention of the people to us… because it's time of the grand finale!" I said cheerfully.

"Ok, then! Go on, grandpa Oodama!" Usopp shouted.

Oodama then lit the initial spark and jumped out of the tower…

The spark turned into a blast…

That sent the ball speeding like an arrow to the sky above…

…

…

And detonated in a giant and beautiful golden explosion! The spectacle lasted for a few seconds and it was simply incredible! The shocked silence quickly gave way to loud cheers and the crowd's warm applause at the bottom of the mountain was enough to show how awesome it was.

"Kodama-chan… the dream of your parents came true!" I whispered.

"Gramps… can I have some of your gunpowder?" Usopp asked.

"Idiot… you come from nowhere and ask me that, huh? Take as much as you want!"

…

…

…

We're out of land and back to the open sea. Just as the ship passed through a rock, the group took the chance to stop, since the waves were pretty calm, and test Going Merry's cannons yet again. A test led by our shooter in service, Usopp.

"Wahoo! Cool! Awesome! Incredible!"

Luffy cheered and was amazed with Usopp's shooting accuracy…

However…

At the other side of the ship was I, reading about calligraphy and Zoro, sleeping.

"Ah… wachoo!"

"Bless you."

He sneezed, cleaned his nostrils and quickly grabbed one of his swords when he noticed Robin walking nearby and bringing him a blanket.

"I told you, don't come near me." Zoro said.

"If you stay like this, you're gonna catch a cold." Robin replied, ignoring his warnings.

"Huh, only the weak of heart get colds." Aw, come on… this is no excuse to play 'tough guy'…

"Maybe this is someone talking about the great Zoro, the pirate hunter, then?" Robin asked.

"I don't recall having ever self-named myself a pirate hunter." He replied snidely.

"So, who gave you this so very fantastic nickname?" I asked from the sidelines.

He glared at me and shrugged. "I don't know… that doesn't really matter."

I sighed. "Hah… I almost forgot how hard it is to take more than ten words out of you…" I walked near him and leaned on the railing. Robin went back to her chair and to read her book.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Don't you have any myste~~rious story behind your awesome epithet?" I asked back, making some gestures.

"How should I know? The outsiders were the ones to name me like that." He replied.

"Haah… you're a man of a few words… Hm, ah, I know! I remember you told me you hunted pirates to have money to eat, didn't you?" I deduced I had to keep asking him stuff to make him talk…

"Yeah. So?" He rebuffed the question.

"Don't you remember anything else from then?" I asked.

He thought for a few seconds, closing his eyes. "I don't know… ah, I still remember something about the day I first met Johnny and Yosaku."

Oh yes, now that's more like it.

Still telling it his way, with few words and recalling just a few details, he started to tell a tale about the day he first met his "disciples".

He had just arrived in a deserted city, hungry from all that walking. He entered a restaurant, but had no money to eat. However, imagine his luck when he found a bandit with a bounty for his head sitting on a table there.

"Before I ordered my lunch, I slashed that bandit in ten seconds." Even hungry, he still had strength to go against a bandit… Badass!

At that time, his sword was being repaired, so he walked around with a borrowed one.

As he was eating, Johnny and Yosaku approached him and basically told him that the bandit he just defeated was their target. Zoro in turn, told them he was no hunter, he was just a wanderer in a journey and let them hand the bandit to Marine and have his bounty as long as they didn't forget to pay for his meal.

"I didn't have time to stop and get to know people or stuff like that. They were just two strangers who happened to bump into me."

"So? What happened after that?" My eyes were shining with curiosity.

"Honestly… what else do you want to know?" My shine bothered him. He asked, frowning. "I went to pay the repairs to my Wadou Ichimonji! And that's it! Can you let me sleep now?"

"Ooohhh… nothing else happened? Like, did a mean bandit appear or… you saved some village… or both at the same time?"

It was his turn to sigh. "Aw man…"

He reluctantly continued, telling that he went to retrieve his Wadou Ichimonji at the swordsmith and return the borrowed one… shattered.

"I walked around with an old sword to hunt pirates and ended up with a debt in my hands…" He recalled.

"But an old sword is better than having to fight empty-handed for someone like you, don't you think?" I asked.

Now he had a debt to pay. Fortunately, he heard a series of explosions coming from the nearby village. Wait, wait, fortunately in the sense that it could be interpreted as a baddie running loose… and by extension, a fresh bounty to be taken.

Of course he wouldn't miss this opportunity, so he rushed back to the village.

When he got there, he found the two bounty hunters from before fighting against a huge and burly man carrying a ridiculously oversized pistol on his shoulder. Well, not fighting, but getting their asses soundly kicked by him.

"Mountain Whale Dick. Ten million. Modesty aside, if it weren't for me, those two were royally f*cked." Zoro said. "That bandit and his cronies were throwing Johnny and Yosaku around like rag dolls…"

He told that a little boy had also taken a beating from the bandits, but he still wanted to fight, even if he knew that he would get in the way.

"I had to step in."

First, he had to pass through Dick's henchmen. So, he had to get his gear.

Wearing his trademark bandanna and preparing his known Three-Sword Style, the rumored "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro stepped on the ring.

"I used that to test my preciseness. If I went overboard, my valuable sword would break." He said.

"Hmm… I remember that cute girl with the glasses, Tashigi-san…"

Zoro twitched for a second when he heard her name…

"…she showed me a book with the most famous swords when we met…"

"Yeah, mine is one of the Great Grade Swords! You didn't have to mention _her_ to tell me that!" He got embarrassed… "But where are you going with that?"

"Nowhere special! I was just gonna comment that this isn't a sword that breaks easily." I clarified.

"But I do worry about it."

The heritage from his friend and eternal rival…

Thinking about that, he charged against the bandit and his followers. In a single swipe, he took the cronies down. Now, it was time to face the boss.

Who would expect that… with the help of that little boy throwing a bucket of water to distract the giant, Zoro had the chance he needed to unleash a powerful slash in the bandit's chest that took him down once and for all.

Thus, in only two slashes, he defeated a feared group of bandits of the East Blue.

As a bonus, he gained two followers.

"There." He said. "Happy?"

"I liked it!" I said happily.

"Ok, now go pester someone else and leave me alone! I'm sleepy!" He said, shooing me away.

"You're always sleepy…" I hissed as I did so.

"WHAT?" Damn it, I give up. I can't whisper to myself, everyone always hear me!

* * *

**Usopp: "You shortened everyone's stories!"**

**Am I great or not? Wait, are you complaining?**

**Luffy: "Hey, hey, say! Am I gonna get my own too?"**

**No, we're moving right ahead. I squeezed six stories together in three chapters and I don't wanna waste any more time, so, let's go forward with the plot!**

**Next chapter, you're all going to an island with lots of goats!**

**All: "Goats?"**

**That's all I can tell for now. See ya!  
**


	86. That's a profit? Goat Island's Zenny!

**Chapter 86**

**"How's that for profit? Meet Zenny, Goat Island's money lender"**

* * *

Boom! Marine attack!

Boom! Explosions everywhere!

Boom! Our ship is in dang–Hello? Guys? Weren't we supposed to be panicking?

"Hey, you! If we don't do anything, they're gonna sink our ship!"

Well, at least Nami's the most concerned with the imminent danger behind us… now, go tell the others to get their asses on the move, c'mon!

"I'm hungry~~~!"

"Me too…"

Luffy and Chopper were suspended on the handrail, whining. Usopp was fishing and probably laughing inside at the Marine cannons' god-awful accuracy, Zoro was busy polishing his esteemed swords and Robin… reading. _Still._ But, let's be fair, ok? Her book's very thick, you can't finish it in a single day.

"Hey, Usopp, did you fish something yet?" Luffy turned and asked him, still drowsy.

"It's not that I can't do it, it's because we're moving too fast!" Usopp justified himself.

I'm also kinda weak now to do something about those pesky marines… and if nobody wants to do it, why should I?

Just as Sanji brought one of his "Mille Feuille" or whatever the hell his dish is named anyway, the usual trio jumped at him as always, but Robin stopped them with her now famous tickle attacks.

Meanwhile, at the other side…

"The hell? How can they goof off at a time like this?"

Nami's annoyed to no end.

"THIS IS NO TIME TO BE LAUGHING, GUYS!"

"Nami! I think we're going to have bigger problems than the marines to deal with in this sea, so, put your navigation skills to work and do something about it!" Zoro warned.

"I get it already! Aw man… another fog?"

A dark and mysterious fog was once again ahead of us. Just as we entered it, we could see lots of rocks dragging the maritime currents. Although it was pretty difficult to see ahead, we were able to maneuver the Going Merry around the boulders and escape the fog zone. Guess what did we see right off the bat?

"Island! I'm seeing an island ahead!" Usopp called.

After we docked the ship in the shore, we climbed the boulders to reach the roads going through the forests of the island… You're used to it by now, aren't you?

"Nobody around… could this be an uninhabited island?" Robin wondered aloud.

Right after that, we heard a bleat. After looking around, we spotted a little goat peacefully eating grass a little far away from us. Unfortunately, this peace would soon be broken because…

"MEEEEEAT! MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!"

…Usopp, Luffy and Sanji dashed away, chasing the poor little goat around…

"Hey, wait!" Nami and I wasted our legs trying to overtake them and form a barrier.

"Stop right there, you all! No matter however hungry you are, I'm not gonna let you eat that cute goat!" Nami declared, opening her arms.

"Yeah, yeah! Guys, don't go around chasing whatever creature comes on our way!" I completed.

"Hey, you really should look around, because the friends of your little goat are circling us!" Zoro started to draw one of his swords.

It didn't take long for the "older brothers" of the little goat to come out of the bushes and surround us… eek, they don't seem too happy with our presence…

"Damn it… why did you want to eat that poor goat? We've fallen into a trap!" I asked exasperatedly.

"We're hungry!" Luffy justified.

"I'm hungry too, but I didn't do it, did I? It's your fault!" I complained.

"What?" Luffy got annoyed.

We soon had to stop our little bickering because the goats started their attack!

Zoro quickly unsheathed one of his swords, but…

"No! Don't kill them! They're not bad, I'm sure of it!" Chopper screamed.

While the others tried to deal with the angrier goats, Chopper tried the diplomatic approach.

"Wait! We're not here to eat you, I swear! But why did you draw us to a trap?" Chopper tried to talk… and succeeded.

In Goatese, one of the goats replied.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"Someone told them to do it!" Chopper replied, surprised.

"W… what now? Who did it?" I asked, trying not to freak out.

Before he could answer, we had to evade the headbutts of the goats attacking us…

"Stop! Stop it!" Chopper cried out desperately.

"Hey, get out of the way! It's dangerous!" Zoro said as he held off an angry goat.

"Stop! STOOOOOP!"

Our doctor had to transform into his humanoid and muscled form for the goats to be scared into retreating… as scared as the man behind the attack, who revealed himself when he fell off a tree.

"Hey, a weird old man fell over there!" Luffy pointed.

"MONSTER!" After he recovered, the old man immediately pointed to Chopper.

He was a wrinkly old man, of wild, messy gray hair and rusty clothes. After confirmation, he turned out to be the one that ordered the goats to attack us.

"He must've thought we were gonna attack him…" Zoro mused.

"If that's the case, don't worry. We're around only to get water and food." Sanji tried to calm the old man down.

"As if I can trust the word of a pirate! Listen, I have no treasure with me! Not even a penny! No chance!" The angry man pointed at us.

"I don't mean to offend, but you don't look like you have any money in the first place." Usopp quipped.

"You stupid pirates!" The old man then crossed his arms and let himself sit down. "Do whatever you want with me, I'm gonna take it as a man! Cook me, roast me in a pan if you will, go ahead!"

"Ah, really?" Sanji stepped ahead, cracking his knuckles. "Leave it to me, then. I'm a specialist when it comes to cooking and roasting!"

That made the old man flounder and panic, throw pebbles at us and try to escape, in vain. He got stuck in the twigs of a bush. It was time for Zoro to step ahead and free him with two of his sword slashes. Unfortunately, the cuts freaked the old man out and he fainted.

"He blacked out…" Luffy commented.

"Oh man, he's really a wimp…" You don't say it, Usopp…

Chopper walked to him and checked his health… "Oh crap! His heart isn't beating!"

What? We slowly retreated from the dark swordsman…

"Zoro!" Luffy…

"You demon!" Usopp…

"How terrible!" Nami…

"Devil moss!" Sanji…

"WHA? HEY, WAIT, NO!" Zoro still tried to explain himself, but the words wouldn't come out…

"I'm a doctor! Take me to his home, quick!" Chopper identified himself as he applied a cardiac massage on the old man, trying to convince his goats to show us the way to his house.

When we arrived there, we laid the old man in his bed and watched as our doctor treated him. There, he woke up, to our relief… especially to Zoro's…

"I thought I was gonna kick the bucket… with pirates around, you've gotta keep your guard up…"

"Ah, you shouldn't say it, you passed out by yourself!" Usopp snarked.

"Goat old man, you mean you got scared and your heart stopped?" Luffy asked.

"Grand Line's a surprise every day! How on earth can you survive here with such a weak heart?" Sanji wondered.

"Er… for now, it's a relief that you're alive!" Nami sighed.

"RELIEF MY ASS! After that incident, that was your fault, I almost died and now I have to rest!" The old man shot up from his bed, whipped out his abacus and started to do some math. "I can't go cut wood nor get water. Oh man, the damage you gave me! You gotta compensate me in at least 50 million for this whole mess!"

Zoro, Usopp, Sanji and Luffy walked out of the barracks. They weren't in the mood to be lectured…

"Don't you think it's a bit too much? If you do the calculations right, it's about this much!" Nami quickly corrected the calculations in his abacus.

"No, this is way too little! However generous I may be, it's about this much."

"But, with Chopper's medication expenses, it goes like this…"

"I'm bugged if I know what the hell are they going on about… Let the mathematicians do their work… I'm just a writer…" I hissed to Robin, beside me. She just giggled.

"These kids of nowadays are all about mistreating me!" The old man ranted.

"Aw, come on, no one's mistreating you here… aaww, don't cry!" Nami tried to comfort him.

"Ok, ok, we get it, goat old man! We're gonna cut the wood and get water to you." Luffy talked on behalf of everyone.

"Heheh… straw hat kid, now you're talking my language!" The old man immediately stopped crying and grinned. "Now we have a deal! Eheheheheheh…"

Oh crap…

So, it was settled. Sanji's cutting the wood, Usopp will fix his tent, I'm going to wash his clothes and give them to Nami so she can put them to dry, Luffy would come and go getting water, Zoro would do the same for the food and Chopper and Robin are tasked with feeding the goats.

"That man really hates pirates… does he hold a grudge or something like that?" Sanji wondered aloud.

"I talked to a goat and he told me that that old man is the only human here. The waves dragged him here and he's living here for twenty years." Chopper explained.

"Twenty years? Hey wait, I think we met someone in his situation…" Luffy said, looking to the sky. "Huh? Hey, Zoro! Where are you going?"

"Gonna get food." He replied.

"Want help? I'm done here and I have nothing else to do…" I stood up as I was done washing clothes.

"Do as you wish… I doubt the old man's gonna share anything with us…" He didn't mind too much.

"Bring meat! Lots and lots of meat!" Luffy "ordered".

"Don't make me wanna hit you…" Zoro hissed.

Like that, here we are searching for food around the forests. As it's an incredibly boring and repetitive activity, I'm not gonna bother describing it in detail. It's not needed anyway. So, let's just say we spent several hours to fill our bag with food. The problems were in the way back home…

With the sun setting, the time we lost in the harvest was enough for me to forget the way back… and Zoro's orientation skills are completely useless.

"Goddammit, where's the north? Where's the south?" Zoro wondered aloud while he moved a few taller bushes out of his way.

"I can't believe we got lost!" I complained, carrying the bag with me.

"How are we going to get back home, huh? Hey, Zoro, what are you looking at–Ooo… what's that?"

I stopped as I saw Zoro slack-jawed, staring at something. I stared at the something too. What we found was…

…a pirate ship!

"Wow! This is awesome! We gotta tell the others!" I said cheerfully.

"Yeah but… how do we get back?" Zoro turned his back to the ship and looked at the trees, frowning.

"Umm… I don't know? Hey, we go back where we came from!" I suggested.

"Yeah, but, where did we come from again?" Hey now, that's a question of someone with the memory of a goldfish.

We decided to return before the sun set. We wasted way more time trying to figure out the fastest way to get back. Fortunately, the full moon allowed us to see ahead and return to base.

"Wah… finally, we're back…" Zoro sighed as he saw the old man's barrack. The others still worked through the night.

"Wow, guys! Go get some rest already!" I said.

"We can't! That uncle can't stop finding stuff for us to do!" Usopp said, still working on the barrack.

"I'm exhausted!" Nami complained, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"I'm hungry~~~!" Luffy fell down, tired.

"Fear not!" I said, dropping the full bag in the ground and leaving it open, at the disposal of our captain. He didn't waste time and attacked it. Meanwhile, Zoro called everyone for a pep talk.

"Pirate schip?" Luffy chomped an apple.

"Yeah. It's still unfinished, but it's got a pirate flag." He said.

"Who builtch ich?" Luffy asked as he chewed.

"It can only be of that geezer." Sanji deduced.

"Why would he do it?" Usopp asked.

"As if I know!" Sanji replied.

"Hmhmhm… I think we just bumped into something interesting, guys!" Nami put a hand on her chin. "What do you think about a little peek?"

"Hey, wait!" Zoro stepped in, but it was too late. The others already walked towards the mountain. "It's gonna take forever to get there!"

The group went to the top of the mountain and who would guess…

"Shit… it's so close in a straight line…" He cursed, whispering.

"Hurr… forever, huh?"

"Shut it!"

It took us less than ten minutes to get there. Note to myself: never trust Zoro to guide me in a forest anymore…

The ship was still incomplete and the mast's only two pieces of wood glued together like a cross…

Suddenly we heard some spoo~~~ky sounds! Some strange lights surrounded the ship…

"AAAH, DON'T EAT ME! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!" Usopp quickly clung to Luffy.

"It's just fireflies, you wuss!" Nami giggled.

After the little scare, everybody went to check out the ship from inside.

"He used the wood from nearby trees…" Robin stated.

"But he abandoned it all of a sudden…" Usopp completed.

"Are you sure that geezer did all this?" Sanji asked.

"Hmmm… it's not here…" Nami left the deck, disheartened.

"What's not here, Nami?" Luffy asked.

"A treasure."

"Treasure?" We asked.

"If my instincts are correct, that old man's true identity is… a former pirate trying to hide something!" She vibrantly pointed to us.

"Pirate?" We asked, even more incredulously.

"Here you go with your treasure search again…" I said.

"It could happen! Maybe his ship wrecked and he was brought here! In order to escape, he spent this entire time building a pirate ship." Nami theorized.

"Hold on… a former pirate who hates pirates? That doesn't make sense, don't you think?" Usopp retorted.

"It might be just a front! He says that to trail us away from his hidden treasure!" Just where does she want to go with her scatter-brained theories… "I suspected him from the start… Do you remember that there were some neat items at the old man's tent? It's a nice collection!" Wait, I forgot to mention that… I barely noticed.

"Nami-san, you're brilliant!" Sanji… you get the picture.

"You're kidding, right… that geezer, a pirate? Yeah, right…" Usopp doubted.

Nami still insisted. "He could've been a famous pirate! Look to this ship, anyway!"

"There's no free path around here…" Robin looked around. "Ahead of us, there's only a cliff impossible to climb. If he wanted to escape, then why did he build his ship here, at the top of the mountain?"

We then turned to Nami. So? How do you explain it? "Yeah… well…"

You don't.

…

"Guys, let's get going already!" Usopp said. "If it stays like this, that cranky old man's gonna fill us up with chores!"

Here we are, back at the old man's barrack, around a small fire we lit to discuss our actions from now on.

"I'm staying…"

"Luffy?" Usopp looked at him.

"I'm still hungry! That dinner was nothing!" Luffy laid on the floor… right on top of the bag…

"Hold on…" When I checked it… "Ah! It's empty!"

"WHAT? You…! You ate all the food when we turned our back!" Zoro grabbed his shirt.

Moments later, Chopper left the barrack.

"Ah, Chopper… we're going back to the ship. We're leaving." Nami said.

"I'll stay. I can't abandon a patient."

He too?

"He's alright!" Usopp ranted. "If you keep pitying him, your work's never gonna end!"

"End… it will end." Chopper replied. "That old man didn't have a stroke just because of the scare. He's sick."

"Sick? Do you mean…" Nami connected the dots.

"I'm sure of it! That man's got only three days to live!"

"What?"

Before this piece of bad news, another question arose. What should we do? He already looked weak to begin with, but still, dying in three days' time… it's too sad.

…

…

The day dawned. We woke up earlier than usual, already getting on the work before the old man got up.

"What a nice nap… hm? Wait, a nice smell…" The old man whispered.

"Good morning, uncle!" Nami greeted him.

"Your breakfast awaits you." Sanji walked him out of his barrack.

"WHA-WHAT'S ALL THIS?" He panicked.

Thanks to Sanji's cooking prowess and to the goats, who took us to the best spots to get food and fish, we were able to offer this fantastic breakfast that looked more like a whole day's worth of meals together in one place!

"Hmmm… you sure? You put some sort of poison on it, didn't you?" The old man doubted.

"How rude!" Nami didn't like.

"What's wrong in treating well your elders?" Usopp calmed him.

"If you're not eating, thank you!" Luffy stretched his hand to steal his plate…

"No, I'll eat! I'll… what? Aaah!" The old man stopped our captain's arm, but as soon as he saw it overstretched, he got scared and almost had a stroke again…

"Wah, are you alright?" Chopper panicked.

"Hey, Luffy! Don't startle him!" Nami and I bopped him.

We then explained that our captain ate a Devil Fruit, so the old man settled and chomped down the food.

"Hmm! Delicious! It's been a long while since I last ate good food!" He praised.

"If you need something else, just say, ok?" Nami added.

"So you don't… regret it later…" Eek!

"Don't say that, Usopp-kun!" Time for me to bop him too.

The old man kept eating and eating and eating… until, all of a sudden, he dropped his chopsticks… and grunted like his chest hurt!

"What's wrong, uncle?" Luffy asked, panicking.

"Hang in there!" Sanji, equally worried.

"Ah… wait… I was so touched that the food stopped in my throat…"

Cue a relieved facefault.

"Ah, thank goodness… I thought it was too early…" Chopper, quiet!

"Early for what?"

Before the old man could deduce, Nami threw her shoe at our doctor's face. Trying to avoid mentioning unlucky things, we kept offering him food and sharing good laughs with the wrinkly old man… except for Zoro, who frowned for some reason.

"Something wrong, Zoro-san?" I asked.

"Hmmm… something's fishy." He said, somewhat thoughtful.

"What?"

"Look at him. Does he look like someone who's gonna die in three days?" He hissed.

I preferred to leave that question unanswered.

…

…

…

"Work faster! It's hot but I don't care!" Sometimes he's so cranky…

He ate his feast and then took us so we could continue the construction of his ship. Thank goodness that the goats were there to help us, 'cause if otherwise, we won't get out of here any time soon!

"By the way… why did you build this ship here, of all places?" Sanji asked in his pause to smoke.

"Aahh… this isn't a ship…" He said as he relaxed with Robin's massage.

"It isn't? Then, what is it?" Luffy asked as he looked around.

"It's my coffin."

"Coffin?"

Shaped like a ship?

"Yup. It's gonna be my grave." The old man replied.

"The goat old man's grave… sorry." Luffy started praying.

"Hey, stop that! It's unlucky!" Usopp panicked.

Does the old man know that he's got only a few days?

"Why are you getting scared for nothing?" The old man asked when he saw Nami looking sorrowfully at him. "When you're alone in an island, what's wrong about building your own coffin? After all, I'm gonna die anyway." He closed his eyes.

"But why your coffin's a pirate ship?"

I got no answer, because the old man closed his eyes and didn't open them again. Instead, he lowered his head… oh crap, did he kick the bucket?

"Sir? Sir? Gramps, are you alright? Gramps, come on!" I sprinted and my heart jumped. The others came too, worried as well.

"Shhh! He's just sleeping." Nami calmed us down. He was snoring…

…

…

…

We decided to call it a day for now and get back to the tent. After a refreshing afternoon nap, the old man woke up and challenged our navigator to a little match of chess to kill time.

"Delicious! How did you make this cheese?" The old man asked.

"With milk from your goats. It's gonna toughen you up a little, sir." Sanji said. Then he whispered: "Although it won't do much anyway…"

"Your turn, gramps." Nami warned.

"Hmmm…" He thought for some time, then made his play. "Checkmate! With my king at the defense!"

"NOO! Hold on a little…" What?

"No waits, Nami-chan!" He won? He beat Nami?

"Uh, I lost… what about another match?" She lost? In chess? Wow, incredible!

"Let's go! Nothing better than playing chess with a beautiful lady, eating cheese and getting a massage on my shoulders!" He said, happier than ever.

"Hahah! What a good catch!" The others came back from the shore bringing lots of food and giant fish! "Sanji! Cook something delicious to gramps, ok?" Luffy said as he laid the fish in the ground.

"Leave it to me!" Sanji rolled up his sleeves.

"Uncle, if you wish to eat something or any favor out of us, just tell, ok? We'll do our best!" Usopp stated, more cheerfully than usual…

"Aah… this is nice… I can die happy now. I'm in paradise!"

"Don't say that!"

"Even if it's short…"

"Look forward!"

"DON'T GIVE UP YOUR LIFE!"

Just as the old man said that, the three doofuses melted down crying and grieving… how cheesy… I'm starting to question all this.

"Hey, guys, don't you think it's weird?" Zoro spoke.

"What, Zoro?" Usopp asked.

"He was supposed to have only three more days, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, but they'll be over pretty soon!" Usopp replied and the three idiots started crying again…

"I know, but the three days were over a long ago!" I recalled.

"Ah, yeah?" They stopped. "Strange… how is he that fine then?" Usopp asked.

He's pretty perky now… his health seems to be improving… he's even refusing his medicines! Yeah, something's really fishy…

"Checkmate!"

"NOOO! Not again!" You lost again, Nami? What's happening?

On our side…

"Hey, sensei! Didn't you say he had only three more days?" I asked as I saw him walking towards us.

"From the way he looks, it's like he's gonna live for thirty more years!" Sanji quipped.

"I don't know… but if it's an error that does him good, it's fine, right?" Chopper replied.

"That's not the problem! Now that he's cured, let's run away!" Usopp stood up confidently.

"Yeah… we have no reason to keep taking care of him anymore." I agreed. "Let's leave?"

"It's decided, then." We all stood up, preparing to leave. "Nami! We're leaving!" Zoro called.

"Can you… wait five minutes?"

"Stop playing chess and let's go already!" Usopp called.

"I can't stop now! I lost all games and now he took our ship!"

"WHAAAAT?"

"WHAT KIND OF PIRATE HANDS OVER HIS OWN SHIP IN A GAME OF CHESS?" Usopp yelled.

"I'm gonna get it back, I swear! Please wait!" Nami said, panicking.

"Checkmate."

"Kyaaa!"

Damn it… we worked so much until now but Nami goes, bets our ship and loses it in a goddamn game of chess?

* * *

**Luffy: "See? If you had advanced the plot earlier, this wouldn't have happened!"**

**Wait, now it's MY fault? You should complain with Nami! Wow, I would never think she sucks at chess!  
**

**Luffy: "Na~~mi~~!"**

**Ok, well, scuffles aside, that's what happened! They lost their ship in a game of chess! How are they going to take it back? Check out on the next chapter!  
**


	87. The island's much sought after treasure!

**Chapter 87**

**"Goat Island's hidden treasure! Zenny Pirates, full throttle!"**

* * *

"Nami! We're leaving!" Zoro called.

"Can you… wait five minutes?"

"Quit the chess and let's go already!" Usopp called.

"I can't stop now! I… uh, kinda… lost all matches and now he's got our ship!"

"WHAAAAT?"

"WHAT KIND OF PIRATE HANDS OVER HIS OWN SHIP IN A GAME OF CHESS?" Usopp yelled.

"I'm gonna get it back, I swear! Please wait!" Nami said, panicking.

"Checkmate."

"Kyaaa!"

"STOP ALREADY!"

…

Great. Now we have no ship! How can this get any worse?

"If you want to get it back, you have to work here for a little while longer…" The man then pulled out his abacus… "Hmmm… I guess some ten years will do. How's that for profit? Ahahahahahah…"

There. That's how it can get worse.

"Na~~mi~~!" We dragged her away from the chess table.

"My bad, guys… I'm sorry!" She kneeled, disheartened.

"Yeah, it's really your bad, Nami! Who'd guess you sucked this much in chess, huh?" Quipped an annoyed Usopp.

"How should I know? I thought that if I beat that old man, maybe he would tell me where his treasure is…"

She's still on about that? Give me a break…

"We've hit rock bottom now! Let's ditch that old man and run away!" Usopp whispered.

"No need for that, Usopp-kun!"

"Huh?"

That earned me a few stares. I twitched, but I still bravely rolled up my sleeves.

"I'll beat him at his game and take our ship!" I wanted to walk to the table but…

"HOLD ON! Do you know how to play chess?" Usopp held me in place.

"No!" I said confidently still.

Cue a facefault from all the others.

"THEN STAY OUT OF THIS! You're only going to make things worse!" Forcibly, Usopp dragged me away too.

"Come on, let's get the hell out before he catches us!" He insisted but…

"No."

"What are you talking about, Luffy? Good thing Zoro noticed it before! We could've spent the rest of our lives working to that old man!" Wait a second, that'd be idiocy of the highest degree!

"Pay attention, dammit!" Zoro commented. Yeah, he's right about that…

"If we stay, it'll mean no adventures, Luffy. Let's get going." Sanji tried to snap him back with the thing he loves the most…

"No!" To no avail.

"Luffy!" Usopp shouted.

"A bet's just like a promise, right? I don't want to break ours then!" Luffy, honest as always.

"It really isn't the time for you to play altruistic!" Usopp turned around. "Zoro, do something!"

"Hey, it's the captain who gets to decide. Not me."

"LUFFY!" Usopp still begged, but…

"It's a no and that's final!"

"Goddammit… IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO CAN PLAY CHESS?" Usopp raised his hands to the sky in the last alternative he found…

"Checkmate!" Hm?

Robin?

"Yikes…"

"Can we have our ship back, please?"

Did she do it? Did she win? Please tell me that she did…

"Yes, you win…"

"YAAAAAAAAY!"

Yeah, she did it! While playing away from the board!

"I knew I could trust you, Big Sis!" Nami quickly went to her 'lap'…

"How's that for profit? Heheheheh…" Sanji, Usopp and Luffy hit back.

"Not bad, I guess, heheh… Hahahahah!" The old man slapped the table and laughed. "I lived this much but I'd never met such funny pirates like you! I like you a lot! Hey, how about we have a hell of a party tonight?"

"OOOUUU!"

We have our ship back, so it's time to celebrate with a big party!

Enjoying today's great day of hunting and fishing, we set up a bonfire for Sanji to cook the catch and make us a nice dinner under the moonlight!

"You must be a great pirate, aren't you sir?" Nami said as she poured a drink in his glass. "Since you like to drink a lot…"

"Did you call me a pirate?" The old man asked.

"Yes sir! Otherwise you wouldn't have such gorgeous cups with you!" Nami explained.

"Indeed… they're treasure-class…" Robin analyzed.

"Be alert, gramps! Nami's trying to inebriate you so you start talking about the treasure!" Usopp warned.

"Shut your mouth!" Nami hissed.

"You've got a treasure, goat old man?" Luffy asked, then bit a piece of fish.

"Can't you shut up? There's a technique to ask something like that!" Nami hissed again.

"A-ha! They caught you, Nami!" I teased.

"Not you too!" She's upset.

"My treasure… it's every one of those together with me from the first day I was here… my dear goats." The grandpa talked sentimentally.

"How noble…" Luffy almost bawled his eyes out…

"Just kiddin'!" Oh.

"C'mon, stop kidding! Please, tell us… please? Pretty please?" Nami asked, pouting.

"Since you asked so politely, I'll tell it straight. I was a man who sailed through the Grand Line along with the greatest pirates!" He said.

"I knew it!" Nami perked up.

"Well, I sailed… and lent them money."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I was Zenny, the Money Lender. Not a pirate."

"Too bad, Nami!" Usopp teased.

"Hold on, you gotta have some balls to do that, don't you, gramps? To lend money to pirates…" Sanji admired.

"Why?" Luffy innocently asked.

"Well, duh? Pirates never return what they borrow! You're bound to risk your life if you try to make them do it!" Usopp explained.

"Yeah, they always tried to dupe me. They break promises as easy as it is to skip breakfast." Zenny stated. "But if I didn't face them, I'd always be penniless!"

Taking the money back means needing to fight strong pirates. Put your life at stake. Being a money lender also means being strong enough to fight the pirates you're making business with. However, Zenny didn't have special awesome powers and he wasn't a master of anything but trickery. Yet, he did what he did for a dream. The dream of becoming a pirate.

"A true pirate… Fighting for the title of King of Pirates! That's why I started my business of lending money."

Hmm… what a strange way to chase a dream, isn't it?

"A certain day, a pirate who owed me destroyed my boat instead of paying up… I drifted off and got here, almost dead. Since then, it's been twenty years." He completed.

"And you built your grave this whole time?" Sanji asked.

"Before, I wanted to build a boat near the shore so I could escape back to the sea… but I had no way to take the wood of the top to the bottom of the mountain. I then decided to build it in the top anyway. I pressed on… I wanted to get back and continue my adventure! But time passed and the dream was gone. I found out I'm too old for the Grand Line. At the end, it was just a dream far, far away…" Zenny finished, giggling.

"Whai chid you givhe up, goach oldh man?" Luffy asked as he chewed something.

"Huh?"

"Dhe age doeshn't matcher. You can be a piratche whenevher you wantch." Still chewing, he bit another piece of fish.

But what he said touched Zenny's heart.

"Hey, hey, Luffy! What if he takes you seriously?" Usopp was concerned… "The ship needs a flag and it's still…"

"Sanji, seconds, please!" …Luffy just ignored, asking for more food. "He can just take it down there!" Luffy, back to Usopp.

"It's not that easy!" Usopp retorted.

"I see… it's still not too late…"

"See! He's serious about it!" Usopp pointed.

"Ah… it's just drunkard talk, right, gramps?" Nami leaned on him.

"Yeah… you wasted me real nice, didn't you? Right! I propose a toast for the Zenny Pirates' maiden voyage!"

"Ou!"

Toast over, the party kept wild until the last one of us tired out and everyone went to sleep.

Good night!

…

…

…

…

…

"GUYS! BIG TROUBLE! WAKE UP!" Ow, ow… I should've been accustomed to be awakened by this sentence…

"Good morning, sensei…" Still sleepy, I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

"GUYS, THE MARINE'S HERE!"

"What?"

Eek, better get up right now! Speeding our pace, we quickly ran down the mountain to the shore. When we got there, we found a single ship stationary near the beach.

"Just one? Wow, thank goodness…" Usopp sighed.

"Doesn't seem like they're gonna attack." Nami, relieved.

"Hold on, guys. It's still not time to be relieved." I alerted. "What are they doing here?"

"Greetings, Straw Hat Pirates!" There he is… the troop commander. "My name's Sergeant Minchi. Pleased to meet you."

"P-pleased?" Nami, skeptical.

"I'd like to apologize for what happened a few days ago. If I knew that there were you, I'd never have chased you like that… and for that I am sorry." Minchi said.

"Weird… Aren't you _supposed_ to be chasing us?" Sanji called him out.

"This is too good to be true." Usopp warned. Zoro grabbed one of his swords.

"Calm down, please, don't be angry! You're the ones who defeated the almighty Crocodile back at Arabasta, aren't you? I'd never stand up against such powerful pirates!" Aw come on… hey, how do you know that? "Believe me! Plus, if I wanted to fight you, I'd come here with way more than one ship."

"Aha! He's just afraid of us!" Usopp stepped forward and bragged.

"If we fought you all-out, it'd only result in massive losses for us." Minchi kept kissing our ass.

"So, what are you doing here anyway?" Sanji asked.

"We're here only to explore this island! It's not in any of our maps, it's a totally new place for us!" Hmmm… he's obviously lying…

"If you came here to explore, turn back and go away. There's only a wrinkly old man and hundreds of goats here anyway." Nami stated.

"Really? That's great! How about we land and shake Mr. Zenny's hand, then?" He continu-ohey, wait.

How does he know the old man's name?

"After we're done with our investigation, we'll immediately return to our base. Before that, I'll just leave an advice. Get away from this island as soon as possible. The whole Marine HQ wants your heads!"

"You've got a point… We better get everything ready then. I'll get the food and tell Robin. Back in five!" Usopp walked up the mountain.

Meanwhile, we gathered in an emergency meeting.

"So, are we going or not?" Sanji asked.

"Hmmmmm…" Luffy thought, not giving an answer.

"The climate's nice and the waves are really calm beyond this mist! We're not going to bother stopping you anyway, you can go through!" Minchi said.

"I'll leave when I'm ready! I get to decide, not you!" Luffy complained. "Plus, if I was a marine, I'd keep on the fight even if there was a single ship left!"

"One more thing: how do you know the old man's called Zenny? We didn't say anything!"

There. The faulty piece in his speech. How about that, pretty boy?

"That's…" Left speechless…

"I don't know what kind of exploration you want to do here, but it sounds really fishy." Nami continued.

"You're here to take grandpa's treasure, aren't you?" I pointed.

The sergeant twitched even more…

"Bulls-eye, Dan-kun!" Nami said. "This guy can't be trusted at all!"

"That's what we get for running into a marine…" I said.

"Yatta! I knew it! The old man's filthy rich!"

"Na… Nami-chan?"

Jumping joyfully just because you know that now you can rob him? Aw man… having a greedy friend is a pain in the neck!

"Hmmm… Smells like gunpowder." Chopper sniffed.

"Where is it coming from?" Zoro asked.

"From the cannons! And it's not from a single ship. They're more than I can possibly count!" Chopper completed.

The mist dissipated sooner than we expected… revealing that his actions were nothing but a set up. An entire Marine fleet hid in the mist right behind that lonely ship, waiting for us to leave!

"You dirty liar!" Zoro didn't wait anymore, unsheathed his two other swords, preparing to the fight.

"No matter how many ships are there, bring it on!" I challenged, pulling out my trusty pencil.

"LUFFY! GUYS!" A scream from the mountains!

"Usopp!"

We turned around only to notice a group of armed soldiers walking down the mountain… and holding Usopp hostage!

"Do not move or I'll behead your comrade on the spot!" The soldier holding him threatened.

"Damn… they already landed!" Zoro cursed.

"Good work, Corporal!" Sergeant Minchi's pretty happy.

"Lower your weapons! Or else…" Crap…

We're out of options. Zoro threw his swords to the ground and I was forced to put my pencil away.

"Guys! Run away! They're going to kill me anyway!" Usopp, willing to sacrifice himself.

"No!"

"Gunners!"

The soldiers holding rifles walked to a shooting position.

"Bring it on! Bullets don't hurt me anyway!" Luffy challenged.

"Um, hello? They do hurt _us_ though, Luffy!" Nami yelled.

"HAHAHAH! Together with Zenny's treasure, I'll take the money for your heads! Now die!" The sergeant's really enjoying himself, huh?

Somebody, please save us! We need help, like, right now!

…

…

…

"COMING DOWN!"

Suddenly, we heard really loud bumping, rolling and crashing noises… coming from the top of the mountain! Coming down on some wooden logs mounted in the hills…

"Impossible! A ship climbing down the mountain?"

That's right! And it's the ship of Zenny, the Money Lender!

"Gramps!" Luffy screamed.

Coming down the mountain like crazy, the old Zenny crashed through the trees in his pirate vessel, only stopping when the ship crossed the beach and landed on water!

"Way to go, gramps!" Luffy cheered.

"Hey, hey, easy there…" Sanji commented.

"I guess he's gonna have another stroke…" Zoro and his bad omens…

"No way! In times like this, the adrenaline runs loose! Get' em, grandpa!" I said.

"GRAMPS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Chopper shouted.

"Way better than ever! This ship ain't my coffin no more! It'll be my pirate ship, The Zenny!" He replied, way more confident. He was loyally followed by his adorable goats.

"Get' em, Grandpa!" Luffy and I.

"STOP CHEERING HIM, YOU!" The rest.

"He's sick!" Chopper, worried to death.

"You geezer… don't mess with the Marine!" Hmm… I don't know what did he say, but it sounds like the sergeant Minchi is way angrier this time!

"Gramps, be careful! He wants your treasure!" Usopp screamed.

"Hmm, I see… Beyond pirate chasing, Marine's working overtime on treasure hunting? Really promising!"

"Nami, bring the ship here." Zoro whispered.

"Right! Guys, come on!"

We quickly left Zoro and Luffy at the beach, rushing back to the Going Merry.

"Sergeant, please! The Straw Hats are planning something! Call Captain Moore's fleet and-"

"SILENCE!"

We stopped on our tracks upon hearing a rifle firing… We turned to look and found a hole right near the Marine subordinate crawling away from it, horrified…

"I told you I'd give you a part of the treasure, didn't I? You do get it, don't you? The Captain absolutely must not know!" Minchi… you wretch!

"Hmmm… offin' your own underling… there's gotta be a lot of cash for you to do this, don't you agree, Little Serge?" Zenny taunted him.

"You… you decrepit geezer! Don't you think about getting out of-"

"SHUT YOUR CHEEKY MOUTH, YOU BRAT! You gotta have some balls to steal the treasure of a pirate! Catch it if you can!"

"GET' EM, GRAMPS!"

The threats distracted me enough not to notice that Luffy had stretched his arms all the way to the ship, grabbing it. What on earth is he going to do?

We soon would find out… Luffy dragged the ship to a side, gaining impulse, dragging it to the other side. The ship crashed sideways against the Marine vessel!

"YOU'RE OVERDOING IT!"

"Bastard… IF YOU'RE A PIRATE, THEN, YOU'VE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN IF WE MARINES CHASE YOUR DAMN HEAD!" Minchi threatened.

"We have no more time to waste! The old man's in no condition to be doing this kind of insanity!" Chopper warned, even more concerned than before.

"Let's get the ship ready and go back him up!" I called.

"Usopp, get to the lookout! Dan-kun, Sanji-kun! Get the sails ready, we're leaving right now!" Nami ordered. We sped off to our positions and took the ship off shore.

"Ouch, trouble! The other ships are getting on formation!" Usopp shouted.

"It's weird… they're not coming at us, though…" Nami noticed. "We need to hatch a plan while we have time!"

"What if we attacked first?" Sanji mused.

"You're kidding me, right?" I yelled.

"We have no time for that! Take me to the old man's boat, we have to help him!" Desperate, Chopper shouted over everyone else.

"Hey, by the way, don't you get the feeling we bumped into something a while ago?" Usopp wondered.

"I don't know, did we?"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER! HURRY!" Chopper shouted.

We steered our ship in the way to the other two stopped right near the isolated piece of rock in the middle of the sea, praying all the while for the breeze to help accelerate it… Zenny's weak heart might die on him at any second!

After much waiting, our ship finally arrived to its destination, gently bumping Zenny's boat. When we got there, this was the scene: Zenny lying in the ground, pretty beaten-up, with a broken abacus. Robin stood inside the boat, don't ask me how, and Sergeant Minchi was being thoroughly stomped by Grandpa Zenny's loyal goats!

"God, you're late! I almost died, you know?" Zenny snarked.

"I was worried about you!" Chopper was the first to jump out and go examine Zenny's condition.

"Robin-san!"

"Robin!"

Nami and I jumped afterwards, going to her.

"You were here all this time…" Nami, much more relieved.

"Wow! What an enormous bump on your head! Who was it… who's the bastard who hurt you?" I said, darting my eyes everywhere.

"Instead of me, you should worry about the sir over there…" Robin pointed to Zenny. He was laid down in the ground, being examined by our medic.

"How're you feeling, gramps?" Sanji asked as we walked near him.

"Better than ever. I'm finally a true pirate! I feel way more alive than ever before!" He stated bravely and laughed.

"Nami-chan, look! The goats knocked out Sergeant Meanie!" I pointed.

"It's Minchi, you…!"

"Good job!" She did a thumbs-up to them. "And… before he's up…" She went to get some ropes and tie him up from head to toe. "Done!"

"Did you really need to do that? He's just a wimp! I can knock him out again when he wakes up." I said.

Later on, an exhausted Zoro emerged from the water with a bump on his head. He brought Luffy as well, even more battered and looking like he almost drowned.

"Hey… gramps… are… you… alright?"

"I should ask the same 'bout you!" Zenny retorted.

"You're really useless, Luffy!" Nami said as she tightened the ropes around the sergeant.

"Come on, Nami, don't say that…" I said.

Meanwhile, Chopper finished the treatment of his patient.

"Done… the attacks are going to stop for now."

"Thank you, Chopper-sensei." Zenny said.

"Gramps, how's that for profit?" Luffy uttered the catchphrase.

"Very, very good!" Zenny completed and they laughed.

"Ah, I almost forgot! Say, gramps, can you talk about the treasure now?" Nami didn't let the opportunity slip.

"Ack…" The old man turned and started to groan…

"HEY! DON'T SHOCK MY PATIENT!" Chopper yelled… really, can you blame him?

"Drat… ok, I give up. You helped me a hell of a lot. I guess you deserve to know anyway." Zenny said.

"Nice! If even the Marine knows about it, it must be huge!" Said a hopeful Nami.

"I had a treasure. Boatloads of treasure I collected from several pirates. I then decided it was time to buy a pirate ship and get crewmates, so I exchanged it all for money."

"Money?" Nami and the sergeant's eyes turned to Beris… Ka-ching!

"I thought: my next step would be to travel with the money. Last night, I told you all how I got here after I escaped some pirates I made a deal with, didn't I? So, I brought the money with me. It was for the sake of my dream and I almost lost my life trying to get it. But when I woke up at the beach… The goats ate it."

"EEEEEEHHHH?"

"They ate?" Nami, shocked.

"Everything? Did they eat it all?" The sergeant, way more shocked.

"Yeah, all of it. Well, except for two or three notes anyway…" He shrugged.

"They must've thought it was grass…" I quipped.

"That's why I said _they're_ my treasure." Turns out he wasn't kidding! Too bad, Nami… sorry, serge… looks like the treasure you were so desperate to get your hands on was right under your noses this whole time!

That doesn't comfort anybody, though.

"My fortune vanished, but to make up for it, I got company." He said as he petted one of his goats. "They never deceived or betrayed me. They don't ask for anything to help me and they're always by my side. So I like to return the favor and treat them the best I can." More goats approached him and he caressed them too. "I have the best of treasures!"

"That's great, gramps!" Said a happy Luffy.

"Damn right it is. I can stumble every once in a while but I don't get away with nothin'!" We then shared a hearty laugh.

"Tch… bullcrap!" Hm?

Ah, the angry sergeant's still going on about… "Hey, Straw Hat! The fight's not over yet! There's an entire fleet waiting right over there… Don't think you can ever escape us! Hahahahahah!" The sergeant tried to flee by the only way he could.

"Don't try to look cool while rolling your way outta here." Luffy called him out.

"What an idiot…" Nami quipped.

"You're the idiots! Do you think you have any chance against a fleet of ni-"

"Hey, serge, look up!" I cut his word, pointing to said direction.

He gasped as he stared at Zoro with his sword and his trademark game face.

"Go tell your captain…" Luffy approached and grabbed the sergeant. "…I'm not running away. If you wanna fight, quit stalling and bring it on! GOMU GOMU NO… PISTOL!"

Luffy was quick to punch the tied sergeant and send him flying away!

"Ooookay… bulls-eye! Nice, Luffy!" Usopp praised.

Puru-puru-puru-puru! Puru-puru-puru-puru! The phone's ringing! Looks like the sergeant forgot his snail-o-phone when he flied away.

How convenient. We have a call!

"Here's Captain Moore. I have no business with this nobody called Zenny. My only purpose here is to crush you in the name of justice! Yet, you warned me about a rotten apple between my subordinates, so I'll let you choose where we'll fight." Oh, how unexpected! "You should leave now!"

"We thought about leaving already." Luffy replied. "We'll get to you in a second."

Before the decisive battle, we bid farewell to the old man. His abacus is fixed, there's dinner for him and a stock of medicine available. Zenny then left us his final thoughts before we parted ways.

"It was fun, uncle!" Nami waved.

"Take care!" Robin said.

"'Til next time, gramps!" I joined the farewell.

"Guys! Watch him for me, ok?" Chopper talked to the goats, who answered accordingly.

"Let's meet each other somewhere in this sea!" Luffy left the promise.

"Yeah! I'll start my travel once I fix my ship! See ya!" Zenny replied.

"We'll be waiting! Zenny Pirates!" Luffy said the last goodbye.

With the Goat Island already behind, it's time to face the greatest challenge: pass through nine Marine ships.

We faced their flagship. Our captain pointed forward… to the place of our battle. The nine ships followed us to a misty zone. We entered it…

…

…

…and waved goodbye to it, not needing to move a finger.

"Walking right to a zone of mist and rocks, great idea, huh, Luffy? Sometimes you put your head work!" Nami praised him.

"I still don't believe you had this idea, captain…" I said, surprised.

"Hmmm… really?"

Nami was shocked. "What? I'm the one asking you!"

Yeah! Purposefully or not, truth is we defeated the Marine with sheer tactics! Or dumb luck…

"Hey, I praised you! Not fair, I want that back!" Nami angrily stomped the ground.

"I doubt that guy planned it…" Sanji said, trying to wrap his mind around what happened.

"It's pure coincidence, right?" Usopp too. "He just pointed to wherever and that's it."

"Ah, what's wrong if it didn't happen on purpose?" I said, trying to end the discussion. "It's not worth to think about it anymore. Let's just move on and get going!" I brushed my hair, feeling the wind in my face.

Meanwhile, Chopper treated the bumps on Robin and Zoro's heads.

"By the way, Doctor-san…" Robin, breaking the ice. "What do you think about that old man's health?"

"The medicine I gave him should prevent any future attacks." Chopper replied, somewhat concerned. "But his heart is still weak and he's too old. He shouldn't be in a ship and become a pirate."

"What's wrong, Chopper?" Luffy went out of the ship's bushes to join the talk. "If he wants to become a pirate, why don't we support him? Plus, if he goes out to the sea, maybe he can find a cure to his disease."

"Really?" Chopper, still doubtful.

"Don't worry. That man won't die now. He's frail, it's true, but he's damn brave." Zoro joined the talk as well.

Our doctor then smiled and calmed down.

The sea's endless, but sometimes, it can be small. Who knows, we could bump into him in another of our adventures! It can happen!

* * *

**Treasures need not to be only material goods, precious jewels or money. Literally anything a person deems as invaluable to himself is a treasure. And a true treasure is something you can keep with yourself forever.**

**In the next chapter: Another old man will run into the Straw Hats, but the story's gonna be way different! See ya!  
**


	88. Another old man? The rainbow mist!

**Chapter 88**

**"Legend of the rainbow mist! Ruluka Island's elder Henzo"**

* * *

"Row!"

Rowing…

"Row!"

Rowing once more…

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why the Marine had to attack us just now?" Usopp complained.

"If you want to get out of this alive, stop bitching and keep rowing, damn you!" In turn, Nami, the 'coxswain', would scream at him.

Cannonballs just scraping our ship, the waves rocking ever so violently… Marine's attacking us! Again! The endless, deafening noises continue to strike our ears as the marines keep launching successive threatening cannon shots at our Going Merry!

"WE'RE GONNA DIIIIIII-" Usopp panicked as always.

"Stop freaking out and row!" This time I had to be the one to snap him out of it.

Him, Zoro and I held the rows and used all of our respective strengths to give a little boost to our ship.

"Hey, Luffy! Come on, get up and do something!" Sanji screamed, trying to adjust the sails according to the wind direction.

"I can't… I didn't eat my breakfast…" Luffy whined, laid down in the ground.

"YOU'RE HUNGRY AT A TIME LIKE THIS?" Sanji snapped.

No wonder he would be hungry at a time like this, though. He's not the only one because Marine's unexpected presence also kept the rest of us from getting our usual breakfast and kept me from reading the newspaper, as I started to do every morning since a few days ago. Usually, these surprise attacks don't faze me, but today especially I was itching to take it out in whoever disturbed us…

"Relax… calm down…" I said to myself, sighing afterwards. "Goddamn… can't we have a bit of peace and quiet around here?"

Well then, we kept rowing when all of a sudden, we heard a loud bang. When I went to check it closely…

"One of their ships has gone down!" I called.

"What's going on? They sunk their own ship?" Zoro asked.

Usopp then stomped the handrail out of the blue, pointing to himself, grinning and bragging. "Hahahaha! Take that, pesky marines! I planned it all from the start! Ahahahah!" He said.

"Cut it out…" Zoro snorted.

"Guys!" Nami called from the upper floor. "We have an opening! Let's catch the wind currents and run through the area that ship was guarding! Quick!"

As it would be certain that the marines would redirect their fleet to help the soldiers of their mysteriously wrecked ship, we took the opportunity to get the hell away from them.

After it went through a stretch of open sea, our ship passed through a 'labyrinth' of giant boulders standing right in the middle of the sea. We divided in teams to look out for any marine ships that still might have followed us until here. Luffy (still hungry), Nami and Chopper went to the front while the rest stayed at the back.

"So? Where are they?" Usopp asked, adjusting his binoculars.

"Looks like we've finally outsmarted them." Robin replied as she stared on hers.

"Whew, the attacks are really intense here!" I commented, leaning on the handrail.

"No wonder… With two owners of big bounties on our ship, it's not that surprising that they bulge their eyes out whenever they bump into us…" Zoro said as he sleazily leaned on the rear mast.

Luffy: 30 million.

Nico Robin: 79 million.

Should I say more? Wow… 109 million beri in a single ship… and our fame's only going to grow from now on, that's for sure!

"Guys! A harbor! There's a harbor ahead!"

With Chopper's call, I rushed to the front to see it for myself, soon being followed by the others, with the sole exception of Zoro, who stayed at the back to take yet another of his long naps. It turned out that all those boulders placed together around us weren't in the middle of the sea, but near an island. The wall of rock and moss slowly moved out of our way and led us to a tall tower and a town below the green mountains filling our landscape.

We decided to dock our ship hidden in a corner behind the rocks and step on land. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were the first to jump off the ship, eager to explore the new lands. Soon we followed them.

"It doesn't look like a lighthouse…" Chopper said as he stared at the tower.

"Wow, how tall!" Usopp wowed.

The tower we stared at looked like it was under reconstruction, as there were lots of scaffolds lined on top of each other and a giant piece of tarp covering the top floor.

"Who cares about that… what matters is that we finally are going to eat something!" Luffy said, not giving a single damn about the landscape.

"Ok, ok! Stop drooling already!" Nami groused, cleaning the drool off his mouth.

We slowly walked away from the rocks, arriving at a ramp uphill to the town. We then were greeted by a guard.

"Hey, you! Stop right there! If you want to dock at Ruluka Island's harbors, even at the boulder area, you need to pay the docking fee!"

"Fee?" Chopper parroted.

"Hey, hold on a minute! Why do we have to pay just to leave our ship here?" Nami asked, somewhat annoyed.

Instead of answering her question, the man grabbed his shotgun and pointed it at our navigator.

Sanji stepped ahead immediately. "Hey, you. Didn't you ever learn not to point a gun to a lady?"

"What?"

The two glared at each other for a few seconds…

"FOOD! Foodfoodfoodfood, food!"

Before they possibly lunged at each other, Luffy ended the whole ordeal, running over both of them and to the town to search for food.

"That idiot…" Sanji cursed, slowly standing back up.

"Are you ok?" Robin asked.

"I'm great, Robin-chan!" That immediately prompted him to stand back up and wipe the dust off his suit.

"I don't even want to ask what's on with this guy…" I thought to myself.

Nami, Chopper and him walked off as well to the city to do some shopping. As I wasn't quite in the mood to follow them (and if it's about shopping, I'm never in the mood anyway), I decided to stay back with the rest of the group. Surprisingly, I should mention, Nami didn't drag me off to carry her stuff today. I guess having a lackey who's head-over-heels for her is enough…

"Wa… wait! I wanna go too-"

"Hey, you down there!" Usopp did want to go after them, but he didn't catch them in time… rather, he was cut off by a voice coming from the top of the cliff. We turned to look above and found a man wearing a colorful shirt, grayish shorts and a lab coat. He also wore a helmet, protection goggles… and a very weird trinket on his back.

"I want to ask you some questions!"

"Oh brother… another geezer?" I groused to myself.

"Who is he? A comedian?" Dressed as he is, you're off by a mile, Robin!

"Maybe he's a con artist…" I don't think so, Usopp, but it wouldn't be surprising if he was…

"YOU'RE BOTH WRONG!" The man yelled. Then he took off his goggles and showed his face. "Did you catch the Rainbow Mist in your way here?"

"That does it… he's a mad scientist…" I said.

Hey, wait.

"Rainbow Mist?" Robin reacted quickly. "Can you elaborate on that?"

The old man agreed and so we walked up the hills of the coastal town to meet up with him and stopped at a restaurant home to eat something. For some reason, we bumped into Luffy, who jumped ahead everyone else and ended up getting lost.

"Seconds, please!" Luffy said, smiling as always.

"Of course, boy! A special with gravy toppings for you."

"Another one for me too!" The old man followed him.

"Here it is. You do have money, don't you." The waiter asked, a little warily for some reason.

"It's his treat."

"ME? WHY?"

Out of the blue, the old man pointed to Usopp, who instantly jumped out of his seat to yell.

"I'm going to tell you the secret behind the Rainbow Mist, ain't I? It's only fair that you pay my meal." The old man said.

"I DIDN'T ASK TO HEAR IT!"

The old man simply ignored his yells and drank a sip of his glass of water before he introduced himself.

"My name is Henzo. I'm a scientist and I'm also a genius, once again, I'm a genius who's studying the Rainbow Mist."

"And he calls himself a genius…" From then on, Usopp spent a little while cursing something I didn't quite catch under his breath. I put a hand on my chin as I thought about other things.

Rainbow Mist… Rainbow Mist… I swear to God, I heard this name before…

"Mister Henzo." Robin took me off from my thoughts.

"Ah, please call me Professor." Henzo said.

"Then, Professor… have you heard about this book?" Robin asked, presenting it to him.

The book! Of course! Rainbow Mist's the title of the book she's always reading! Is she done already?

"This is…" The old man's eyes widened and he snatched it from her hands.

"It's a little discovery I made at Arabasta." Robin explained.

"Ah, that's it… I thought I already heard about it somewhere…" Usopp said.

"This book was written four decades ago, but nobody knows who the author is." Robin explained. "According to this book, the Rainbow Mist is the road to the Land of the Gods and Eldorado, the Golden City."

"That's nothing more than a legend." Henzo stared back at her after he browsed through some pages of the book. "Many adventurers were lured to it because of the legend… but none of them returned. Some of them… were friends of mine."

"So this is why you're studying the mist?" I asked.

"Lady, youngsters… please don't take him too seriously." Said the waiter as he walked to our table and left another big plate of spaghetti.

"Why?" Usopp asked.

"He's no more than Mayor Whetton's dirty watchdog." The waiter explained.

"Watchdog?" Luffy asked as well.

At that time, a man sitting in the table behind ours suddenly stood up. "Yeah! He lives off the money he gets from the mayor! But he's nothing but a fraud!"

Henzo didn't reply, instead lowering his head and hiding his eyes under his grizzled, bowl-cut hair.

All of a sudden, we started to hear the sound of drums approaching the restaurant. For some reason, that made the other customers rush their meals and stand up, panicking all the while.

"It's the collectors! The tax-collectors are here!" One of the citizens called.

Then, the door opened.

"Well, well, citizens…"

An orange or red-haired (I don't know, it's in between) man of mushy eyebrows and a stylish pointy moustache, dressed in a sort of city inspector get-up stood at the door. Behind him, a small troop of soldiers stood at attention.

"Are you enjoying your meals?" The man gave a quick word to the clients before he walked inside the restaurant and inspected each and every table. "Hey you, you're drinking such a high-quality sake, aren't you? You have to pay the appropriate tax."

A tax just to drink alcohol? What the hell?

"Hey, hey, wait!" Two soldiers soon barged in and dragged him off the restaurant. "No! This money is to my wife and kids!" The soldiers didn't care and confiscated his wallet.

"Taxes are a duty of the citizens." The man said as his guard handed the wallet over to him. "Whoever fails to fulfill it doesn't deserve to live here!"

"Who's that weirdo?" Usopp asked, whispering.

"He's Mayor Whetton's son, Phillip." The waiter replied. "He's a filthy bastard who taxes everyone left and right."

"Hm?" Damn, I think he heard them talking… "Oh my, oh my, if it isn't Professor Henzo here?" Oh, good, he didn't. But still, Phillip walked to our table to have a little pep talk with the old man.

"My father's searching all over town around you. He wants some news about your research." Phillip said.

"Same as always. We don't know when or where the mist will appear." Henzo replied indifferently.

"Hm… the citizens are funding your research, Professor." Ah, so that's why they hate him so much… "And that Rainbow Tower's under construction exactly because of this." Ah, and this is why that tower's covered like that… it's still incomplete. "Don't you understand that the longer you take, the worse it'll be for the citizens? Oh well, if you excuse me, I'm going."

Phillip then turned away and walked out… or he would, if he didn't come right back to inspect Luffy's big fat spaghetti plate…

"You over there, you're eating from such a big plate, aren't you?" Phillip said, staring wide-eyed at him.

"Yuph. I wash hungry ash hell." Luffy said, not bothering to stop savoring his meal.

"Whoever eats bigger portions must pay a higher tax. I'm sure you know this?" Phillip asked.

"'Course. It's on his bill."

"ME? WHY?"

Luffy pointed to Usopp again. Poor guy, can't catch a break…

"Heheh… so, that means you're gonna pay my meal too?" I said, teasing.

"NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!" He said.

The soldiers then marched away behind their leader as we finished and paid for our meals. Our bellies are full and we're happy… except for Usopp who had to pay for his meal plus the absurd taxes and that left him penniless…

"Ow, my little wallet…"

"Thank you." Luffy bowed.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME, RIGHT?" Usopp yelled.

We then walked out of the restaurant and caught Henzo standing there, sad and depressed, watching the guards march away.

"You get it now? If you don't want to be shunned by the citizens, steer clear from that crazy Henzo." The waiter warned.

"Thanks for the warning." Robin said. "But neither I, nor my two crewmates here have any power to decide." She pointed to Usopp and to me.

"Our captain will decide, sir." I completed, then I turned to the man in question. "So, Luffy, what are we going to do now?"

"Hmmm…" We followed him as he started to walk through the streets, staring blankly ahead, lost in his own reflections… or not.

All of a sudden, our actions from now on would have to wait because we heard an explosion and a loud bang coming from downtown.

"A thunderclap?" Luffy asked as we saw a fairly large smoke cloud emerging over the houses.

"Let's have a look on what's going on." I suggested.

It shouldn't be that big of a deal (wait, on second thought, lightning in broad day _definitely is_ a big deal), but I'd like to know where the others are…

We decided to stroll to the lower town and calmly search for the rest of the group.

"Well, it looks like this mayor guy is a total bastard!" Usopp angrily ranted. "Collecting taxes left and right… what the hell was that crap of over-eating tax?"

"Practically every beri of the citizens is meant for taxpaying… if it's like that, how the hell the people can live with that?" I reflected.

"Sorry… everyone." Henzo said, halting the group.

"Why are you apologizing, uncle?" Luffy asked.

"Hey, Luffy, didn't you hear what those guys said?" As Luffy said no, Usopp then explained it to him all over again but I tuned out their conversation and went to the old man.

"What's wrong, Henzo-san?" I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No… it's nothing. I'm just tired." He replied.

After that, a bell started to ring.

"A bell? What's going on?" I blinked, darting my eyes to see where the sound's coming from. I then heard quick steps and caught people running to the shore.

"…a ship! A galleon appeared and it's heading to the harbor!" We heard the talk amongst the citizens.

"Galleon?" Usopp parroted.

"Is it…" Henzo then dashed off down the hill. Luffy followed him right after, probably motivated by the chance of seeing something interesting happen.

"H-hey! Wait up, Luffy!"

We followed suit, running with the two towards the shore to see whatever would happen. After we got to the seaside avenue, we had to make our way through a quite large crowd gathered together, staring at the sea.

"Wow! That's huge!" Luffy said, holding his hat.

There was an enormous wine-colored galleon ahead of us, I think twenty times larger than any of the rafts sailing near it.

"Looks like it's quite old." Robin commented.

"It's the Tarielishin!"

"Tariel-what now? H-h-he-hey, gramps, wait!"

After he stumbled and fumbled with the name of that ship, Usopp tried to call the old man back when he saw him running away to the docks. Henzo just ignored, getting inside a pedal car (apparently of his invention) and moved it until it hit water. When it touched the sea surface, the car turned into a boat and just like that, the old man pedaled it all the way to the giant galleon.

"Wow! Awesome! I want that! I want one of those!" All of that as Luffy didn't stop marveling at that scientist's gadgets…

"Hah… I knew he would do it…" Usopp let out a good old sigh…

"What's so special about that ship anyway?" I wondered. Looks like the answer won't come any time soon.

"If you wanna know, let's find out! To the Going Merry!" Luffy called, dashing off to the other side.

"Huh? H-hey! Luffy, wait!"

We ran after him, asking permission to move through the crowd and get to the ship. Who knows what's going to happen to the old man? Are there any enemies? We didn't waste any more time to prepare our ship and head towards that giant of the seven seas.

"Hey! Gramps!" Just as we reached the galleon and spotted the old man, Luffy didn't waste time to jump onboard the bigger ship.

"Uwah! You stretched your arms!" Henzo was shocked.

"Hey, gramps, can you give me that boat?" He's still on about that…

"You… did you eat a Devil's Fruit?" The old man asked.

"Yeah! I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi and now I'm a rubber man! Hihi!" Cheerful as always, Luffy replied, pulling his cheek to demonstrate.

We then walked all around the ship, always with Luffy closely following, nay, pestering the old Henzo so he can have that nifty boat-car all for himself.

"I can't give you my H-1 like this." Henzo replied.

"Aw, come on, don't be cranky! Give it to me, please? Pretty please?" Luffy insisted.

We then entered a particular room, arranged in such a way that it seemed someone was still taking care of it. Dishes bunched up in the sink, a pan with water heating up in the stove turned on and, most importantly… food on the table.

Yeah, that can only mean…

"Someone was here not long ago." Robin concluded.

"But there's not a single soul in here! How can that be?" Usopp said.

The two of them and Henzo stared at the neatly arranged table as Luffy and I walked around the room. I stared at the desk in particular because it had a pen dipped in still-fresh ink, blank paper sheets and a book that looked to be a diary. The page it was open had incomplete text.

"Let me see…" I whispered as I stared at the book together with Luffy.

"This ship was supposedly gone… fifty years ago…" I heard Henzo's musings.

"FIFTY YEARS?" Usopp, shocked.

"Doesn't look like it…" Robin said.

"I'm sure of it! Everything's exactly where it was in that day!" Henzo reassured.

"What do you mean by tha-"

Suddenly, the huge gadget Henzo carried around, some sort of metal backpack with a built-in satellite started to sound an alarm signal and the antenna started to wiggle back and forth.

"The radar… the radar's reacting!" Henzo called. "Incredible! It's the first time I see such high readings! Is it…"

He then rushed to put the thing on his back and run out of the room. We ran after him again to the outside, then to the ship's rail where he stopped to observe the sea. But that scientist didn't want to see just the sea. Another thing came our way. Something he wanted to find for a very long time.

"That is…" Robin started…

Slowly, clouds started to approach the old galleon. But these weren't common clouds. True, they were white and puffy, but they were also tinted with the colors of the rainbow. Every once in a while, they discharged lightning followed by thunder.

"The… the Rainbow Mist!" I concluded.

"Damn… the H-1 can't go all the way there!" Henzo cursed. "What do I do, what do I do… of course!"

After he stared left and right, Henzo ran off again. And here we are chasing him around again…

"I'll return it later!"

"WHAT THE…? GET BACK HERE!"

I don't know what's got into him, but the crazy scientist ran away, jumped onboard our ship and _sailed away with it_ all on his own!

"Hey, don't even think about stealing our ship!" Before we lost track of him (and our ship) for good, we jumped back to the Going Merry's handrail.

"Why don't you go there with that huge-ass galleon instead?" Usopp asked.

"Tarielishin's helm is broken. Whetton destroyed it." Henzo replied.

"What are you talking about? How do you know that?" Usopp asked, incredulously. Him and Luffy were all over the old man, demanding answers.

"Fifty years ago, I was aboard the Tarielishin." Henzo explained… to our befuddlement.

"H-h-h-hey, wait a minute! Are we really getting in that thing? Didn't you tell that no one who's ever entered that was able to get out?" Usopp, scared out of his wits.

"Are you afraid?" Robin teased.

"I-I am not!" Usopp stuttered. "I'm the best there is! I'm Captaaaaain… Usopp!" Stuttering and sweating cold… don't crap your pants, man!

"I can't back down now. The entirety of my research has come to this moment!" Henzo said, confidently.

"Interesting… we're about to witness first-hand what that mysterious and brave adventurer described…" I said, at the same time nervous about my safety and anxious to find out what's behind the multicolored clouds.

Our simple Going Merry turned out to be the only way for us to enter the fabled Rainbow Mist and unravel its mysteries.

With that, the ship finally entered it and we disappeared amongst the mist while it whitened everything around us. Right after that, we witnessed a show of lights and strange sparks that glowed and zipped past our ship like an arrow.

It's just like we're entering another dimension…

"Professor… where are we?" Robin asked.

"In a place called Ape's Concert." Henzo replied.

"A… Ape's Concert? Is it…"

"What's wrong, Robin-san?" I asked.

"Once you get here, it's impossible to leave, the legend says. A ship graveyard."

"WHAT?"

A ship graveyard… just what we needed. I hope the trip doesn't hurt!

* * *

**Professor Henzo's research finally led him to the fabled Rainbow Mist. The Going Merry slowly sails through the mysterious waters it hides. The scenery our adventurers are faced with is... less than pleasuring, to say the least. What surprises will they find? What kinds of secrets are there in this particular little corner of the infinite blue sea?**

**Keep around and look forward for the next chapter!  
**


	89. Henzo and the Pumpkin Pirates

**Chapter 89**

**"The Pumpkin Pirates and the inescapable Pirate Graveyard!"**

* * *

Here we are. In the place called Ape's Concert. A place impossible to leave once you get in, according to the legend.

Would it be too much of a cliché if I stressed how bad of a feeling I have about all this?

We soon saw that Ape's Concert, also known as the Pirate Graveyard, indeed lives up to its name. Countless destroyed vessels surrounded us. Ships that capsized, broke in half, shattered in pieces… I swallowed hard as I tried to steer clear from the inevitable thought: are we going to be next?

I sure don't hope so!

"Uwah!"

"Watch out!"

Luffy and Usopp left the ship to explore whatever was around. Well, I should say Luffy pretty much dragged Usopp along, being full of energy and all (for a change). He climbed a bigger chunk of a ship, almost falling in the sea when the handrail and part of the floor broke below him, however, he was able to hold somewhere else in time. Usopp was too scared to go along.

"Wohohoo! Hey guys, check it out! There's ship wreckage everywhere!" Yeah, I got it, captain! Seriously… I don't know what's up with him to get so excited with all this…

"Guys… let's get the hell outta here…" On the other hand, Usopp couldn't help but shiver all over. "If we stay too long maybe a ghost captain's gonna come out and eat our souls!"

"Really? He~~y! Ghost captain! Are you there?" Luffy called.

"DON'T CALL HIM!" Needless to say, Usopp almost wet his jumpsuit…

Meanwhile, Robin, Henzo and I stayed at the ship.

"Beyond the Rainbow Mist lies the Land of the Gods. The last remaining paradise on Earth. A place teeming with gold and silver, where people never starve and live forever. As described in the book." Robin said, browsing her fingers through the text.

"I said before and I'll say it again: it's nothing more than a legend." Henzo said.

"But didn't this researcher write the book based on the things he saw? How can you still say it's all a legend?" I asked.

"Remember how many times I told you that nobody ever came back once they got here?" Henzo replied. "I can't believe whoever wrote this book survived to tell the tale."

"Professor, you knew this was a ship graveyard, didn't you?" Robin asked.

"Yes… fifty years ago, I saw it for a moment." Henzo said, staring to the scenery ahead of him.

"If you knew about it, then why…" Robin asked again.

"I tried to find a way to save my friends who were taken away by the mist." Henzo said. "In order to do that… I didn't care if the rest of the people called me Whetton's pet dog."

"OOOI!" We heard Luffy calling. "Check this out!"

Him and Usopp returned, carrying a heavy-looking treasure chest, as Usopp was struggling to help our captain. Suddenly, the piece of wood they were standing on gives way and they slide all the way down to the floor of our ship, dropping the trunk.

When it opened…

"Impossible!" I exclaimed.

"This is…" Henzo said, equally impressed.

Imagine our surprise when the trunk hits the ground and opens… revealing countless precious, multi-colored jewels, pearl necklaces, gold and silver coins and many other random artifacts, probably invaluable in the right hands…

"Treasure!" I said. "Holy cow… Nami would be in heaven if she saw this…"

"Cool, right?" Luffy said. "And it looks like there are more in the other ships! We're gonna explore some more!"

"It might not be a paradise… but you can't deny this place's overflowing with treasure, right? Professor…" Robin said. Henzo only stared back at her, saying nothing.

Right after, we started to hear a bell.

Once… twice… three times. The bell kept ringing and everyone looked left and right with no idea where the sound was coming from.

"There's someone else here, I'm sure!" I said. "Come out!"

"Those who disturb the slumber of the dead…"

Eek! Looks like it heard me!

"W-what was that?" Usopp twitched, immediately panicking.

"Leave this trunk where it is and get away from here! Or else… the curse of the dead shall forever haunt your souls!"

"Scary… scary! Scary!" Usopp shivered all over.

The ominous warning didn't seem to faze Luffy. "Who's there?" He asked, standing up and holding his hat.

Soon after that, I gulped hard when I saw five or six white pieces of cloth with eyeholes floating out of the wreckage and approaching us.

"They're here! Gho~~~sts!" Usopp threw his arms to the air…

"Hand over the trunk… or else…"

The voice threatened… and then we heard something. Only then I noticed the so-called ghosts fired an arrow at us…

"Zoro-san!"

…and that it only stopped on the handrail, 3/4ths of an inch away from Zoro's head… _and he's still friggin' sleeping!_

Seriously… now would be a good time to wake up!

"Ouch! That was close… you bastards!"

Not missing his cue, Luffy stretched his arms, grabbed a mast and slingshot himself. He then crashed against the torn sails, taking with him the white cloths of the ghosts.

"Ghost captain, here I come!"

"They're empty inside!" Usopp screamed. "Gho~~~sts!"

"But I'm sure the arrow was shot from there." Robin said, turning her head to look at a ship's hull with two windows. I could've sworn that I saw a figure standing on one of them… and I saw it moving when it noticed we were looking at it!

"Guys, look!" I shouted, pointing.

"Hey! Luffy! Over there! Someone's there! Luffy, listen! DAMMIT, LUFFY!" Usopp whipped out a megaphone from hammerspace (aka God-knows-where), straining his voice trying to call our captain, who's still untangling himself from the cloths.

"Look, a bow." Robin pointed with her eyes…

The figure hiding behind the window held a bow, pulled the string and shot an arrow… right at our captain!

"LUFFY! WATCH OUT!" Usopp screamed at the top of his lungs…

…but only Robin stopped the arrow at the last second, by making an extra arm coming out of Luffy's shoulder.

"Phew…" I breathed out in relief. "LUFFY, YOU DOOFUS, PAY ATTENTION!"

"Wha? Oh… you!"

The shadow hid once again as Luffy pulled the rope he held on his hand, yanking a little boy out of the crow's nest and sending him plunging to the ground. Still in midair, he grabbed a rope and sped towards us.

"Hissatsu: Kaenboshi!" (Finisher: Fire Star)

Usopp decided to shoot. A small flame burst in the point of the rope where Usopp's Fire Star hit. The rope broke and sent the boy to the water below. We rushed to the side where he fell, to find nothing…

"Man… is he alright?" I said, getting ready to dive.

Fortunately, a few moments later, he stuck his head out of the water, still somewhat dizzy.

"Akibi!"

"Wait, Longo!"

What?

"Akibi!"

"Longo, calm down!"

We turned to catch two children, a boy and a girl standing before us. The boy carried a sword and an angry look at us, and the girl had trouble to restrain him. Upon seeing them, professor Henzo didn't know how to react.

"What? Aw, they're just ki-OOW! Owowowowowow…"

Usopp calmly strolled near them when he found out they were the threat… only to receive a groin attack from the boy who just freed himself and rushed to our direction…

"Akibi!" He called, desperately staring at the sea below.

In the following moment, the girl ran to him, unsheathed the sword he carried and pointed it at us… I had to step ahead and place my pencil in standby.

"H-hey… kids shouldn't run around with pointy stuff…"

"Shut up!" The girl growled.

"C-calm down, we're not going to hurt you…" I insisted.

"Grr… hyaaa!"

"GOMU GOMU NOOO… Dame da!" (Gum Gum No-Way)

Before she could stab my gut, Luffy launched himself back to the ship, pushing her to the ground.

"Right on time…" I sighed in relief.

"Yo! Thanks for the help back there!" Luffy said as he righted himself.

"You're welcome." Robin replied.

"Longo!"

We reflexively stared at the little boy, tugged to the handrail and looking even more unnerved with our presence until…

"That's enough!" The voice again, this time more threatening.

And then, its owner revealed himself.

"Ape's Concert is property of the Pumpkin Pirates!" A brown, white-haired boy, faced us. "If you don't want to die, release my comrades and leave the treasure alone!" He warned, always with a raised right arm, holding a metal ball.

"Lapanui!"

"Is it…" Henzo said, wide-eyed.

"Hey, hey, hey! If you set it off, you're gonna blow us all to bits!" Usopp screamed.

You mean that's a bomb?

"At least it's all of us! In life and death, we'll always be together!" The boy replied, using a highly un-childlike vocabulary.

He then jumped aboard the Going Merry and walked a few steps near us.

"Let's go."

"Lapanui…" H-hey… Henzo? "Lapanui? Is it you? And… Isoka! Longo!"

Lapanui? Isoka? Longo? Hey, wait… he knows them?

"You!" Henzo continued. "Do you remember me? It's me! I played with you back at the Cape of Ruluka! Don't you remember… Henzo?"

"What? Henzo?" That name seemed to ring a bell in that white-haired boy, or Lapanui, for the sake of convenience.

"Henzo… is he…" The girl, Isoka, also doubted it was him.

Henzo then walked near them.

"D-don't come near us! I'll fire this thing! Stay away!" Lapanui threatened in vain.

We heard a click and then a blinding white light bombarded our eyes. It surprised us so much we had to cover them for a little while.

"Dokkan number 3." Henzo said. "It's an invention of mine. It's just to scare people off."

The children stared at him, befuddled. They do seem to know someone called Henzo, but they weren't sure (or couldn't quite admit that) the Henzo they knew was the same standing right before them. But, judging by what we saw so far, it's easy to connect the dots…

Still, Lapanui resorted to another trick: the good old smoke bomb, which quickly spread around, enshrouding our field of vision. When it dissipated, the children were long gone.

"Damn it…" Usopp cursed.

"Waahahah… Ow man, you're too damn noisy!" Oh, _now_ you wake up, Zoro? "Wha? By the way, who's the old bag?"

"Don't ask, it's gonna take forever to get you up to speed…" Usopp gave up before he even tried.

"Umm… his name's Henzo and he's a scientist. We're at another dimension with no way out and we found some kids here. The end." I tried anyway.

"Didn't catch a thing. Guess I'm better off not knowing anyway…" Zoro said, scratching his head.

"Who are those kids?" Luffy asked. "Huh? Gramps?"

Henzo didn't reply, staying silent for a good while.

"Henzo-san?" I tried to snap him back.

"Those are… my comrades."

Comrades? You mean… those comrades he had lost?

"We were happy…" Henzo said. "We played together… talked with each other, spent together the best days of our lives. No treasure can ever shine as much as that time. Until that fateful day…"

The day when the coastal city of Ruluka burned in a fire.

"All because… of that bastard Whetton!" Henzo said, clenching his right fist.

He talked about the day his group witnessed the attack of that Whetton's pirates. They'd take every valuable they found, they'd kill anyone they bumped into, every treasure was pillaged. Fortunately, the people escaped to the top of the cliff, but not without casualties.

As Henzo elaborated on his story, it inevitably reminded me of what happened back at my homeland. The authentic inferno engulfing the capital… the suffering in citizen's faces. I know that emotional wound should've been healed by now since I defeated the man behind all of it, but it's just not something you simply forget and go on.

Well, Henzo told us that he and his crewmates escaped the flames and their meeting with Whetton, jumping to sea and boarding the Tarielishin, since every other boat in the harbor had been wrecked.

"The ship sailed away. In it were the six of us… and Whetton. We still tried to leave him behind but he caught up with us." Henzo said.

Lapanui always stepped forward to defend his comrades and it wouldn't be different this time. In their fight, Whetton destroyed the ship's helm.

Imagine the unfortunate coincidence: that day, the Rainbow Mist appeared… right in front of the helmless galleon.

"I pushed Whetton off the ship, staying behind… to see the others going away and never come back. I could never imagine they were still here and became real pirates." Henzo concluded.

"Hey wait, this is stuff of fifty years ago, right?" Usopp asked. "Those four didn't age a single day!"

"Time must pass fantastically slowly in here…" Henzo said. "One day here could translate into a week, a month… nay, a year outside."

A year? You mean… the longer we stay here…

"We have to leave as fast as possible!" Usopp connected the dots.

"Why?" But Luffy didn't.

"Simple! If we stay here, what happened to those boys and to Henzo will happen to us!" I hastily explained. "The others will become geezers while we're here loitering around!"

Inadvertently, I ended up imagining the scene… take my word for it, it's not pretty.

"WHAT?" Then it dawned on him. "Gramps, let's get going!"

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM!" Usopp shouted. "We don't know how to!"

No… it can't just be like this! There must be some way for us to get back to our world!

"I can't believe it… are we really going to be stuck here forever? Is there nothing we can do about it?" I shouted to the wind.

"There has to be a way… and I believe it's in this book." Robin said.

"Robin-san…" I drifted.

…

…

…

"Hm?"

The room shook slightly.

"Is the ship moving?" Henzo asked.

"It shouldn't, but…" Robin answered. "Let's check."

We were at the upper room where the professor took a nap. After he went through quite a nightmare about his comrades and jolted back up, the three of us walked back to the front of the ship. Luffy sat at the figurehead, Usopp leaned on the handrail and Zoro sat on it, polishing one of his swords.

"Where are you going?" Henzo asked.

"Where? Out of this mist, of course." Luffy replied.

"Even after I said it's impossible…" Henzo muttered.

"H-hey, guys! Didn't we pass through this ship already?" Usopp called, staring to a vessel with the sculpture of a woman.

"I dunno… did we?" I asked.

"It's alright anyway. There are lots of ships like that one here." Luffy said.

"No. We definitely did pass through this one." Robin said. "I recall the goddess sculpture."

"You mean… we're back at the start?" Usopp said, grimly.

"No we're not! We're going straight!" Luffy said, without a drop of doubt.

"It's so misty, are you really sure of that?" I asked.

"Wait, I have an idea." Robin said. "Seis… Fleur!"

She then sprouted six arms to control the ship's front cannon. Then, she fired a shot forward and upwards. The cannonball flew away…

…but we soon heard the whistling of a falling object.

The very same cannonball Robin fired hit water… _right behind our ship_.

"The space here is distorted." Henzo said.

"I knew it… The book describes the inside of the Rainbow mist as an intricate labyrinth…" Robin completed.

"Aaah! GOMU GOMU NOOOO…"

Yikes… what is Luffy going to do now?

"Luffy! Wait, no-"

"WA~~~~RP!"

"He's gone…"

Luffy slingshot himself away to God-knows-where…

"That knucklehead!" Zoro groused.

A little while later… we heard something hitting the sails and a thump on the ground.

"Ah! Now I get it!" Luffy's back? "No matter where you go, you're always gonna go back to the start! It's a mystery mist!" You really needed to throw yourself out of the ship to understand that?

"Do you really get it now?" Henzo still doubted.

"Only the part where we can't leave, though." Zoro said.

"Well then, let's meet up with Lapanui and the others." Robin said as she tossed back Luffy's hat at him.

"Those kids?" Zoro asked.

"We can ask them how to get out of here, since this is their territory." She reasoned.

"But… if they knew, wouldn't they have escaped already?" I asked.

"Point…" She said.

"Plus, where'd they go?" Usopp asked.

"Well, we can always ask… that boy down there." She said, walking to a side of the ship. "Don't bother hiding, I can see you."

Huh? Is someone down there?

"Un Fleur."

I ran to look at it and indeed, there was a pudgy boy standing and hiding (well, not anymore) amongst some more wreckage.

"Can you… take us to your leader?" She said.

"You always wanted to say that, didn't you?" Not sure about her, but _I_ did!

…

…

…

"Uwa~~~aah! What a hu~~~ge shi~~p!" Luffy, hanging upside-down at the ship figurehead.

"An old battleship?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, but it's our hideout now."

Said the boy, called Pukau. After we brought him aboard and assured him that we wouldn't hurt him, he relaxed and agreed to take us to the rest of his group.

"COWARDS!"

Lapanui immediately jumped from where he stood, stepping on the sheep head before he landed on the front deck.

"Aw, come on, don't be so uptight!"

Luffy surprised him. The boy turned around and as soon as he saw Luffy, he drew out his sword and tried to cut our captain's throat. He dodged effortlessly, standing back at the sheep head and not forgetting to put his hat back on.

"Come down here and fight me!" Lapanui challenged.

"What if I don't want to?" Luffy hopped back on the floor. Lapanui immediately charged at him. "Hey, hey! Calm down!"

"Shut up! I get it now… you took Pukau as a hostage and forced him to tell you where our base is… didn't you?"

Lapanui charged again, but Zoro stepped in.

"I think we have a misunderstanding in our hands." Zoro didn't even need to fully take out his sword to disarm him.

"Bastards…" Lapanui treated his sore wrist.

"Lapanui! Calm down! I'm no hostage!" Pukau tried to calm him down. "I just brought them along because they asked me, that's all!"

It didn't work. The white-haired boy's still on about how we supposedly forced Pukau to spill it.

"Your friend's right, it's just a misunderstanding." Robin stepped in. "We can explain it. We just want to leave Ape's Concert."

"So what if you know? You're just planning to sweep all the treasure and run away, aren't you?" His stubbornness is getting on my nerves…

"Listen, can you stop jumping to your own damn conclusions? We just wanna leave, period!" I said, annoyed.

"Believe us, Lapanui! This is the last thing they'd do, I promise." Henzo said.

"I can't trust adults!" Hey, we're just a few years older than you! Well, except Robin and Henzo, but you know what I mean.

"Hey, guys!"

Usopp?

"Tada~~h! Usopp's special snacks are ready!" Suddenly, Usopp's here all the way from the kitchen, loaded with a pan of soup, some meat buns and other snacks. Luffy drooled immediately… and attacked the food just as fast.

"Usopp-kun! You can cook?" I asked, shocked.

"Of course! I'm not a Sanji, but I can cook a thing or two!" Usopp replied. "Hey, you! Do you want too!" He called the boys.

Pukau accepted immediately. Lapanui's still reticent.

"If nobody else wants it, I'm gonna chomp it down before Luffy eats it all!"

I then joined the feast. Zoro also walked close and then, Robin, still trying to invite the distrustful Lapanui.

"Hey, you over there! Get down here too!"

Usopp invited the rest of the kids, standing at their own ship and staring far away. As soon as they received the invitation, they hopped aboard.

"Don't surrender for food! Have you forgotten the pride of the Pumpkin Pirates?"

"Lapanui!" Henzo called him. "Pride doesn't fill a belly."

Thus, our little banquet unfolded. As we chomped down the snacks, the kids couldn't stop asking. Stuff like where we came from, where we're going to, what kinds of adventures we went through… Usopp didn't miss the chance to exaggerate his tales about our travels…

However, that wasn't enough to bring Lapanui to our feast. Henzo stood up and offered him a plate with food… but he then dropped it for some reason.

"Lapanui, forgive me! A good-for-nothing like me… I tried to bring you out of the Rainbow Mist for the past fifty years but… an oversight of mine stranded us all here!" Henzo kneeled, crying. "I'm a failure as a scientist! But… I need to beg you something! If you know, please tell us… how to get out of this mist! Then, let's go away… let's get back home!"

"There's no way out."

"What?"

"And even if I knew… what's the point of telling it to you?" Lapanui said, turning away. "I don't trust you."

"Goddamn it… and you still call each other friends?"

"What?"

Annoyed with his persistence, Usopp decided to vent it out. "Ok, you may not trust us, but the old man's here is your friend!"

"I didn't ask your opinion-"

"Lapanui-kun!" Annoyed as well, I intervened. He glared back at me. "What kind of leader is you if you don't trust the word of your own comrades?"

"You know nothing! Besides… how can I ever trust someone who says he's come from fifty years into the future?" Lapanui asked.

"Just believe!" Usopp talked before me. "No matter how much time passed… it doesn't matter if his appearance changed. Comrades bound together under the same flag must understand each other! The flag may lose its colors but the friendship doesn't!"

Lapanui was left speechless.

Suddenly, the tense moment was interrupted by a phone ringing. Henzo took a snail-o-phone out of his pocket, but before he could answer it, Luffy snatched it from him.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Doctor Henzo!"

"Wha? Who's there?" Luffy asked.

"What? Who am I talking to?" From the other side, the same question.

"O-hey, Luffy?" Sanji! Ah, I know this voice!

"Where are you?" Chopper!

"We're neck-deep in trouble here just because you decided to take our ship for a ride!" Nami! Straightforward as always…

Oh wait…

"We're talking to Nami and the rest… that means…" Robin said.

Henzo rushed to the phone. "We're connected to the outside world? Phillip! Phillip! I want to talk to him!"

"Yes, this is Phillip!" Ah, that man back at the restaurant… "Doctor Henzo, where are you?"

"Um… inside the Rainbow Mist."

"What?" Phillip, incredulous.

"And we have no way out." Henzo continued. "Sorry, but I need you to come here rescue us, we're running out of time. I invented a gadget for such a situation. Tell Whetton to bring it here-"

Suddenly, Lapanui interrupted the call. "Hey! This guy you talked about, Whetton, he's the one who burned Ruluka, wasn't he?"

"Wait!" Henzo backed away. "I didn't want to, but making a deal with him was the only way to save you!"

"I get it now… you're not the Henzo we know! No member of the Pumpkin Pirates would be a mere tool for Whetton!" Lapanui, fiercely defending his beliefs…

It's tough, but we can only try to understand what he's feeling right now…

* * *

**Well, looks like there's a connection between the two worlds! However, the kids found out that, in order to come to this point, Henzo had to practically make a deal with the devil Whetton. Will Lapanui's unmoving confidence be an obstacle to their dream of returning home?**

**Look forward for the next chapter!  
**


	90. A friendship they shall keep forever!

**Chapter 90**

**"Past and present! New beginnings for an old legend!"**

* * *

"Let me go! Dammit, let me go!"

"Stop it, Lapanui!"

Akibi and Isoka had great trouble to restrain their friend. He already pushed Henzo to the ground and wanted to beat him senseless because he was subdued by their sworn enemy, the now mayor Whetton. Despite his friends trying to talk him out of it, saying it's just a misunderstanding, Lapanui would always fight back.

That scene made my heart ache. I always feel uneasy when I watch longtime friends arguing with each other… I decided to put two fingers on my forehead, close my eyes and rationalize the situation.

Although this is definitely not the best time to resent, you have to cut them some slack and try to understand. It's hard to forgive someone who made a deal with the man who burned down your hometown.

"The pain… the grief… if you hadn't forgotten about that, you wouldn't kneel before Whetton not even if it cost you your life!" Lapanui screamed. He freed himself from his friends' hold and grabbed Henzo's shirt. "It may've been fifty years to you, but for us it was just mere days!"

However, there's always a flip side.

"Wait, Lapanui!" Usopp intervened, annoyed. "You're just saying that because you don't know what happened! Do you have any idea how much he suffered this whole time?"

"What?" Lapanui stopped.

As soon as Usopp explained that Henzo had to endure people badmouthing 'Whetton's pet dog' behind his back, Lapanui retreated and the anger he had on his face was gone.

"Why?" Isoka asked.

"Isn't it obvious? He did it to rescue you all!" Usopp said.

"Forget it. This has nothing to do with them." Henzo stood back up. "I'll let you hit me, Lapanui. Forget this whole shame and pride business. Since Whetton appeared, I lived under his shadow! Hit me if you want!"

Lapanui even grabbed Henzo's shirt again and clenched his right hand as if he was about to punch him, but his body trembled and his anger wasn't there anymore. Not even if he wanted, he would be able to do it. Soon, tears started streaming down his face and of the other kids.

"See? Even if fifty years passed, you can still trust each other!"

Usopp put them closer together. It's just like he said… no matter how much time passes, friendships are forever.

"Henzo…"

"Lapanui!"

"aaaAAAAAaaahh! So~~rry!"

However, right before they could shake their hands and make amends, Luffy killed the mood when he came flying towards us, crashed into Lapanui, took him to a nearby vortex and disappeared…

Plus: before the skirmish even started, Luffy threw himself out of the boat. _Again._

_ Just because._

"That bonehead!" Zoro summed up best.

"They'll be fine. The space here is in permanent loop. They're…"

As we saw that the vortex was gone…

"…coming back, right?" …Robin concluded, _wondering_.

"What now?"

"We have to look for them! You never know what'll happen in here!"

Henzo called and we immediately followed him.

"Goddamn… when he's around, it's just trouble upon trouble…" Zoro grieved.

"Aw, come on, stop complaining. It's always like that." I replied.

"That's exactly what I meant!" Zoro retorted.

"What can we do? How could we ever know that before we decided to…"

From then on, our talk devolved into a long-winded discussion about the pros and cons of following a captain with a screw loose… way after it's appropriate.

…

…

…

"So, did you find them?"

"No, not a single sign…"

"They're not here as well, Zoro-san!"

Henzo and the children waited as Usopp, Zoro and I searched around the rocks and ship wreckage. After a while, we got back to our ship empty-handed.

"Worst case scenario, they've been sent to beyond this mist." Henzo said.

"What do you mean? Lapanui's not here anymore?" Akibi asked, worried.

"Probably."

Henzo's answer didn't please the kids… nor us. I facepalmed, trying to brush off any negative thoughts. This whole thing about distorted spaces is giving me a headache. We will get out of here, we just have to find out how. And calmly.

Damn it, Luffy, you had to screw things up right when we were about to get out of this nightmare?

"HEEEEY! GUYS!"

Huh? This voice…

Coming from inside the mist, rowing a small boat… was a certain orange, short-haired navigator of ours.

"Oh, it's just Nami…" Zoro, surprisingly indifferent.

"NAMI? Hey, oh wait, Zoro, shouldn't you be more surprised?" I quipped.

"Yeah! I bothered about rescuing all of you and all I get is a mere 'oh, it's you'? How insensitive!"

Nami stood up on her boat while it slowly approached the Going Merry. I soon noticed she didn't come here before loading her trunk with as much treasure as she could stuff in it…

Honestly, a greedy friend can be such a pain in the…

"You just can't help it, can you?" Usopp took the words out of me as we watched her hopping onboard with the happiest of faces…

"Don't mind, don't mind!" She said, stepping inside. Then, she stared at Henzo and the children and their disheartened faces.

"Who are those kids? Where's Luffy? Wow, what's wrong? Why are you all so depressed?" And she fired a flurry of questions.

"Aah~~n, stop asking! It'll take forever to explain it all!" I said, praying she didn't demand it.

"You don't need to know anyway… what matters is that Luffy's gone to the end of this mist." Usopp said, a bit down himself.

"What?"

"That's what you heard, Nami. They're gone. You didn't see and, well, it's hard to explain what happened." Zoro confirmed.

Nami thought for a few seconds and then gave up.

"Ok. Retreat!"

"WHAAAT?"

Without thinking twice, Nami ordered us to leave immediately… with the happiest face I've ever seen out of her.

"WHAT ABOUT LUFFY?" Usopp asked, shocked.

"I don't really get what's happening, but I'm sure he's not gonna die like this. It's going to be fine, you'll see. Let's go back!"

What a crowning moment of indifference, huh? You don't care about your own friggin' captain when treasure's involved?

"You found a way out?" Robin asked from the upper floor.

"You betcha!" Nami said… holding a rope. "It's called safety device!"

"That's it? A rope? Henzo-san…" I stared at him.

"Well, you know the saying: the best solution to a problem usually is the simplest one…" He justified.

"So, you're the ones coming from Ruluka?" Who?

"Ian…"

A man of tied-down brown hair, wearing a common pirate's attire, appeared in the ship ahead of ours. He held a little boy.

"You know him?" I asked.

"He's Whetton's second-in-command!" Akibi replied.

He then decided to approach us, still stopping at the upper floor.

"Hand over that rope, please." He said.

"Why should we? You can pretty well leave with us!" Nami said, tightening the knot around her waist.

"So, you don't care about this little boy, do you?"

He then pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it to the boy, who immediately panicked.

"No, I don't."

WHAT?

"Nami-chan!"

"Who's that boy anyway? I'm not that good of a person to save random strangers." Nami shrugged off and turned a blind eye to the situation.

Did she say what I think she said?

"Yeah, I got that…" A beat. He then caught himself. "SAY WHAT, YOU BITCH? I'm gonna shoot him! For real!"

"W-w-w-wait, don't!" I said, trying to keep calm. "Nami-chan! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Who, me? Nothing." She said.

"Please, do what he's saying!" Isoka begged. After Nami scoffed at her, again ignoring the situation, the little girl decided 'to hell with politeness' and pulled out a knife to point at her neck.

"Isoka-chan, no!" I said, shocked.

"Nice! Now take the rope back to our boat."

"Isoka-chan…" I whispered as I saw them leaving, still with the other boy held hostage.

Ian tried to convince them to join him and roam the sea and beyond with their treasure, but they rejected. The hostage boy then took the chance to headbutt Ian in the crotch before he plunged into the water.

"Ow, you brats!"

"No!"

Before he shot Isoka for good, Robin intervened. She produced six arms protruding out of Ian's body and restrained him. While he struggled, Robin weakened and knelt on the ground for some reason.

"Robin-san! What's wrong?" I asked.

"Seastone…"

Now free from the extra arms, Ian grabbed the rows and got away. Usopp still tried to shoot him down, but Nami, overly concerned with the treasure, couldn't stop pestering him and thus he didn't concentrate.

…

…

…

We lost the boat, we lost our only way to leave this mist… and Nami lost her treasure.

"How unfortunate… who would've thought that among the treasure was a seastone jewel…" Robin said, still recovering from the powerlessness.

"There's lots of treasure here… but it's worth jack if we're not able to leave!" Nami talked to herself, walking back and forth.

"Can't you do something about it?" Usopp asked.

"I'm trying! But it's the first time I face such a chaotic sea!"

"So, we're out of options?" Zoro asked.

"We won't need any. They'll get back." Henzo said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Whetton will come here and get the treasure no matter what. Now that Ian's back, he'll want to bring his troops here to invade." Henzo said.

"You're kidding, right? Let's fight 'em, then! I'm not going to let them lay a finger on _my_ treasure!"

She's still on about that? Oh, brother… I couldn't help but sigh… Honestly… she's here for just ten minutes and she's already bragging that the treasure is hers? Aw, screw it… I should've gotten used to it by now…

I soon stopped thinking about that when the usually still sea of the other dimension started to shake. The agitation rapidly intensified and soon the waves got violent. We all ran to latch onto something, lest we get thrown out to the revolting waters, as the ship swung perilously to both sides.

"What's that?"

As soon as the agitation calmed down again, a new element appeared in our landscape: a giant pumpkin coming out of the vortex connecting both worlds.

"The Rainbow Tower!" Henzo screamed.

The giant pumpkin slowly opened, revealing a smaller gate inside it. The gate then opened and a platform came out of it.

"Whetton, you bastard… I knew you would come!"

…

…

…

Not wasting any more time, several boats loaded with soldiers came out from the tower (or tunnel, because it's resting in the sea) and spread around the sea, searching for any and all treasure they could find. As soon as they got out, they went back to the door, unloading the treasure trunks.

On our side…

"Attack!"

With the weapons they had, the children took down all the soldiers trying to get onboard our boat.

"Don't overdo it!" Usopp alerted.

"This is the Pumpkin Pirates' territory! We'll defend it until Lapanui is back!" Akibi turned to us.

"Waaaaah!"

"Professor!" Robin exclaimed.

"I'm going to fight as a Pumpkin Pirate!"

Henzo, seeing his eternal comrades fighting for what's right, got some spirit, grabbed a sword and hopped off our ship to get on a boat together with them… but as he did it and way before we could do anything to help…

"AAH! They hit me!"

"PROFESSOR!"

The old man was hit by a electric discharge, fell on the boat and turned it over!

"Whetton!"

"He didn't age a single day!" The children said.

"No, no. I'm Whetton's grandson, Reik! Do I really look like him?" Said the man who wore a strange mechanical suit, with a rod in each of its hands. He talked in a strangely friendly tone, surprised with the seeming resemblance with his grandpa… and weirding everyone else out. Unfortunately, not for long anyway.

"You bastards! Hand over the treasure at once, or else I'm gonna use my electric suit and fry up all of you!"

"Electric, is it? I was waiting for something like this…"

Zoro didn't miss his cue, tied up his bandanna on his head, pulled out his three swords and jumped to the boat where Reik stood to challenge him to a duel.

"You use electricity, right? Then, I'll use my swords to cut it in half!" Zoro threatened.

"No, no… electricity does not work that way, Zoro." Nami and Usopp didn't find any sense in his words…

"Hold on…"

Strangely, those words immediately made sense to me as I saw Reik turning to face Zoro. As the fight unfolded and there were some sparks here and there, I noticed that the electric suit could pack a punch, but it had a glaring flaw. In its back, there were two large cables connecting the suit to a battery powered by a soldier cycling really, really fast. From then on, it didn't take long to connect the dots.

"My suit is invincible! You have no way to escape!" Reik hit back.

"Escape, who said that? Like I said, I'll cut your electricity in half!" Zoro insisted.

"We told you, electricity does _not_ work that way!" Usopp screamed.

"Wait, actually, it does." Robin said. She noticed it too, and immediately sprouted two hands coming out of the battery… to unplug the cables and throw them underwater.

"If you cut his power supply, the suit becomes useless." I said.

"Got it!" Only now, Usopp?

As Reik threw a tantrum because the suit didn't work anymore, Zoro would have none of it and kicked him out of the boat. "Piss off!"

"Guys, look!"

Nami pointed to the tower's entrance/exit, where a certain man with a straw hat was. Lapanui was there too, but in water.

"Bastards…" …ah, forgot to mention Whetton too. "Nobody who fought me lived to tell the tale!"

Sounds like our captain cornered him, but now he escaped, since the platform where Luffy stood detached from the entrance and sunk underwater.

Oh crap, he's going to drown!

After a few silent and tense moments, a small fire lit inside the platform…

…and it soon turned into a huge explosion! The sounds of stuff blowing up continued for quite some time, what could only lead us to assume that the tower is exploding all the way to the shore on the other side.

"What the hell just happened?" I whispered, probably externalizing what everyone thought at that moment. We stared in utter shock and demanding answers, to the fire burning right above the sea.

"We were left to die!" A voice said. It was Ian! "That damn bastard is not a captain anymore! Shit!"

At our side…

"Luffy!"

"Lapanui!"

Aw man… he knows how to worry us to death…

Fortunately, Luffy and Lapanui escaped the explosion mostly unscathed, although our captain was powerless, being carried in the little boy's shoulder. However, as Zoro, Akibi and Longo retrieved them in the raft…

A roaring thunder echoed through the skies, followed by cracking sounds. Something was breaking… or is it…

"No way… the balance of this space is too fragile! It's certain this balance has been disturbed after such a strong explosion… WAAH!" Henzo said, panicking. He then panicked even more when he looked at the sky! "Oh God, the space-time distortion's getting worse!" With it, the thunder noises got louder… "If it goes like this, it'll suck us up and we'll be dead!"

"WHAT?"

"The sky is falling! We have no time, one hour at best! We have to escape while we can!" Henzo screamed, terrified.

"But how?" Nami, panicking.

"Robin-san! Does the book say how do we get out?" I called.

She quickly scanned the pages, getting to the last one. The book's author successfully escaped the Ape's Concert once.

"No!" She exclaimed, quickly closing the book. "Continues in the final volume…"

"Where is it?"

To Usopp's question, Robin only shook her head…

"YOU DON'T HAVE IT?"

Damn our luck… are we really condemned to stay here forever… all because the author of that book wrote it in TWO volumes?

"That light… Guys, it's sunlight! It's light of the sunset!" Lapanui pointed to a shining yellow point on the sky.

"Sunset?" Usopp parroted.

"Yeah! Looks like there's a hole in the space and sunlight gets here through it!" Lapanui said. "Maybe if we head in that direction, we can escape!"

"Guys, get the sails ready! Then go to the oars and push with every last bit of your strength!" Nami screamed.

"Aye!"

We then hurriedly unfurled the sails, readying our escape. Zoro called the castaway soldiers, Ian and Phillip to help with the oars. Nami once again acted as our coxswain, blowing a whistle to help coordinate our rowing.

With some struggle, since the right oar usually doesn't know what the left is doing, we managed to align the ship towards the sunlight. Until…

…both the oars broke with halfway to go!

The ship slowed down and stopped in the ocean again!

"Quick! The light's going away!"

Zoro and Luffy basically suggested the impossible: somebody (or rather, somebodies) jump out and push the ship. Without wind, it was impossible to move it.

"Then, it's just a matter of the wind blowing…"

"Hey, Lapanui-kun! What are you doing?" I screamed as I saw Lapanui actually jumping out!

"I'm going to blow up our ship! It was a Marine ship anyway. It got loads of ammunition! If I set it all on fire, I can create an explosion that'll launch a gust of wind!" Lapanui said as he swam away.

"Wait, Lapanui! If you do that… what'll happen to you?" Henzo screamed.

Lapanui didn't respond.

Soon after, the other kids lined up, walking towards the edge of the ship.

"Lapanui!"

Screaming for their leader, without a drop of uncertainty, they jumped out as well!

"Hey, guys! What are you doing! Get back here!"

"We're the Pumpkin Pirates!" Pukau…

"We swore we would stay together in life and death!" Akibi…

"Guys…" Usopp, perplexed.

"Akibi-kun… Pukau-kun… Longo-kun… Isoka-chan…" I whispered, my heart filled with grief.

"Get back, guys! Lapanui jumped to save you! You'll die if you go!" Henzo still called for them.

"We won't die!"

Isoka…

"We'll be back! No matter how long it will take, but you can be sure we will be back to Ruluka!" Isoka screamed.

There's no option. These children's determination knows no bounds. And maybe little Isoka is right…

Goodbye, children.

…

…

…

After patiently waiting and wondering what would happen to them, our thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a gigantic explosion coming from behind.

It launched a powerful gale that projected us in the direction of a blinding light originated due to the growing volatility of our current dimension. As we entered the light, we were greeted by another light and sparkle show. We were finally bidding goodbye to the dimension hiding behind the rainbow mist, and returning to our real world.

We really started feeling the jolts in the exit to the real world, where we were met by powerful winds coming from this side. The air current practically carried us out of the vortex, made the ship float right above the city (!) and land rather violently in the ocean… that ended up breaking our ship's mast and damaging it quite badly.

But it's not over yet!

After our crash-landing, the vortex started to exert a suction force which pulled a mansion out of the highest mountain.

"No! My mansion! Noooo! It's taking my money away!"

It turned out to be that Whetton's mansion. It went to the other side and there it will stay.

"GUYS!"

"NAMI-SAN!"

Guess who's at shore to welcome us? Sanji and Chopper!

As we left the water and recovered in land (and Usopp mourned our damaged ship), Sanji and Chopper hurried to give us a warm hug… but our poor cook was punched in the head as a gift…

"How irritating! All of my hate!" Nami whispered angrily as she walked away.

"Ouch… why… Nami-san!" Sanji asked, lying on the ground with a huge bump on his head…

"The treasure we had in the deck is gone. We're better off leaving her alone for a while…" I hissed to him.

"FREEZE! PIRATES!"

Suddenly, the happy reunion was interrupted when a cannon fired… and we saw a small fleet of Marine ships on shore! The one chasing us until we got here!

Oh brother… we barely got out of a mess and get in another one? I sure don't hope so!

"Please, save us! These pirates are trying to steal this city's treasure!" Phillip soon kneeled in front of the officer approaching us.

He held Phillip's hand and examined his ring. "This jewel was stolen by pirates a century ago and it was believed to be lost. Princess Illusia's ring. Why do you have it?"

"Ah, um… this…"

"By any chance, you didn't steal it, did you?" The officer asked.

"No, far from it! This treasure was hidden at Ape's Concert!" Phillip stood up.

Soon his son joined the explaining. The marine concluded that, since it was found, it was nobody's possession. And as it belonged to no one, it could be legally confiscated. What soon brought an angry Whetton to the mess.

During their argument, something made me stare at the marine officer more closely… I noticed that he looks a lot like Lapanui…

The marine poked Whetton's forehead with such a force it made him fall backwards!

"Wow… hey, wait…"

When he took his glasses off, it hit me. He really looks a lot like…

Like…

"LAPANUI!" Henzo screamed when he connected the dots.

"WHAT?"

"I told you… we would be back." Isoka!

Behind them…

A fatty soldier, a slant-eyed, skinny one, and a blonde-haired one…

"Pukau-san! Akibi-san! Longo-san!" I said.

All of them, fifty years older, just like Henzo!

They're now marines and immediately arrested Whetton and his underlings.

Lapanui then told us that explosion didn't kill them. Instead, it launched them outside as well… to the world of fifty years ago.

"I understand… that mist distorts the flow of time." Robin concluded.

"Why didn't you tell this before?" Henzo asked.

"We needed power to defeat Whetton… but it took quite some time for us to get it. Still… even with this marine coat, my heart belongs to the Pumpkin Pirates. Henzo, I am and always will be your comrade!" Lapanui said.

However…

"I forgot to say, but you, Luffy Pirates will be arrested too!"

"WHAT?"

"Marines are sworn to maintain justice… and arrest all those who are wanted! But…"

But…

"How troublesome! I have to take Whetton's crew back to the HQ! But if I do it, the Luffy Pirates are going to escape right under my nose! What can I do?"

He then desperately ran away.

"He did it on purpose…" Totally!

Well then, after a quite lengthy patchwork on our ship, we bid farewell to the old Henzo. Also, the eternal members of the Pumpkin Pirates still saluted us for the last time before leaving. We waved goodbye back at them and left Ruluka… with a great story to tell. Then, the long and grueling years of research of that scientist came to an end.

"That place was really interesting!" Luffy said, sitting in his favorite seat.

"You think? I thought it was horrible! That graveyard…" Nami replied.

"This sea is really mysterious… and at the end, we still don't know who wrote that book…" I said, daydreaming.

Shortly after, something hit me on the head and awoke me.

"Huh? What's this?"

It wasn't rain… or water. It was a piece of brown rubble. Soon, tiny pieces started falling everywhere around us… and then they were larger… and larger… debris fell, then giant pieces of wood… and then a freakin' mast fell!

…

…

…

"What the…"

A GIANT SHIP WAS FALLING FROM THE SKY!

* * *

**The Straw Hats are destined not to get any rest! Just as they got back to open sea, they bumped... with a giant ship falling from the sky. Now countless questions hover around the adventurers' heads. That and...**

**Nami: "Guys! The Log's pointing up!"**

**Look forward for the next chapter!  
**


	91. Don't soil your pants with these!

**Chapter 91**

**"The Log is pointing up! Mashira, the salvage king"**

* * *

"WAAAAAAAAH!"

"Everyone, hang in there!"

In a matter of just a few minutes, nay, just a few moments, our precious little moments of peace and quiet turned into a pure cauldron of panic when a destroyed galleon, about twenty times larger than our ship, literally fell from the sky right beside our ship.

I'll repeat it for those of you still wrapping your minds around it: _a giant galleon literally fell from the sky and almost crushed us_.

The shock of the galleon on the sea originated frightening waves that threw our ship wherever they wanted as the rain of rubble fell on us. All of it as we held for our dear lives, tried to understand what was happening and prayed not to die due to some unfortunate series of events. Usopp and Chopper panicked the most with it all, however our shooter had a pretty unorthodox idea: stop, close his eyes and try to reach inner peace while the chaos unfolded around him, probably thinking that when he opened his eyes again, everything would be calm and nice. Unfortunately he was in for a rude awakening when a skeleton fell right on his face and brought him back to the terrifying reality.

After the rain of wreckage ended and the waves finally calmed down, I finally could have a moment to take a few deep breaths, calm my heart down and wonder…

"What the… what the fuck was that?" I think it sums up best…

"How does a ship fall from the sky?" Luffy asked, looking up, more confused than anything else.

"Very strange…" Sanji, in an alarmingly calm tone.

"And there's nothing up there!" Zoro, stating the obvious.

As Usopp and Chopper clung to each other, still trembling all over, shocked with how the Grand Line can be absolutely terrifying at times, Nami called our attention when she noticed something unusual.

"Guys! The Log Pose's broken. It's pointing up!" She said, concerned.

"Up? Let me see…" I went to check it more closely. "Hmm… doesn't look like it's broken… well, it is tridimensional, so it can point up. But… does that mean…"

"What?" Nami asked, puzzled.

"It's not broken." Robin interrupted. "Just like always, an island with a strong magnetic field attracted the needle to its direction. And, as it's pointing up, it means a sky island up there."

"Sky island?" Everyone asked together.

"Y-you mean… a floating island?" Luffy asked, hopeful.

"I can't really see an island up there, though." Zoro, stating the obvious again. He looked upwards, only to find clouds and seagulls.

"Not exactly." Robin said. "What floats up there is an ocean."

"I understand less than ever…" Sanji grimaced.

"And the less I believe in it, the better…" I said, nervously. "Not that I believed it before though. Can we please not go there?"

"You mean there's a sea up there, and an island too? Cool! Let's get there now!"

"Yosh, men! Turn the helm up!"

Usopp and Luffy soon got (over)excited about the idea of an island in the sky. Robin only sighed and decided to tape their mouths shut. It's more than obvious we can't turn the… aw, come on, do I really need to say that? I feel stupid just by typing it…

"Personally, I never went to a sky island. I don't know much about it." Robin said.

"And do-don't you think it's hard t-to b-believe it anyway, Robin-san…" I said, now stuttering. "Hah, a sky island, it's the cra-craziest thing I've ever heard! Can we please not go there?"

"Yeah, the compass definitely broke down this time…" Nami whined.

"I'm reasonably sure it didn't." Robin reaffirmed. "You must not think about how to fix a broken compass… but how on earth you are getting up there."

"What?"

"WHAT?"

Nami and I exclaimed, with me still nervous.

"No matter how strange the circumstances may be. No matter how much panic a crew goes through. You absolutely cannot doubt a Log Pose. This is a golden rule. If you want to doubt something, start by your own common sense. You will always find an island where the needle points. _Always_."

Her words were so certain I cried inside a bit.

"Still… can we please not go there?" I was reduced to a whisper.

An island? In the sky? Hmmm… looks like I'm not going to like what's coming up…

…

"Ayayayayay… what is she doing opening that coffin?" Chopper asked, reverse-hiding behind the mast. Nami hid with him, still trying to 'fix' her compass.

Meanwhile, Zoro, Sanji and I watched as our archaeologist meticulously pieced together a skull extracted from a coffin we searched amongst the shipwreck. Luffy and Usopp stayed there to explore a little more.

And I mentally paced left and right. How can I convince an adventure-happy captain like Luffy _not_ to go to the sky island?

"There, restored." Robin said, resting the skull in the floor. Sanji pointed to a few holes in it.

"These aren't natural." She explained. "They're signs of medical treatment. Cranial perforation surgery, right, Doctor-san?"

"Trepanning." Chopper replied. "In the past, doctors drilled holes in the skull to extract tumors. But that's a really old practice!"

"Correct." Robin continued her analysis. "This skull's owner died two hundred years ago… He was a man, around thirty years old. During a travel, he collapsed and died. His teeth were better conserved than his bones. Probably, it's due to a tar cover, a practice restricted to a remote region of the South Blue. If we think about it from a historic point of view, this vessel should be an explorer."

She then brought a book and browsed through it until she found a certain page.

"Bliss Kingdom, South Blue. This ship's called the Saint Bliss and came from there. It departed two hundred and eight years ago."

Upon closer inspection to the picture, we noticed that was the ship that almost crushed us.

"Y-you mean that ship wandered afloat in the sky for t-t-t-two centuries?" I inferred, shocked.

"Exactly." Robin confirmed.

"Wow, you can discover all that just with a skull?" Nami asked, approaching.

"They can't talk anymore, but there's still plenty to discover. If it's really an explorer, that vessel should have documents or some other evidence aboard." Robin replied.

"But it's already sinking and-HEY YOU WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STILL DOING THERE?"

As soon as Nami turned, she ran to yell at the 'explorers'. The galleon was nearly completely submerged but they forgot to return to base, Luffy currently in sea, fighting not to drown… and Usopp hopelessly stranded in a chunk of wreckage still over sea line.

After we rescued them and Luffy stopped panting and spitting water, he remembered something.

"Hey, guys! I did it! I found something so awesome you won't believe it! Check this out!"

Needless to say, everyone's eyes went as wide as saucers when he showed what he brought.

"A SKY ISLAND MAP?"

"Skypiea? So, there's really an island up there?"

"WA~~~~HOOO~~~~!"

"NOOOOO!"

Yep, that's it. A map of a sky island. I don't know why, but this discovery doesn't please me even a single bit.

"Let me see!" As the trio of always jumped around in joy, I snatched the map from Nami's hands, trembling as well, but with utter fear… "Impossible… an island, up there? It can't be, it can't be, it simply can't!"

"Why are you so worried about it, Dan-kun?" Nami asked.

"Can we please not go there, I beg you!" I went to her, putting my hands on her shoulders. "Please, I don't want to go up there, I'm going to die!"

"Aw, come on, Dan, it's going to be awesome! None of us went to a sky island before! Why don't you want to go?" Luffy grinned as he practically tackled me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Because it's on the sky!" I yelled, raising an arm to point. "God knows how many thousand feet away from the ground! You know damn well I'm irrationally afraid of extreme heights!"

"Calm down, calm down, all of you!" Nami said, snatching the map back. "It's too early to celebrate. There's a zillion fake maps around the world."

"Uwaaa~~n…"

Ah, the magic word: fake map. As the others stopped jumping around and put on grim faces before Nami, at least I could breathe in relief with this possibility. Nami still tried to keep calm and convince them there is an island up there, but she gave up and thus another round of bickering started.

"Nami… please don't take it out on my ship…" Usopp said, as he saw her pounding her fist on the mast…

"Please say it's a fake map… please say it's a fake map, please say it's a fake map!" And as I prayed…

"Aah… An angry Nami-san… is simply too cute!" …and Sanji whispered lovely words.

After Luffy broke the record of time arguing with Nami, she unsurprisingly won the debate by the way she knows best: beating the snot out of him…

"We're getting nowhere with this and I'm losing my patience!" If you didn't lose it already… "First of all, what we need is information, as Robin told us. If that huge-ass ship was up there for so long, we may have a way of getting there ourselves."

"W-w-w-wait…" I intervened. "So, we're still going to the sky anyway?"

"Like we have a choice!" She said, scarily certain. "If we want to go on with our journey, our next stop is the sky island. So, what we must do is plow that ship and rescue as many documents as we can!"

"Oh God…" I whined silently.

"Now that the ship sunk… we'll salvage it!"

…

A little while later…

…

"You send us to do such weird things, huh?" Luffy said.

Well, in a matter of a few hours, give or take, our shooter and gadgeteer managed to scramble together a salvage apparatus. Our captain, Zoro and Sanji volunteered to wear the subaquatic suits: barrels with a visor, connected to an air tube, who also serves as a communication means with the surface. In Luffy's case, Usopp used two barrels, for full-body protection. With that, the three plunged to the depths of the ocean to explore the wrecked ship.

"Here's Chopper. Respond, people!" Chopper said as he controlled the brake lever.

"Here's Luffy! Dude, there's so many sea monsters here! Over."

"Zoro here. We're at a nest of sea serpents!"

"Sanji speaking… uwah, they glared at us!"

"Right." No, Nami, I don't think it is…

"Wow, man, thank goodness I didn't go…" Usopp cold sweat. He controlled the pedal that monitors the speed with which the pulleys down the ropes.

Everything ran smoothly, ok, not so smoothly from the start, but our tranquility would soon be over when we heard whistling and much shouting coming our way.

"Sal~~va-ge! Sal-va~~ge! Sal~~va-ge! Sal-va~~ge!"

The chants continued, cheerful and bustling, as the ship approached us.

"Attentio~~~n… halt!"

"Aye aye, sir!"

Another galleon, flamboyantly decorated with palm trees, giant bananas, everything having to do with monkeys and a monkey holding two cymbals as a figurehead, stopped right beside us.

"Prepare to the rescue! The wrecked ship is now property of Mashira Pirates' leader, the Salvage King, Mashira, by which I mean me! Ukikiii!"

"Ukikiii!"

A man… uh, no, a monkey… no, but he can speak… ah, to hell. A weird man-monkey hybrid, since I can't quite figure out which one of the two he effectively is, headed his subordinates, also yelling something about salvage.

"Fantastic… yet another batch of weirdos when we least need them." Nami cursed.

"Hey, you! What are you doing here? This is my territory!" The monkey-man, Mashira, yelled at us. "Any wrecked ship around here is my property! I assume you're not doing some funny stuff over there, are you?"

"Does he want to salvage the ship too?" Robin asked.

"Seems so…" Usopp said, grunting.

"Ok, enough chitchat! Answer my questions! Ukii!" Mashira got annoyed.

"Excuse me, sir, can we ask you a question?" Nami raised an arm.

"And now _you_ ask? Ok, spit it out!"

"Are you going to salvage that ship, uh… Mr. Monkey?"

"Monkey?" Mashira (thank goodness he wears overalls with his name in all caps…) immediately stopped whatever he was doing and scrubbed his face. "Hey, do you really think I look like a monkey?"

"I-I'm sorry?"

"You mean, I'm good looking, ain't I? You serious?" Suddenly, he forgot the subject and admired himself.

"Yeah… well…" She said weakly.

"Anyway, are you going to salvage the ship or not?" Usopp snapped him out.

"Yeah! If a ship sinks, I'm the right man for the rescue! And if it's still floating, I sink the snot out of it and get it back again!" Oi… "There's no ship we can't salvage! Ukii!"

"If you say so… can we watch your work?" Nami said, clapping her hands together.

"Ah, you're new to this thing, huh? Hahahah! Ok, watch as much as you want!" Mashira agreed, heartily laughing.

Then, we heard muttering amongst his crewmates after one of them told the rest that one of them was attacked while he was underwater. Not by a Sea King, not by another beast… but he was punched.

"Crap… it's them…" Nami hissed.

"Hey you!" Mashira turned to us. "There's someone else down there and he's dangerous! Be careful!"

Ah, thank goodness, he doesn't know…

…

…

"Prepare the salvage team! We have people watching, don't be nervous at a time like this!"

"Aye aye, sir!"

After ordering his subordinates, Mashira smiled and waved at us… what only managed to unnerve us even further…

"Smile and wave back, Usopp, smile and wave back…" Nami said, forcing a smile.

"Right, right…" Usopp followed her, with an eye on the monkey and the other on the pedal.

"Wow, they're really proud on what they do, huh?" I said, leaned in the handrail watching the rescue teams submerge.

"What?" Nami turned to me.

"Looks like they want to make a show out of it for their audience." I continued. "What reminds me, are those three alright down there?"

"What's that?"

A few moments after I ask that, almost as if on cue, Luffy screams through the tube, and Nami and Usopp instinctively cover the audio outputs just as they notice Mashira glaring at us, somewhat distrustful. A few tense moments of silence ensue, where no side moves, as if waiting for the other to do something.

"What… what's the t-thing about that m-monkey… at the prow?" Since Mashira didn't say anything, Usopp decided to act.

"Ukiki… you have an eye to spot good stuff, heh? This ain't a normal figurehead." Mashira said, pointing to himself. Nami and Usopp sighed in relief.

"LAUNCH! BARCO HUNTER!"

We would soon find out that his ship's figurehead wasn't there just because. Using a crane, the giant stuffed monkey was slowly pulled out of the prow and submerged. From then on, what it would do was anyone's guess.

"Distance from target: Forty meters!" One of the salvors called. "Thirty… twenty… ten… five! Barco Hunter docking… complete!"

"Yosh! Here comes the big puff!"

"Aye aye, sir!"

"Is he going to…?"

Nami and everyone watched agape as Mashira took a really deep breath, filling his lungs with all the air he could and…

"What's he going to do?"

…blowing into the tube with all his might.

"The hull is moving!" A salvor called.

"I can't believe it! He's blowing into the tube and pulling up the ship!" Nami said slowly.

"Really?" I, equally astounded. "That's mad! They really take it seriously!"

The captain gave the initial puff, then his subordinates took it away from there, jumping on a giant air pump and continually pumping air to the tube going all the way down. When…

"GYAAAAAAH!" A desperate scream came from underwater.

"Chief! The diving team!"

"What's wrong! Answer me!" Mashira called, concerned.

"There's people down here!"

Oh crap…

Just as he heard it, he got enraged… for real this time!

"WAAAAH! You bastards! How dare you hurt my men! Who are you!"

The panic was again on our side… but not for long, because the monkey-man froze in a position and his underlings carried a painting of a fire to place behind him… and that's it. They stood there. Waiting.

"Ok… um, well… we're not here to take photos…" Nami caught on.

"What?"

"He was making a pose?" Usopp wondered.

Click!

"Hey! Mashira-san! Can you do that pose again? Just for a little bit?"

"D-Dan?"

The others stared at me, at loss as to how to react when they saw a flash going off beside them…

"What." Nami lost the will to even react.

"Where the hell did you pull out that camera?" Usopp asked.

"I have my sources." I said, camera hanging from my neck, and happily spinning my pencil through my fingers.

"You really like to mess with our heads, don't you?" Nami quipped.

Unfortunately, this was no time for a photo session because one of the divers screamed for help to which Mashira quickly responded, jumping to the water.

"He's gone…" I said, staring at the sea floor, as the camera puffed out of existence. "Are the guys going to be alright?"

"Probably Luffy's going to mistake him for a monkey and they're going to be friends in an instant." Nami said, absolutely certain.

"But he does look like a monkey." Usopp added.

We soon had to stop our little chat when the sea started to rock right underneath us. Concern soon started to write itself on our faces when we looked down to spot a huge shadow creeping…

"Guys… look…" Nami said, fearfully.

"A-a-ah… there's something huge down there!" Usopp said, even more fearfully…

"Aw, crap in the Nile… are they really going to be alright?" I said, probably way less fearfully than I should…

A few silent, tense moments later… we noticed that the shadow, already huge when we first spotted it, started to grow… and grow… and grow even larger. Whatever it is that is down there… is coming to the surface!

The sea went violent when the water was pushed up and shoved aside both the ships as the enormous creature emerged to the surface. Then, absolute and unadulterated terror grew inside each of us when it revealed itself…

"Wha… wha… w-w-w-w-w… WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"

"Oh shoot… I guess they're not alright at all…"

"SHUT UP, DAN!"

…

…

…

Desperate screams came from the neighboring ship. Nami tried but failed to wrap her mind around what she was seeing (again), Usopp covered his eyes, refusing to believe the size of the thing right ahead, Chopper asked us to pinch him so he could wake up, and I shivered all over, sweating cold and staring slack-jawed at…

At…

An absolutely monstrous turtle emerged from the water right underneath us! Words escaped me and I was unable to properly stress the size of the thing… if Mashira's ship is at least ten times bigger than ours, the turtle was a thousand times bigger!

I tried to take a few deep breaths and calm down but…

"Wait… those guys… they were eaten together with the ship."

"DON'T SAY IT WITH A STRAIGHT FACE!"

At the same time I wondered how in the name of all that's holy she can calmly say such grievous things, I saw the turtle slowly and meticulously devouring loose pieces of wood, with the air tubes coming out of the monstrosity's mouth.

"It ate them! What are we going to do! Help! Help!" Chopper freaked out and ran back and forth…

"It's all your damn fault! Making them plunge into the damn sea! You said 'it's alright' and stuff…" Usopp couldn't stop pointing his finger at Nami…

"You're right…" …who surprisingly accepted her mistake. She then put on a brave face and…

"I'm sorry!"

She then huffed and crossed her arms. There, guilt's gone.

"Apologizing doesn't do shit!" I yelled.

Suddenly, the turtle pulls the air tubes… it's moving!

"Robin! Dan! Do something! You're powerful, aren't you?" Usopp shrieked.

"I can't. It's too big." She nonchalantly replied.

"And I can't quite see what we can do about it… Any ideas?" I said, scratching my head.

The air tubes were strong enough to pull the ships forward as the turtle moved. Moments later, another round of screams from Mashira's ship. His subordinates scrambled to rescue his captain, under the belief that he could still be alive. They then pulled the air tubes and put their ship closer to the turtle.

"Yeah… guys! It's in these times that the loyalty of the crewmates is put to the test! Let's think about something!"

"Yosh! Usopp…"

Nami was the first to come up with an idea…

"Cut the air tubes and get us outta here!"

"What." Or not… "You're kidding, right?"

"Of course not, I just want to…"

Just before she could finish, the events didn't stop here. In a matter of seconds, the sky suddenly went dark, even though it's still three in the afternoon, according to Nami's pocket watch. As we heard a collection of murmurs about 'monsters' here and there…

"LUFFY!"

…our captain is shot out of the sea and crash-lands on the deck. As Nami rescue-slapped him to reboot his systems, Zoro and Sanji climb inside as well, carrying fairly large bags.

"Guys, let's get the hell out now!" Zoro said, panting.

"That guy spells trouble!" Sanji, doing the same.

"Thank goodness you're alright! Let's run away from the turtle!" Usopp, relieved.

"Turtle? We're talking about a monkey we met down there!" Zoro said.

"Ah, he's called Mashira, ship rescuer." I said.

"Wait, you know him?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah! He commands that ship over there, but scratch that. What I wanted to ask was: how did you escape from the turtle?"

"Turtle?" Sanji asked. He turned as I pointed behind him…

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Both screamed.

"PAY ATTENTION, DAMN YOU!" That thing swallowed the ship and you all!" Usopp yelled.

"Ahhn… ahh…" Turns out the slap-based awakening plan worked, Luffy's up! "Hey, guys, it's night already?"

"Forget that! Come help 'cause we're hauling ass right now!" Not missing his cue, Zoro called.

However, just before we could move out…

"WAA~~AIT! YOU!"

…Mashira jumped out of the water and landed on our ship, making his angry face at us.

"You invaded my territory and stole my treasures! Don't think you're going to come out alive after this!"

"Treasures? You found treasures?" And… there we go. That was enough to make Nami go squee.

"Oh God… CHIEF!"

Suddenly, I see the monkey-man's crew all tremble and desperately point ahead. When I turned to see what it was, my jaw slowly dropped and I felt all the color in my body washing away and the absolute terror completely take me over yet again. In just a few moments, all we could hear was everyone's choked breath when…

"Guys… if you want to run… now's really a good time!"

Three human silhouettes completely, and I mean, _completely_ filled the sky! Even a huge f*cking turtle was a mere bean seed compared to the size of the things!

"MOOO~~~~ONSTERS!"

* * *

**And the weirdness doesn't stop! Our adventurers are currently facing a string of unfortunate, comprehension-defying events, and they're not dead due to it! Yet! How much longer will their bad luck last? You know what they say, when you think you hit rock bottom, there's always room for things to get worse-**

**Usopp: "Dammit, are you cursing us? Call it a day already!"  
**

**Ah, sorry. Ahem... Look forward for the next chapter!  
**


	92. Mock Town, where the mess is the order

**Chapter 92**

**"Stop daydreaming! Mock Town, the city of ridicule"**

* * *

Did you remember ever saying you hit rock bottom, just to watch things get _even _worse? Yeah, next time, know better and shut up.

Three GIGANTIC freaking shadows completely took over the dark sky. And absolute dread took over all of us, including the giant turtle. However, we still tried to calmly handle the situation. And by calmly, I mean, _screaming like mad_.

Without saying a single word, we brought out the oars and started to row. Row and row and row as inhumanly fast as we could. Without any shred of doubt, we drew from all our strength and some more to give our ship a boost and escape from the giant monsters before they, somehow, managed to crush us and our trip ended there and then.

After practically burning our arms just like someone burns his legs when he's trying to outrun an angry bear, we were able to find the light at the end of the tunnel and escape the dangerous, dark patch of sea. After the sky cleared again, we tossed the oars aside and our bodies went limp from the exhaustion. It's time to calmly reassess our situation.

"I said it once… and I'll say it again… WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT?" Calmly, I asked.

"That couldn't be real…" Zoro wheezed, panting.

"It's too damn huge!" Usopp replied, equally worn out.

"I can't believe… I never saw anything so humongous in my life!" Neither me, nor anyone else…

"Honestly… The Grand Line can be a parade of goddamn freaks!" Sanji grimaced, lighting up a cigar and puffing from it.

"Ouch, ow man, it happened so fast we barely had time to rest!" I sighed, massaging my temples. "Just today…"

"A giant galleon fell from the sky…" Zoro stared at the floor.

"The Log Pose's needle pointed _to the sky_…" Nami stared to the endless expanse.

"We bumped into a crazy monkey who pulled the galleon from the sea depths…" Usopp winced.

"Then a giant turtle emerges and eats the ship whole…" Chopper, in monotone.

"It gets dark all of a sudden…" Robin, tiredly resting her head on a hand.

"And then giant frickin' shadows appear out of goddamn nowhere!" Luffy, still dumbstruck.

"Yeah, it was all too scary for me…"

Hey, wait… there's someone else here!

"Hey guys!" Only then we stopped to notice that the Mashira guy was still aboard when we escaped.

"GET THE HELL OUT!"

In a single movement, Luffy, Sanji and Zoro shot up and kicked the monkey-man to the middle of the sea.

…

…

…

Well, then. After a long time, Going Merry could advance unmolested through the sea. The sky is clear, with a few clouds to decorate the landscape, seagulls sing about and it was just us and the ocean. We finally had some time to rest and recover from that string of weirdness destiny just dumped at us.

I let myself sit in the stairs, near Robin, silently staring at everything as Chopper and Usopp talked to each other in a corner and Zoro and Sanji showed to Nami the findings they discovered back at the wrecked ship. Judging by her scowl, our navigator's pretty ticked off.

"Why did you go down there anyway? This is all just trash!" She shouted.

There were jars, ancient swords and countless antique items but nothing even remotely resembling a clue about how to go to the sky. Also, an octopus. Ah, another thing: Luffy kept marching left and right clad in a _medieval armor_.

"There was nothing useful down there!" Zoro rebuked.

"Um, yeah… he's right, Nami-san." Sanji reluctantly agreed. "It looked like the ship was attacked. Or that the crewmen started a mutiny and killed each other."

"That doesn't change the fact that you brought only junk! What we need is information! If we're going up there, whatever happened to this ship might happen to us!" Nami explained.

When she said that, I couldn't help but feel a shiver running down my spine…

"Something wrong, Writer-san?" Robin saw me trembling and asked.

"W-w-w-what? No, nothing!" I faked.

I ended up skipping the rest of their conversation to see an angry Nami stomping on the items. Soon after, Luffy went to mess with her and earned a mighty punch to the head, so strong _it shattered his armor to bits_. Not even with Sanji offering her every jewel and seashell he could find, she would be satisfied. She then got sick of it and walked away.

"You're full of trouble, huh?" Robin, calmly, resting her face in her hand.

"And it's only getting worse from now on. I'm surrounded by idiots!" Does that include me? "We're aimless right now." She said, shoulders slumping.

"Well, then, if it came to this, let's just forget this whole 'sky island' deal and find another island! Right? Right." I asked, a little hopeful.

"Where, Dan-kun? Where! Didn't you listen? We have to follow the Log's direction! Although it does make sense… if we don't find a way to get there, maybe I have to think of a plan B…"

"Here."

"What?"

Robin then pulled an Eternal Pose out of her shirt's pocket. It had 'Jaya' written on it.

"I swiped it from that monkey. Just in case." Robin said, as stoically as ever.

Touched by this gesture, Nami lowered her head and let some tears of joy stream down her face…

"You really… You're the only one I can trust, Big Sis!"

In the meantime, as the others enjoyed some grilled octopus dumplings and our ship headed to Jaya, there's a pressing question.

"Wait, hold on. If we do go to this place called Jaya, won't our Log reset again?" Usopp remembered as he chomped on a dumpling. He then gulped it down and concluded. "We won't be able to go to the sky island anymore!"

"EEH? No! Turn the ship back!" Luffy screamed, crossing his arms in an X.

"Calm down, calm down, people." Robin stepped in. "The Log won't change as soon as we get there. We go to Jaya, do our things and leave before the Log resets again. How about that?"

"Makes sense… but we have to pray there's a kind enough citizen to give out that information." I said. "We can have weeks, days… or just a few hours."

"Yeah…" Nami lowered her head. "Wait, come on, dude, it shouldn't be _that_ hard to take it out from someone, for God's sake!"

"I sure hope so… Then, Captain, your orders?" I asked.

"Ok! Alright, guys, let's go to Jaya!" Luffy screamed and raised his free arm.

…

"Stop it already! You're eating the dumplings I made to Nami-san and Robin-chan!"

"They don't want them! Give it back!"

I let out a soft chuckle as I saw the three gluttons chasing Sanji around the mast. Beside me, Zoro stared to the expanse, probably wondering about something. He then turned to the sky.

"Is there really an island up there?" He muttered.

"I don't know about you, but I surely _don't_ hope so." I said, looking up as well and feeling my balance slightly faltering.

"You can't say it's not there. Even if it goes against our common sense, we only found proof to believe on it. Remember, we have to follow the ocean's common sense." Robin said, what only made me anxious. Not for the best reasons.

…

…

"Ow… ow… they're too… tight!" I grunted as I untangled myself from some clothes. I ended up tearing them apart and sighed, frustrated, after yet another of my failed attempts at a transformation sequence.

Trying to do something to keep me entertained for now, I came up with an idea: practice my drawing skills. Every single time I fight, my clothes get all banged-up. Putting this together with my paranoia about asking Nami to lend me some money (threefold return, remember?), I found a pretty clever way around this, modesty aside. From now on, I will draw my own battle clothing and store them in my sketchbook for future use. That is, if I can get them to fit me…

For our all-around joy, Nami warned we were entering Jaya's climatic zone although it still didn't appear in our horizon. After our monkey encounter, nothing particularly interesting happened. Wait, I stand corrected. Seagulls dropped dead in our ship.

"They were shot!" Chopper screamed, immediately jumping to their aid.

"Huh, I didn't hear any shots, though." Usopp shouted from the crow's nest. "You sure?"

"Look! It's a bullet! And judging by the entrance hole's angle, it came from something ahead of us!" Chopper continued, absolutely sure of what he said.

However, once I looked around, I found nothing but water. If the doctor really knows what he's talking about (and I don't want to doubt him), that could only mean someone with a super-human eye and a ridiculously perfect accuracy hit them. Well, judging by what Usopp is capable of, it doesn't sound that far off…

Soon after, the poor seagulls ended up on the frying pan and consequently, on Luffy's intestinal tract. It didn't take long for Jaya to appear on our horizon. The shore appeared to give us the impression of a good vibe island if you didn't count the several mean-looking pirate ships docked there.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME! I'M GOING TO DIE!" Ah, and that too. Sounds like someone's having their crap beaten out of him…

"What's wrong with here?" Soon Nami and Usopp's good mood was gone, giving place to anxiety and worry just as the ship docked and we were able to take a look at the shore's appealing features.

People drinking and getting plastered, already-drunken people swaying around in the streets, people sleeping wherever they can, not to mention a variety of inappropriate examples of behavior I won't bother to describe in detail.

"It's impossible. Are you sure those two can get back here without doing something stupid?" Nami wondered, worriedly staring between the handrail's bars as Luffy and Zoro walked away from the ship and into town.

"This town looks dangerous, I don't think they can… wait, Dan! What are you doing? Why don't you hide too?" Usopp hissed, sweating cold.

"Why should I? Ok, I'm not looking to pick a fight but, when push comes to shove, I can defend myself." I said.

"Ah, you men are… I'll follow them!"

"Nami!"

Not waiting for an answer, she hopped off and sprinted to meet the other two.

"Dammit, I'll go wherever Nami-san's going-"

"NOOOO!"

Before our chef could hop off too, Usopp and Chopper stopped him, pushing back to the stairs.

"Don't go! Wh-what if you leave a-an-and the ship g-g-g-gets a-a-attacked?" Usopp, stuttering like never before.

"Ok, ok, then! I'll stay then!" Sanji gave up.

"If you're staying, then I'm going." I said, standing on the handrail.

"Dan, not you too!" The three shouted at me.

"Don't worry! Nami's safe with me!"

I then jumped off and jogged to meet the other three before I lost sight of them, trying to tell myself I would know what to do in case of an emergency.

"Hey."

"Da… Dan-kun! What are you doing here?" Nami hissed.

"Can't I walk with you?" I pouted.

"What if anyone raids our ship?"

"Sanji and Robin are there, leave it to them." I shrugged.

"God help me… Well, as I was saying… Luffy?" She glared at him.

"Aw, alright." He sighed before declaring: "I swear that I'll run around this town-"

"NO! 'I swear I will not pick a fight with anyone!'" Nami yanked him by the ear like a child.

"Ok! I swear I will not pick a fight with anyone!" Luffy repeated, somewhat begrudgingly. Not that he wanted to fight someone (I guess) but more because he was forced to swear he wouldn't.

"There. At least it's a start. You know damn well that if you get in trouble here, we're going to be kicked out right away, then we're not going to the sky anymore, right?"

Funny thing was that she rambled about these rules while blissfully ignoring the fights and brawls going on around us. Scattered scuffles, people shouting at each other, tossing bottles to the ground, waving swords and pointy weapons and glaring at us.

_And glaring at us_.

However, that all went to the background when a pale old man, dressed in a hat and a black fur coat, fell from his horse.

"Excuse me, you… can you help me?"

"Can't you stand up by yourself?" Zoro said, harshly.

"Zoro-san, don't be so mean. Luffy, come on. Help me grab him."

We then helped the moribund and tossed him back on his horse. He was so weak he didn't even had the strength to stand… or leave, since even his horse let his neck go limp when he tried to move. Here we go help the horse stand back up. For our good deeds, the old man offered apples to us. Now, where did I see this before…

"Hey, thanks!" Luffy grabbed one…

"No! Don't eat it!" …and right before he ate it, I grabbed his arm. "Didn't you ever read Snow White?"

"What's that?"

"I'm not going to tell the whole story but what matters is that this is the part where the evil witch gives an apple to the heroine and-DON'T EAT IT!"

Too late. However, as he gave the first bite, a building blew up right in front of us. I just felt more nervous when the people started muttering that we somehow had anything to do with what just happened.

"Oh crap… LUFFY! Spit it! Spit that apple right now!"

"I gulped it down!"

I laughed nervously as I saw Nami grabbing his throat.

"What did you do?" Zoro, are you gonna go around cutting people now?

"He'll be fine. If he grabbed a rotten one, he'd be dead in the first bite. You… you're really lucky." The old man said.

"Ah… ok, guys, let's leave now! We have nothing to do here anymore! Right, Nami-chan?" I stepped back and elbowed her slightly. We then shooed the other two away from the soon-to-ensue confusion, trying to keep calm through it.

We decided to walk some more and get away from the center. All the way Nami kept wondering what the hell was wrong with the people here while Luffy didn't care about that and kept being yelled at for it. Then, their routine stopped for a few moments when we saw a burly, masked man standing in a roof and screaming to the winds. Some citizens ignored him and others stopped to stare while muttering something about 'wrestling champion'.

"Champion?" Oh God… as soon as they hear that, Luffy and Zoro turn to him!

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THAT!" We screamed at them and dragged them off by the collar right before they even thought about challenging him.

"Men… we're really hopeless…" I grumbled to myself.

"WHAT?"

"Goddamn it… even I'm doubting it! Is there no one who can give us useful information around here?" Nami grimaced.

Since the townspeople's not too friendly, we decided to walk to the hotels at the shore.

"What about here?" Luffy asked.

"Looks like it's peaceful…" Zoro said.

"More than just that… it's beautiful! The town's horrible, but even so, to find a place like this…" Nami admired.

We stopped in front of a small bridge above the water, leading to the 'Tropical Hotel', The floor outside was entirely made of wooden planks joined together and there were some coconut trees adorning the landscape. Even the hotel itself floated above sea. Summing it up, it's a perfect tropical spot, and the ideal place for a citizen to rest, sit in a beach chair and enjoy the view of the sea. However, there was a small, strange detail…

Nobody was here.

"You! Please, you youngsters, you can't stay here, please!" Ah, there was. The hotel manager sneaked behind the trees and came to talk to us. "T-today, the Tropical Hotel is booked for Mr. Bellamy's party, so we're not accepting guests!" The man talked as he twitched to his sides with his body, keeping his clasped hands in the same place. "If he finds you here, there's going to be a lot of trouble to you all! Please, leave!"

"Aw, can't we at least get to know the place?" Luffy whined.

"Who's this Bellamy guy anyway?" Nami asked in annoyance.

"Hey, what's wrong? Where did these brats come from?"

"Hiii!"

The manager almost freaked out when a man spoke to him from the main entrance. Dressed in a flashy white fur coat, having baby-blue hair and goggles on his face. He also sported a crossed out smiley tattoo on his chest and a chain around his neck. He had his arm around a blonde woman, also extravagantly dressed, in her own way.

"Sarquiss-sama! Welcome!"

"Who cares about that? Boot this wretch outta here! How much do you think we're paying to book your hotel, huh?" The woman screeched, with that shrilly, annoying voice that pisses you off right from the first time you hear it.

"Yeah. Piss off, you shitty brats!" Sarquiss went to our captain.

"Hey, can I punch this guy senseless?" He pointed back at him.

"NO!"

"Punch? Me? Hah, you're a funny guy. Here, take it." He then grabbed a handful of beri and threw at us. "You look like cheapskates. Go buy more decent clothes or some shit." His attitude was so typical of a snobby rich kid there was no point in getting angry at him. Ok, it sure is irritating, but it's not worth doing anything about it. We're not here to pick a fight.

"Really? Can we-"

"We're leaving now!"

Yanking Luffy by his cheek, Nami led our way out of the hotel and of the snobs' stupid party, 'cause we got nothing to do with it. Frustrated and with no interesting information whatsoever, we decided to stop at a bar, chug a few drinks and start over. If that's even possible, because even _at the bar_, there were people glaring at us. _Friggin' glaring at us_.

Wait, why am I even surprised? The term 'bar brawl' is around for a reason, for Dave's sake!

"Ah, how irritating!"

"Sorry about that, lady." The clerk said. "Mock Town turned into a place for the pirates to show off their riches."

"Ok so, they don't welcome cheapskate pirates, do they?" Nami turned away, still ticked off.

"Looks like nothing I say will calm you down. Here, on the house." The clerk then offered her a orange juice drink.

"Why does it only manage to make me loathe rich people even more, huh?" I whispered to no one in particular.

"Trust me, the longer you stay here, more reasons you'll have to hate them." The man heard me and hissed back. "With so many rich people, riots and assassinations are commonplace here. But if we keep worrying about it, nothing's gonna get done. We gotta work and go on with our lives. Here." He then handed Luffy a cherry pie.

"Say, sir, is there any person more or less… normal around here?" I asked, watching not to speak too loudly.

"Sorry, kid, but that's the exception around here. Well… your Log's gonna reset in four days or so. You're better off staying under the radar and leaving without causing problems, ok?" He said.

"Hey, geezer!"

"Hey, uncle!"

Before Nami could speak, Luffy and another man pounded the table at the same time.

"This pie's so delicious it's worth dying for!"

"This pie's so awful I could die from it!"

Let's get things straight now. The big guy's dialogue comes first, then Luffy's, but they're talking at the same time. Just as they said that, they glared and snarled at each other. Then they went back to chugging their drinks, with mixed reactions.

"This drink's goddamn awful!"

"This drink's goddamn delicious!"

Rinse, repeat. Here they are, glaring at each other again.

"Hey, brat, anything's wrong with your tongue?"

"What about you? Anything's wrong with your head?"

"I'm not the cook so, I don't give a damn about what you say." The clerk said, but they were too busy glaring at each other to listen.

Luffy then shoved aside his half-eaten pie. "Hey, uncle, I want fifty meat pieces, take-out!"

"I want fifty-two cherry pies, take-out."

The man, just because, started something again. I could only palm my face and try not to cringe when they started an 'auction' right there. Fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five, sixty, seventy, eighty, a hundred… Going once, going twice…

"WANNA FIGHT, EH?"

"Enough, you two. I'd be thankful if you didn't fight here. C'mon, grab your pies and leave." The clerk stepped in and left a pack with the big man's order. Not taking away his eyes from Luffy, he grabbed it and left.

I then breathed out in relief. Right before I could think the hostilities would be over, I was wrong. Oh so wrong…

"Is there any pirate with a straw hat here?"

"No! Bellamy's here!"

Bellamy. A golden-haired man, dressed in a simple pink tank top, white pants and a blue pirate's coat over his shoulders. His most striking feature was his manic grin. Also, his is the name of the one who booked that hotel.

"So, you're the Straw Hat Luffy, worth thirty million, are you?" He said, walking to us. As he did so, the clients muttered amongst themselves, doubting it.

"Nice… I only meet tall people around here, huh?" Luffy said, not even slightly fazed.

"I want the most expensive booze you have. Also, give something sweet for the kid here." Bellamy ignored, making his orders to the clerk.

Not long after, another known face entered the bar. It was that Sarquiss guy and his bunch. And they entered in style, cursing everyone and everything, sitting down and taking over the place like it was theirs from the start. The bar's too crowded, the bar stinks and people here drink cheap rum and blah-blah-blah. It turns out this tactic works, because the most frightened customers quickly packed their things and ran away.

Well, the drinks arrived. Luffy honestly thanked the offering before he took the first gulp… however, Bellamy didn't let him. It was clear from the beginning he wouldn't. But no one could predict that he would do it by slamming Luffy head-first against the counter.

"What are you doing, lackeys?"

When he saw a sword and a spear pointed to his neck, he sent his wild glare at us.

"I ask the same of you." Zoro said, low voice, but tremendously threatening nonetheless.

"Nobody. Nobody does that to our captain and goes unpunished!" I snarled.

"Dan, stand back. I'll take care of him." Zoro gently pushed me back, putting a hand on my chest. "Don't let anyone touch Nami… or else, there'll be an angry chef waiting for you."

Although upset, I retreated a step and turned my spear back to a pencil.

"H-hey, Zoro! Wait! We still didn't get any information-"

"Shut up! I'm just giving the fight he wants." Zoro cut her word.

"I hope…" Slowly, Luffy stood back up, wiping the dust off his face. "I hope you're ready!"

"Haha! You can still get up? Oh brother, I can see it already, this is gonna be kid's play!" Bellamy taunted and with it, the bar went on full-on riot mode, as it always happen whenever there's two people about to fight and an audience. "Hahaha! This ain't gonna be a fight but a test! Come on! Give it your best shot!" He challenged.

"Luffy! Don't do it! Wait!" Nami then turned to the clerk.

"Hey sir, we wanna know how to go to the Sky Island! Do you know anything?"

As if on cue, the rioting died down as she asked that question. And I got even more nervous when all customers, and I say _all of them_ glared at us. Disbelieving murmurs aside, the bar went completely and unnervingly silent.

"Like I said, if you know how to go to the Sky Island-"

"Nami!"

Too late, I still tried to quiet her, but as soon as she said 'Sky Island' the whole bar erupted in a wave of laughter. Hurtful, hurtful laughter. 'Sky Island? Aw, come on!' was the dominant thought.

"But… but… the Log's pointing up!"

"Nami! It's not worth it."

For some moments, the laughter waned away, only to come back even louder. Because of that, embarrassment was more than evident on Nami's face. Something at the back of my mind also laughed, but at me for not listening to it when it told me this would be a bad idea. I could just try to clench my fists, grit my teeth and try to calm down as the people laughed at us. Not for me, because I'm still yet to take a stand about this whole 'Sky Island' issue, but for Nami.

"Did you, by any chance, believe that old fairytale of a island in the sky?" Bellamy sat down, suppressing his laughter. "What age did you come from again? Here at the Grand Line, there are lots of abnormal sea currents and Knock-Up Stream's one of them! I bet you never heard about it, huh? Ships caught in this current are thrown up in the sky and fall down again. A long time ago, sailors saw a ship falling from the sky and thought there was an island up there. 'Ah, there's a brand new world up there!' Hahah! Dumbasses! Even a thing like this can be explained!"

What explanation is this I want to know, though.

"Any dream can be torn apart!" Bellamy continued. "I'm really surprised. I would include you in my crew if you passed the New Age test, but you're off the deep end already. Listen! The age of dreamer pirates is gone! City of Gold? Emerald Capital? The great treasure… One Piece? Idiots dreaming that high always fail to notice the real riches around them! In an age like this… men who cross the seas… die because of these illusions! And what people say about them? 'Ah, he died happy 'cause of his dreams!' A stinky bunch of horseshit!"

As he went on and on, Luffy clenched his fists but then… he relaxed them.

"When I see idiots chasing dreams like you… I want to throw up!"

Without any resistance, Bellamy punched Luffy, who stayed in the ground.

"We get a shitty reputation because of wimps like you."

The speech managed to rouse the rest of the people even more, and motivate them to throw their bottles and other objects at us. I stood ahead of Nami, just in case.

"Luffy! Zoro! Forget the promise! Go punch them to hell! Dan, you help too!"

I wasn't bound by the promise, but I sure was itching to shut these f*ckers up… with my fists!

However… captain's orders were:

"Zoro… Dan… we're _absolutely not_ going to fight."

* * *

**After having their goals picked apart and laughed at by Jaya's ruffians, the obvious path would be of Dan, Luffy and Zoro to lunge at them and shut them up with their fists. However, Luffy opted for the non-violent way. What will happen? Why did he decide not to strike back?**

**Check out on the next chapter!  
**


	93. Violence doesn't solve everything

**Chapter 93**

**"Don't fight back! To chase your dreams or to wake up to real life?"**

* * *

"Zoro. Dan. We're _absolutely not_ going to fight them back."

Without any hesitation, Luffy declared his orders. Those words just left me at loss at how to react. If it depended on me, my answer would be to charge and beat the living daylights out of all those bastards, but I didn't want to go against captain's order and at the same time, I wondered if lashing out at the insults of those bastards would be the best solution.

As I meditated about the issue for a few moments, I found no answer, still not quite understanding what to do at the time. Then, I simply quit thinking too much about it, closed my eyes and let the mocking chuckles enter my ears. I barely knew I was to be taken off my thoughts by a stray fist coming to hit Nami.

"Hold it right there, quick-draw." I stopped his fist before it touched Nami's cheek. "If you want to hurt someone really bad…"

"Dan-kun!"

"Hurt me instead."

The offender just grinned at the chance, changed his target and unleashed a quite painful punch to my face, stronger than I had expected, sending me sideways to the floor.

…

…

…

…

"Look at them… they're still standing!"

"Mop the floor with these wimps!"

"This city's not the place for daydreaming pussies!"

Screams, people shouting insults and mockery from the citizens (if they even deserve to be called that) at the bar. Bottles breaking, chairs being crushed… and in the middle of it all, the three of us.

Blood already covered us from head to toe, many cuts and bruises all over our bodies, not to mention the fatigue. Luffy, Zoro and I decided to just stand there in the center of the room, surrounded by the tables filled with rioters and just take whatever we could of the beating they would give. Yeah, _we're basically being lynched_. Just because we want to go to a place they refuse to believe even exists. And they're pissed at anyone who does.

"Luffy! Zoro! Dan-kun! What the hell are you doing? You can beat them at any time, can't you? Get up and fight, for God's sake! Trounce them all, friggin' do something!"

Nami, no matter how much you scream…

"Heheheh, just give up, girl." Sarquiss, the man in a white fur coat and of baby-blue hair, declared. "They're wising up. They know when they're up against someone they can't defeat. Ain't gonna fight someone stronger than them. What a pathetic bunch of little shits!"

Another one joined the mocking. "How proud your captain is, huh?"

"Heh, Marine's being quite charitable, huh? That's the only way I can understand trash like this guy is worth 30 million!" Sarquiss bellowed.

"Why… why are you doing this?" I heard Nami whispering in frustration as she gripped tightly Luffy's straw hat against her chest.

"Resorting to non-violence… that's quite a valid way…" Bellamy said before he chugged down on his cup, letting small drops drip on his clothes. "Aside from being weak, you have no proud. You refuse to take a challenge… and you have silly rabbit dreams in your tiny little heads… you're really a bunch of fucking worms!"

And… that was the trigger to another round of raucous laughter, which quickly was over on Bellamy's command. Looks like he controls his followers like puppets.

"This boy looked like some small fry, but since he's got 30 million for his head, I got curious. For nothing, it seems. I lost interest already." Bellamy said as he approached us. "I never saw cowards like you."

He then chugged his drink once again, filling his mouth with it… only to spit it all on Luffy's face.

"Get these three idiots the fuck out of my face. Now."

Not long after, I saw someone kneeing Zoro right in the face and sending him crashing against a table. I also saw someone grabbing Luffy by the head and sending him against a window. I knew I was about to be the next, so I just closed my eyes expecting pain to follow, but I forced them open again as I was punched in the gut and felt the air escaping my lungs. I took another blow to my jaw, broke a table and crashed back-first in the wall where I sat down.

"Luffy… Zoro! Dan-kun!"

Seeing our beaten-up figures, Nami went to our rescue, or she would, if Sarquiss didn't call her again.

"Hey, girl! If you keep around those three stooges over there, you'll miss the chance to see our New Age. What if I buy you from them?"

"N… Nami… ch-chan…" I still tried to say something to her, but she quietly put a finger on my lips and shut me up.

"How much do I pay for you to follow us?" Sarquiss asked.

"Did I really hear that? You want to buy me?" To which our navigator replied.

"Yeah, I do. Come on! It'll be fun…" Sarquiss insisted, smirking.

"I'm deeply sorry… but I'm just too good to join a bunch of goddamn ants like you all!"

Her outright refusal was surprising enough to silence the bar for a few seconds. But a sole female laughter was enough to…

"Whoa, she's expensive!"

…I stand corrected. A female laugh and Sarquiss's one-liner triggered laughter from everyone else again.

"Grab your trio and get the hell out when you're still alive! You dumb little wimps!" Bellamy threatened…

…and we had to give in. In the meantime, I recovered a little of my strength, stood back up and put Zoro over my shoulder while Nami worked on Luffy. We then walked out the door, but not before being sent away with another wave of thrown bottles as a parting gift. Hurt in our pride we are. Physically wounded we are too. But above all, we're still alive.

However, the grudge's there now. And I still don't understand why we didn't fight back.

"The Sky Island is real!"

I would have to think about it later when a gruff, but friendly voice talked to us.

"Zeeehahahahahahah!"

We turned and caught once again that chubby, curly black-haired man, dressed in an open buttoned white shirt and eating cherry pies in the middle of the street.

"Hmmm! This cherry pie's the best!"

"That man from before…" Surprised, Nami dropped Luffy on the ground.

"Why are you so frustrated, lil' lady? You didn't fight, but you beat them." The man said as he chewed on his pie.

"Huh?"

"W… wha… what d-do you mean?" I asked.

"You beat that bunch of assholes in there, kid!" The man vigorously replied. "And that comeback of yours was spot-on, lil' lady! You're really feisty! Zeeehahahahahahah!"

At that time, Zoro and the captain woke up.

"Put me on the ground now, Dan. Thanks."

As Luffy stood upright again, I took Zoro off my shoulders. Both of them wiped off the dust, righted themselves and turned his eyes to what the black-haired, missing-a-few-teeth fat man had to say.

"That 'New Age' they talk about is utter bullshit." He said. "The age of the dreaming pirates is over? What? Who said that crap?"

He laughed a little more and put his bottle of rum on the ground.

"People's dreams… WILL NEVER END!"

We silently took his words, but the citizens promptly laughed at him. And in the same tune of Bellamy's bunch back at the bar. A tune of pure mockery. A tune of disbelief. A tune of them thinking it's just another insane weirdo spewing bullcrap about dreams to anyone who could stand to hear him.

But he persisted. "Convincing people ain't easy, you know? Zeeehahahaha!"

He was a complete stranger we never met before and with whom Luffy almost fought for stupid reasons… but his words somehow got to us. What he said could be seen as nonsensical to the rest of the citizens, _but it has to do with us_.

"Let them laugh all they want. If you want to be number one, sometimes you have to fight battles you can't win with your fists. Zeehahahahah!"

"Let's go." Zoro called and Nami followed him.

"Captain…" I went to Luffy and put a hand on his shoulder, but he still stared to the fat man.

"Luffy!" Nami stopped and called, impatiently.

"Captain. Let's go?" I insisted.

"Oh, looks like I'm holding you. You're in a hurry, huh?" The man stood up. "I hope you can make it up there… to the Sky Island! Zeeehahahahah!"

The stranger then chugged his rum once again, laughed to the skies and walked away.

"Hey, guys… that man looks like he knows something about the Sky Island!" Nami called. "Who is he?"

"I don't know…" Luffy, vague.

"And hey, it's not him. It's them." Zoro quipped.

"T-them? What do you mean? His buddies were there too? Hey, elaborate, would ya?"

I didn't notice it as well, but frankly, I was more about treating my injuries than digging out whether that weirdo's got company around here or not.

…

…

…

"Whoa! Luffy! Zoro! Dan! What the hell happened to you?" Usopp panicked as soon as he saw how banged-up the three of us were.

"Nami-san! Are you alright?" Sanji was pretty damn worried about his little princess.

"Don't sweat it, Sanji-san. Nobody laid a finger on her, I guarantee." I calmed him down.

"You damn better do…" He hissed.

"Help! Help! Get a doctor! Doctor!" Chopper panicked and started running around.

"Hey, you're the doctor!" Usopp bopped his head to wake him up.

We sat on the floor at the front of the ship and decided to stop and reflect. While our doctor reindeer treated our wounds and put adhesive band-aids in our faces, Usopp quickly jumped to the questioning.

"How many monsters did you fight to come back so battered, huh?" He asked.

"They weren't monsters, Usopp. Just a few pirates we bumped into. Forget about all that, it's over now." Said Luffy as Chopper applied a piece of cotton soaked in antiseptic.

"It might be over to you, but for me it's not." Nami, sitting away from us, her grudge still lingering. "AAAH, DAMN YOU! You absolutely have to fight anyone who challenges us! No, even better, this whole city should be ravaged just for pissing me off this goddamn much!"

"Hold on, what did you say at the beginning again, huh?" Zoro interrupted.

"That's on the past now! Quit bringing up the crap I said before or else I'm gonna punch your guts!" Nami's tantrum is already giving me a headache…

"Forget all that, Nami. If we actually care to buy every single fight other people throw at us, we're never going to get some rest." I said, sighing.

Through all that, I came to the conclusion that fighting them simply wasn't worth it. Loudmouths like that guy usually are nothing more than weaklings trying to look awesome.

"Aw man… you're all idiots! Those bastards still deserved the beating of their lives!" She ranted on. As I wasn't willing to go on with the argument, I said nothing else.

Naturally, Usopp only got confused with all this. He wondered why she was so angry at everything if she didn't get hurt, to which it was better not to explain.

"Oh, that's it! Did you find anything about the Sky Island?"

There you go… Chopper's innocent little question prompted Nami to give him a deadly glare in response and start emitting a grim aura around her…

"S-ky-Is-land?"

"Hiii!"

"Who cares about that crap? Just 'cause I mentioned it the whole bar laughed at me! WAS IT THAT GODDAMN FUNNY?"

Nami's angry face was more than enough to make Usopp throw himself to the ground and play dead, popping one of his Ketchup Stars. Chopper, for his part, turned into a giant fur ball to guard himself if she lashes out.

"It's pretty lively around here already, huh?"

Then comes Robin, dressed in a cowgirl hat, leather jacket and pants, all violet. I have to say, though, it really does look good on her.

"Where've you been, Robin-san?" I asked.

"Nowhere special. Just went to buy some clothes, get provisions and information about the Sky Island."

"That reminds me… ROBIN, YOU…! ALL THE CRAP WE HAD TO GO THROUGH IS YOUR FAULT! You_ had_ to tell us about the Sky Island and…"

So, once again Nami lashes out at someone in a quite lengthy rant as Chopper reflexively jumped out of the ship and there goes Zoro to save him since… well, you know.

"…and if it doesn't exist, I'm throwing you out of this ship at once!" That is, if we don't end up _dead_ trying to get there in the first place…

Robin simply took the warning to heart and before she headed to the quarters, sprouted one of her hands to give Luffy a map. A map of Jaya itself.

"The city in the left is Mock Town, where we are. In the right side you see an X, right? Looks like an outcast of Jaya lives there."

"An outcast?" We asked.

"Yup." She confirmed. "His name's Montblanc Cricket. A man who got thrown out of the city for talking about dreams. Makes sense, don't you think?" Thus she said nothing else before she closed the door.

It didn't take long for us to vote for following this clue and raise anchor to sail through Jaya's shores to the other side of the island. As the ship made its way through the sea, Usopp used the spare time to repair our ship.

"Heave…"

"…ho!"

At Usopp's signal, Chopper would hand him a wooden plank. Plank in hand, Usopp nailed it to the ship with his trusty hammer, working carefully with it so as to not hurt his…

"Yeowch!"

"…ho!"

…fingers. Spoke too soon.

"Come on… how many times do I have to say… don't blow up my ship 'cause I'm not a shipwright…" Usopp grunted, slightly annoyed.

"But Usopp, you can do a lot of stuff, can't you?" Chopper commented admiringly.

"You bet I can! And I love to say this is one of my best traits!" He bragged.

"Yeah, that may be the case, but don't you think it's time for us to get a new ship?" Sanji walked to him and commented, inspecting his work.

"WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Usopp screamed. "Don't you know the pain we had to go through to get-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! A beautiful lady back at your hometown gave it to you, right? I lost track of how many times you told me that." Sanji interrupted. "That said, it still doesn't change the fact that if we keep sailing with the ship like this, it'll be no surprise if we end up drowned."

"That's EXACTLY why I'm repairing it! Now quit fooling around and help me! You help too!" Usopp angrily ordered.

"Who, me?" As I said that, I mentally asked 'who else?' since he was clearly pointing at me.

"Like, du~~uh?"

"Repair? Looks more like patchwork…" Sanji quipped, tapping the newly-nailed wooden planks a few times.

"SHADDUP!" Usopp retorted, but doing some sort of strange pose and buzzing like a horn.

"Aahahah! Do it again!" Chopper laughed.

"Like this… SHADDU~~~UP!" He did his skit again, only this time spinning around himself and waving with the wind. Not surprisingly, that was the cue for Chopper to laugh his butt off.

"Hey, guys, what do you want for lunch-"

"Shaddu~~~up!"

"Ah, don't want any lunch, then."

Despite them immediately regretting their skit and begging for food, Sanji walked away.

…

…

It looked like we would get no rest anymore for the rest of the day. A little while after we entered open sea, we spotted a ship nearby… an uncomfortably familiar ship.

"They're here already? Strange…" Luffy said. "But it doesn't seem to be the same ship of before, Usopp."

"Well… whether that's good or bad, it's another story…" Sanji commented.

"You have to believe! We spotted them, we did! Right?" Usopp, hiding behind Sanji and with his goggles engaged.

"Yeah! That salvage ship got here! We saw them when they arrived!" Chopper confirmed.

"It won't make a difference whether we meet them or not, though…" Luffy said.

"Hey, brat, you just missed a good chance to keep your mouth shut."

Another voice interrupted our talk… and a giant galleon with a monkey as a figurehead stopped right in front of our ship. Aw, come on, not again…

"I was all about finding whoever that was…"

"Hey, your face's funny! What kind of animal are you?" Luffy asked.

"I'M A HUMAN, YOU DIMWIT!"

Needless to say, it was all about _another_ fat man with the face of a monkey. No, really.

And Luffy's comment quickly angered his crewmen so much, they started to curse and yell things toward us and sound like monkeys as they talked something about 'Shojo' and 'King of Underwater Exploration' when they referred to their captain.

"Hey, you're pirates, aren't you? Did you know? One of the Seven Warlords, Crocodile, has been defeated. Speaking in terms of merit, modesty aside, I guess I'm the next on his 'succession'. I'm all about waiting for my turn!" The monkey-man said.

"Eh? Really? You want to join the Seven Warlords?" Luffy asked.

"Do you want to know the most fantastic thing about me? Is it the fact I never cut my hair even once in the twenty-five years of life?" Doing justice to what he just said, he waved around his overly long hair. Weird… he's 25 but he looks like an old monkey…

"That's nonsense." Luffy, flatly.

"Ah, what a surprise. I'm all about that comment of yours…" Not missing his stride, he put his game face on. "I'll say this just once: if you cross the tunnel made up of my rage, a sea of blood awaits you."

"I don't really care about that. We have other places to go. Can you let us through, please?" Luffy asked.

"IDIOT! THIS IS MY TERRITORY! IF YOU WANNA GET IN, WHIP OUT THE MONEY!"

"Territory?" Usopp parroted, then he remembered something. "Hold on! Mashira used to say stuff like that too."

"He did?" Luffy asked back.

"Mashira? What do you have to do with him?" Shojo interrupted.

"Ah, if it's about that guy, we had to kick his ass. But…" Luffy promptly replied…

…and his apparently innocuous answer was enough to make the monkey-man direct his rage at us. For real.

"Luffy, think for a few seconds before you talk, ok?" I facepalmed.

However, before he had time to explain himself…

"I will take revenge for my brother! Sound wave: HAVOC SONAR!"

Instead of a sonar of any appropriate apparatus, he whipped out a microphone and started to scream to it. His continuous (and loud) cry quickly echoed and it didn't take long for us to cover our ears because it was simply the worst piece of music I had ever heard in my life. If you can call it that.

Suddenly, the sound got so strong, the wooden planks of the ship started to crack and fly around!

"The ship is…"

"What the hell is he doing?"

Uh, I mean, _of his own ship_.

"Cool, huh? Destroying a ship with his own voice!" And a microphone, Luffy.

And an amplifier, probably.

"Hey guys, stop staring like dumbasses, let's run!" Nami screamed from the lower floor.

"Ha~~ai, Nami-swan!" Sanji promptly replied.

"Look! Nami's not a devil anymore!" Luffy quipped.

"Hehehe… Nami's the devil…" I snarked.

"Are you talking about me?"

Before we could be worried about Nami scalping us, it turned out Shojo's sound waves did affect our ship… because even its wooden planks started to crack and come off! Suddenly, the whole ship started to shake with the sound and even the part Usopp had just repaired completely broke off!

"If we stay here any longer the ship will be dismantled!" Usopp screamed.

"FULL SPEED AHEAD! Run as far away from this voice as possible!" Nami ordered.

Doing justice to the attack's name, the waves wreaked havoc and forced us to scramble and turn the ship away. We managed to escape, but not before some of our planks fell to the sea, just like a chicken that manages to run away from the frying pan after having its feathers plucked out.

…

…

"Damn… damn… damn… damn that stupid orangutan… putting even more holes in my ship…" Usopp muttered as he nailed the planks back in place. Again. Now with Zoro, Luffy and I as volunteers by pressure.

"Wow, I've never seen the ship this damaged… we better buy a new one real soon-"

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, YOU JERK!"

"YOU JERK!"

Usopp didn't let Zoro finish his thoughts as soon as he heard about buying a new ship.

"Do you have any idea of the work we had to do to get this ship? Quit talking bullcrap!"

"BULLCRAP!"

Good… he's involuntarily teaching Chopper how to cuss…

"We know, Usopp. Complaining doesn't help, though. Going Merry's still an important friend to us. So, let's work extra hard and give a hand to fix it." Luffy, in one of his rare bouts of inspiration.

"Luffy… you're really such a…" Usopp was so moved by his words, he even wept a little.

"Ah…" But Luffy _had_ to completely ruin the moment by hammering a little too hard and breaking the planks he just nailed in place.

"DUMBASS! DO YOU WANT TO FIX THE SHIP OR DESTROY IT?"

"Hey, I'm all up about fixing it, man! Check out… whoops, I broke it again…"

"LUFFY!"

Guys, please, let's stop screaming amongst ourselves, fix our ship and find out about 'Jaya's outcast'.

Though… looking at the way things are going, I guess we're going to end up at the bottom of the sea…

* * *

**With Going Merry even more damaged than when they got there, the Straw Hats sail to the other side of the island to find out more about the so-called 'Outcast of Jaya'. Montblanc Cricket... what secrets does that name hide?**

**Check out the next chapter!  
**


	94. The unjust disgrace running in the blood

**Chapter 94**

**"Jaya's outcast and the story of Norland, the Liar"**

* * *

Damaged as it is, our brave Going Merry still carried us out of Mock Town and survived an unfortunate bump-up with yet another monkey-man to take us to the other side of the island. Soon the shore appeared in our horizon and it was time to hop off and meet the man named Montblanc Cricket, a man thrown out of society just for being a dreamer. Or not…

As we were approaching land, the first thing that caught our eyes in the landscape ahead was the front of the man's house. It was an authentic palace! It's flamboyantly decorated, colorful as all get out and there were flags flapping at the top of its three towers. We soon thought 'Hmmm… this guy must be filthy rich!'

_But_…

"Fools… look into it again." Zoro soon shattered what turned out to be just an illusion.

"A dreamer, huh…" Sanji commented. "So, the front's just for show, at least."

Chopper widened his eyes as he couldn't see anything strange. Luffy had to slingshot out of our ship before we docked to check for himself. Then, he found out the truth.

"Whaaat? It's just cardboard?" Luffy exclaimed, disappointed.

Yeah, folks. As we steered our ship to align it with the coastline, we noticed that the 'castle' was nothing more than a huge cardboard cutout shaped like a castle, erected right next to his… uh, half-a-house? And now I ask: who's he going to trick with it?

"Great, looks like we're gonna talk with a cheapskate." Sanji quipped.

"Hey, Robin-san, what kind of dreams did this man usually talk about when he got kicked out of the town?" I asked.

"I don't know the details, but he claimed there was a mountain of gold hidden somewhere on this island." She replied.

"Gold?" Usopp asked, surprised.

"Can it… could it be a pirate's hidden treasure?" Nami quickly perked up.

"Maybe… maybe not." Robin left the clue.

"GO~~~LD! G-o-l-d! Chopper, come on!"

Dancing and singing every time she hears the magic password, Nami wasted no time and was the first (Luffy aside) to hop off the ship, dragging Chopper together with her. She ordered him to dig non-stop until he found gold or something worth her attention from underground.

Ignoring the giant, 2D castle of paper, his real house still is somewhat wide for a single person to live in. On the outside, a grass field, a forest standing somewhere around two-hundred steps from the house. Also, there was a small warehouse where jars and wooden boxes are stored. Near the entrance, there was a table and three seats made of tree stubs.

"Does he really live all by himself here?" Sanji said, calmly strolling through the green fields.

"He must feel really lonely, then…" I said.

"Um, duh?" Only to receive a dope slap in my forehead.

"Hello! Is anyone home?" On the other hand, Luffy went right to barging in unannounced.

"You're going in already?" Usopp called.

"Door's open." Luffy explained.

As they inspected the house's interior, I still paced around the grassy fields, watching as Chopper sweated his fur, furiously digging the earth.

"Hey, wait. A book?"

I immediately turned my eyes to the table, walked to it and grabbed the book.

"Hey, guys! Check this out!"

It was one of those old illustrated books.

"A fairytale book?" Nami asked.

"Wow, I forgot how long it's been since I last saw one of these! They marked my childhood!" I said, overwhelmed by a fuzzy feeling of nostalgia. "I used to get a book from my mother from time to time. She said it would color my imagination or something like that…"

"Hey, could you save it for later? What's this book about?" Usopp asked.

"Hmmm… 'Norland, the Liar'." I read slowly.

"Heheh… I like the style! Nice title." For a consummate liar, it's not surprising he likes it…

"Norland, the Liar?" Sanji asked.

"Wait… Sanji-kun, you know about it?" Nami asked him back.

"It says it's been published in the North Blue." I said, inspecting the book's back cover.

"Yes, I know." He confirmed. "And that's because I'm from the North Blue. Wait, did I tell it to you before?"

"No, you didn't." Usopp replied. "I could've sworn you were from the East just like us, though."

"No, that's where I was raised and grew up. My birthplace's the North Blue." Sanji cleared it up. "This is a really famous story around there. Now it might be just a fairytale, but I heard somewhere that the Norland guy did exist."

"Ok, let's see… kids, it's time to… 'Sit Down For The Story Corner!"

"K-kids?" Usopp sweatdropped.

"Sometimes I forget we got a crazy bookworm for a comrade…" Nami pointed out.

"Hey, that was unexpectedly rude of your-"

"Get on with the story, dude!" Before I veered off-topic, Usopp stepped in.

"Ok, since you're asking for it… *ahem*." I then cleaned my throat and tried to put on my best smooth, storyteller-like voice. "This is a story from a long, long time ago. So long, it is believed to be from four centuries ago…"

In a certain country from the Northern Sea, lived a man named Montblanc Norland. He was an explorer who told stories of adventures so grand and fantastic they sounded like lies. But the people from his village could never tell if they were true or not.

One time, Norland came back from an expedition and reported to the King.

«I saw a mountain of gold on an island across the Great Sea!» he said.

The brave king, wishing to see Norland's exploits with his own eyes, took off to the Great Sea in a galleon, together with two thousand of his loyal soldiers. They fought unspeakable torments, powerful storms and ferocious sea monsters. Finally, the King, Norland and only a hundred of his soldiers arrived at the destination… only to find nothing like a city of gold. Just an endless jungle.

For his lies, Norland was sentenced to death. And these were his last words:

«That's it! The mountain of gold must've sunk into the ocean!»

The king and the villagers were shocked. At the time, nobody believed what he said anymore, however, Norland never stopped lying until the time of his execution.

"This is another Tale of the North: «Norland, the Liar.» The end." I said, closing the book afterwards. "Wah, a fairytale… how nostalgic. You're young only once…"

"Dude, you're still eighteen!" Nami quipped.

"Yeah, but recalling our childhood every once in a while doesn't hurt." Sanji stated. "Long gone are the times I used to hear the adults saying: 'If you keep lying, you're going to end up executed like Norland was!' or stuff like that."

"Ah, ah… turns out he's just a liar who ended up dead for telling lies… he died alone, without ever becoming a brave warrior of the seas…" Nami 'mourned', while very obviously staring our longnosed shooter… and they stood like that for a few beats.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME! What are you doing? Throwing a curse at me?" Usopp connected the dots and yelled.

Looks like a quite dark future's around the corner for you, certified liar-

"Wawaah!"

"Oh no, Luffy fell underwater!" Nami alerted.

"Captain!"

I quickly put off the book and sprinted to check on him. Just as I get to the tip of the land, the water shoots up and…

"Who are you?"

…out of it comes a fairly muscular man, of blonde hair, eyebrows and sideburns, barefooted, bare-chested and wearing only purple, white-striped training pants. He jumped out of the water at such a speed I was caught off-guard, having to step back when I noticed him preparing a fighting stance.

"You've got some balls, huh? Resting and doing as you please in my home! This piece of the sea is my territory! Get out now!"

"Wait, let us explain-"

Instead of an answer, I had to duck a high kick to the head. Soon I saw I would get no rest because he, not skipping a beat, launched a quick sequence of kicks aiming to my head, torso and chest, but that just hit the air.

"Sa… Sanji-san! A little help here?" I said, trying not to lose focus.

"Huh?"

"He's a kicking specialist, it seems! I'm in pretty deep trouble! Hurry!" I shouted.

In the end, I had to jump several steps backwards and throw the fight as I caught Sanji sprinting to take my place.

"Usopp-kun! Go rescue Luffy! Quick!" I said, still somewhat shaken.

He rushed to dive underwater as Sanji and the man I presume it is that Montblanc guy exchanged high kicks, blocks, defenses and dodges. That came to a halt when Sanji unleashed yet another high kick, but Cricket stopped him with his arm and they stood like this for a few seconds.

"You will never put your hands in my gold!"

Suddenly, the man with a chestnut on his head pulls out his gun and shoots!

"Sanji!"

A curtain of smoke billowed after the gunshot, but after it waned away, we caught Sanji arching his head backwards.

"Don't worry… he didn't hit!" This time, Sanji… this time.

And I say that because he promptly shot all the ammo in his gun towards our cook's legs, forcing him to move around and do a little break dance to dodge the bullets.

"Oh for the love of… that's what you get for playing with him!" Zoro immediately drew out his sword…

"Stand back, I'll take him on!" Unsheathed it as he leapt to the fray…

"Uunnghh…"

…but he had no time to do anything because Cricket, all of a sudden, started to grunt in pain, kneels down, drops the gun and faints.

Immediately after, Usopp bursts out of water with Luffy slung over his shoulder.

"Whuah… what are you doing, man?" Usopp complained.

"The bubbles…" Luffy coughed, spitting water. "The bubbles were coming out of the sea! I went to check it out, but… suddenly a chestnut jumped on me and that chestnut was the grandpa over there! And then he pulled me in and… hey, is he alright?"

Seeing as he writhed in pain on the ground, I guess not…

…

…

"Cool down more towels! Open all windows!" Chopper ordered.

Zoro and I took the old man to the inside and laid him on his bed. Our doctor reindeer quickly went to diagnose him and figured out the man's illness.

"So, it was pressure?" Zoro wondered.

"Yeah." Chopper confirmed. "It's a disease common amongst divers. Usually, it doesn't last too long. The sudden drop in pressure when one's coming from the bottom of the ocean to the surface makes the nitrogen in the body to leave its dissolved state, forming bubbles in the bloodstream. They press against the nearby tissue and veins, clog up the stream and severely damage muscles and joints."

"Wait, hold on a second. To put it simply…" I put a hand on my chin. "Is it decompression sickness?"

"Indeed." Chopper said.

"Ok, nice. Mysterious side effects." Luffy deduced simplistically.

"I can only infer that he kept diving day in day out, not letting his body recover from the effects of depressurization and take the bubbles back in." Chopper analyzed.

"Why would he do that?" Nami asked, surprised.

"I don't know. I do know it is very dangerous. If it's too intense, the decompression sickness… can be fatal."

"OYA-SAN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"AAAAH! THEY'RE HERE TO GET US!"

Suddenly, my heart almost jumps out through my mouth when two huge monkey heads barge in shouting for the sick old man. Usopp and Chopper enter panic mode and start running back and forth.

"Ow, holy sh… shrimpsickles! It's you! Don't scare the bejeezus out of me like that!" I yelled.

"What are ya doing here?" Shojo screamed.

"What the hell did you do to our boss?" Mashira asked, threatening.

"What are you talking about? We're taking care of him now. Go away." Luffy stated.

"You idiot! Do you think they're gonna believe? They're ferocious, wild monkeys! Let's run while we can…"

As the currently freaking-out duo kept saying prayers and desperately running for their lives, I saw the monkeys… or men, I still can't tell what they really are, being moved by our gesture… and weeping!

"It's so kind of you…"

"They listened…" Cue the duo facefaulting hard on the floor.

…

…

…

"So, you live here too?"

"Yup. Boss's house's also the Saruyama Alliance's HQ."

"Even though we have to sleep at our own ships. This house's too small for us."

"The house's not small, it's you two who are too damn huge! Compared to the giants we met, you'd be nothing more than ear wax!"

With the shock of meeting them again gone, we agreed to leave back out to the grass again and make our situation clear. Shojo and Mashira soon explained to us that they are part of an organized group of ship-rescuing pirates… and that they're Cricket's friends as well.

"How do they get along that fast?" Usopp asked. He, Zoro and I watched from afar, somewhat astounded with the following scene: Luffy having a friendly chat and sharing some hearty laughs with the monkey duo. I could hear them saying something about 'if we, puny and little as we are, kicked Mashira's ass back then, maybe Shojo can do it too'.

"Maybe it's because the three of them are monkeys?" Zoro wondered.

"Nah… it must be due to captain's friendly charm…" I theorized. Now that I mentioned it… how does he do it, again? Maybe it is because they never thought of us as enemies and vice-versa.

"Luffy! He's awake!" Chopper ran from inside to call.

The captain quickly responded, jogging happily back to the house as I stayed to watch Shojo test the theory, kicking his fellow monkey right in the butt and turn him into a little brown twinkle in the sky. Myth confirmed: monkey kicked by monkey flies far away.

Meanwhile, in Cricket's room…

"The uncle with a chestnut in the head! I have something to ask you!" Luffy called.

At the time, the man was already awake, sitting on his bed, with his back turned to the captain, smoking a cigar. He breathed out a puff, much calmer than in our surprise meeting, and immediately went to apologize.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought you were just another bunch of idiots trying to get my gold."

"Do you have gold, sir?"

"Hey, cut it out…" Usopp and I could only sweatdrop as we saw Nami shining and staring at Cricket with her 'beri eyes'…

"Hey, kid, what were you going to ask again?" Ignoring the gold issue, Cricket answered to Luffy.

"We want to go to the Sky Island! You know how to get there, don't you? Tell us, please!"

"Sky Island? You believe that stuff?"

The excitement of our captain was met with condescending laughter. After Usopp quickly restrained a very angry Nami, who wanted to beat him in the head as if wishing to take everything we heard in the bar a few hours ago out on him, Cricket stopped and went silent for a few seconds.

"Just so you know, I know a certain guy who believes it too. And he was labeled as a liar because of it. And his family was always the world's laughing stock."

Then, Luffy slowly turns his head as if asking 'is it you, Usopp?'

"IT'S NOT ME, NUMBSKULL!"

"That old tale of the North Blue. Norland, the Liar."

Hey, Usopp, Luffy _still_ thinks it's about you.

"CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S NOT ME? THE NAME'S DIFFERENT!"

Wait… Montblanc Norland… Montblanc Cricket…

"Hold on, so you mean you're Norland's descendant? And the story's set _here_?" Nami deduced, surprised.

"He's the grandpa of the grandpa of my grandpa. He's a far away ancestor." Cricket explained. "Not even the flies will find a single drop of his blood in me. The Montblanc family was exiled from the country and forced to live in disgrace… and the persecution we have suffered continues to this day. However, no one in my family hates him."

"Why?" Chopper asked.

"Because Norland had a quality rarely found nowadays. He was honest."

"Honest?" Nami repeated. "But… the picture book said…"

"Said his last words were: 'That's it! The mountain of gold must've sunk into the ocean!'. In the drawing, he smiled like a dumbass… but the truth is he died with an enormous regret and crying. The island they got to is undoubtedly Jaya, the place where they discovered the City of Gold. I can't live with the thought it might've been just an illusion."

Norland theorized that changes in earth's crust may have sent the city to the bottom of the sea, but to the rest of the people, he was just a loser trying to find an excuse. A loser, who was executed before a laughing crowd… and who left as a legacy, his label of liar."

"I get it now! You want to clean the Montblanc family's reputation, so you're scouring the sea to find the City of Gold-"

"ENOUGH WITH THE BULLSHIT!"

Usopp deduced, more excitedly than recommended, and that deduction earned him a warning shot that left a small hole in the wall. Needless to say, Usopp almost crapped his pants with the shock…

"If my distant ancestor was an honest man or not, if he was a great explorer or not… I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S ASS ABOUT THAT!" Cricket yelled, extremely pissed off. "Can you imagine how it is to be a child rejected by everyone just because he has the blood of a complete moron running through his veins? THAT'S HOW I GREW UP!"

When the angry man's outburst was over, stunned silence followed.

"Yeah… it's been four hundred years since then." I whispered. "Since then, the story was told and retold countless times and it wouldn't surprise anyone if today's version of it was nothing like what really happened. He who tells a tale adds a tail, as the saying goes."

"That's not all." Cricket continued.

In these four centuries, many of the Montblanc got to this part of the ocean to recover the family's dignity. All of them, no exceptions, died trying.

"I began to resent my own name. So, I left my home and became a pirate."

"Really? You're a pirate?" Luffy asked, perked up.

"Not that I wanted to. I just wanted to get rid of this bind that is Norland's curse. I managed to put a crew together in a short time. After I got to the Grand Line, my life was filled with adventures. However, ten years ago, my ship stopped here by sheer coincidence."

How ironic… the man who despises his own family would come to the very island who condemned them to ridicule.

"When I stood at this island's cape, which has no City of Gold, unlike the fairytale, I thought: 'It's destiny. There's no way to run from it.'"

The men he gathered to sail the seas left him when he decided to face his past. Until now, he's all by himself, searching the supposed discovery of his ancestor.

"If it is real or not, doesn't matter. I don't want to prove he's innocent. I'm settling a score with the man who ruined my life before I was even born. It's a thing I want resolved, black and white, before I die."

Now I'm at an impasse. A life ruined from the very beginning, the disgrace of being born in a family whose name has been tarnished since a long gone past and, worst of all, _absolutely none of it is his fault_. The story he told us, even though I hate to say that, just gave us a few more reasons to go to this Sky Island. Of course I'm irrationally afraid of heights, I'm afraid of the unknown and I fear for my life above it all, but before such a story, it's becoming clearer (if it wasn't already) that this will be our next stop.

"What about the monkeys?" Luffy asked.

Usopp was moved to the point of openly weeping. "It must've been thanks to… another harrowing story of deep-sea explorers, writing their-"

"They're fans of that story."

"FANS?"

"Is it _that_ simple?" Nami sweatdropped.

"It happened five or six years ago. They heard rumors about me and approached me saying: 'We believe Norland's gold is real!'" Cricket explained. From the outside, we could hear the monkeys shouting at each other. "The sea around here is endless. And my loneliness just gets worse when I'm down there, in the cold darkness. I used to dive by myself every day…"

Living by himself… exiled… without a shoulder to lean on…

"…but these two simply sneaked their way into my life, declared themselves my followers and from then on, it was crazy. But, frankly, I think meeting two innocent idiots like them was the thing that saved me. Get it?"

As Usopp kept weeping, Luffy went right to business.

"Ok, change of subject! Uncle, we want to go to Sky Island!" This was the question that motivated the entire flashback you just read.

"So impatient…" Cricket smiled, eyes closed. "Didn't you hear me? The only one who knows about Sky Island was Norland, the Liar. If you cling to him too much, they're gonna laugh at you."

"He was up there!" Luffy asked.

"Unfortunately, he never wrote anything about being there…" Cricket then grabbed one of the books in the shelf standing right next to his bed and browsed through it. It was a logbook, Norland's apparently. "Read this part." He then tossed it to Nami.

"Wow… a logbook written four hundred years ago…" Overtaken by awe, Nami browsed her fingers through the rusty cover. Then, she read the notes. "Maritime Year 1120, June 21st. The weather is nice. We left off from the lively town of Villa. Following the Log Pose, we left the docks and headed northeast. This afternoon, we got a curious artifact from a merchant. It's called 'Waver' and it's a small, one-person boat that functions like a ski."

Such was the curiosity, Usopp, Luffy and Chopper walked to her to listen closely.

"'It's powered by its own wind, even if no current's blowing in the sea. It's difficult to drive, I can't do it yet. Taming it turned on the crew's favorite pastime.' Wow! Unreal! I totally want one of those!"

"OK, OK, KEEP READING!"

Ignoring the protests, Nami continued. "They told me the only place it's made is Sky Island. There are lots of unconventional ships up there, it seems. Speaking about Sky Island, explorers showed me a celestial fish, still alive. I didn't have the words to express how surprised I was."

"Celestial fish?" This immediately caught Sanji's attention.

"It's a place never explored by our ship, but as a sailor, I wish I could get to this sea in the sky… someday… Montblanc Norland."

I can't forget to mention that both Nami, as she read it, and the three troublemakers, as they listened to it, widened their eyes and broadened their smiles.

"Just like Robin told us!" Luffy shouted.

"From the way he's talking, it's like everyone knew about Sky Island then!"

"So it's real then!"

As they threw around that conclusion, they didn't waste time to jump in joy.

All the while I thought to myself… That immediately shot down any and all chances I had to ask them to reconsider the idea of us heading to this Sky Island. I would be the only one against it, it seems. Well, since we're already waist-deep into this, it would be pretty stupid of my part to flat-out refuse an adventure like this just because I'm afraid of high places… Ok, that doesn't change the fact that I'm shivering in fear at the thought of what's ahead… and I shiver even more with the certainty that this will be yet another adventure where we'll risk our lives.

However… I'm in this stuff long enough to get used to it already, don't you think?

* * *

**Despite the fight in their initial meeting, the Straw Hats listened to the sad tale of Montblanc Cricket, a man who carries the weight of four centuries of disgrace. With more and more evidences of Sky Island's existence popping up, the pirates are more than ready to set off to their next great adventure!**

**But the burning question is... how?**

**Check out the next chapter!  
**


	95. Golden bells and the South Bird

**Chapter 95**

**"Hard turn to the clouds! The chase of the South Bird is on!"**

* * *

"Brats! Quick meeting, now! I have a few things I must tell you all."

Montblanc Cricket was somewhat overjoyed with our enthusiasm about our dream of going to the Sky Island is becoming more and more real, but he decided to call us for a small meeting. Not wasting time, he jumped out of his bed and called us to the outside, where we all sat around the little wooden stump. That is, all except Zoro, who took the opportunity to nap some more.

"So, what's the situation?" Usopp asked.

"Listen up, all of you. First, I'm going to tell you all I know about the Sky Island. Attention, what I am going to say may not be true, so I'll leave it up to you to decide whether to believe it or not." Cricket warned.

"I do!" Luffy, with all his naive certainty.

"So, here it goes: in this part of the ocean, something very peculiar happens. Sometimes during the day, sunlight goes away all of a sudden and it becomes night." Cricket explained, pointing to the sea.

And that was precisely what happened to us! As much as I didn't want to, I ended up recalling how I almost crapped my pants when I saw those super-scary shadows back then…

"You mean, you saw the giants?" Cricket asked. "There's a whole other story behind the apparitions you saw, but let's talk about it later. For now, does anybody know why it became dark all of a sudden?"

He asked, then he breathed out a puff of smoke of his cigar. As nobody came up with any answers, he continued his explaining.

"It's the shadow of an extremely dense cloud."

"A really dense cloud… wait, are you talking about a Cumulonimbus? Wait, it was way darker back then than it usually happens to be because of such a cloud." Nami countered.

"Can you let me explain then?" Cricket interrupted. "Instead of a Cumulonimbus, it's a Cumuloregalis. It forms high up in the sky, there are no air currents inside it and it almost never becomes a raincloud. Whenever one of these pops up in the sky, not even sunlight can pierce through it, so night quickly sets in. It's also said they never vanish, and keep floating in the sky for hundreds, even thousands of years. Think about them as petrified clouds."

"That's impossible! Clouds formed without air currents? I can't possibly believe that." Nami retorted.

"We're pretty well inside the Grand Line now, Nami-chan." I intervened. "Judging by every bizarre thing we've encountered so far, I don't doubt anything more…"

"Like I said, you're in your right to doubt whatever I say." Cricket repeated. "Last I checked, I never asked you to believe me in the first place."

"So, it's a mysterious huge cloud…" Luffy concluded. And that's precisely the best explanation to be found for it so far, if Cricket is to be believed.

"Wooh, that's awesome!" Chopper jumped, admired.

"Get it? If Sky Island really does exist, then there's only one place where it will be!" Cricket finished.

"Let's go then! Let's climb up to this cloud! Zoro, c'mon, wake up!"

Luffy immediately jumped to his conclusions while literally jumping joyfully up and down, even waking Zoro up, thinking he found the answers to all his questions. Unfortunately, Nami didn't share that train of thought, quickly got annoyed by it and, as always, hit him and Usopp pretty hard to shut them up. Ok, so we have to head to this cloud… but how?

"Wait, the part that hurts begins now." Cricket soon interrupted the celebrations, facing a very attentive Nami and a Luffy and a Usopp so beaten up their faces were swollen.

"Just so you know, this will mean you have to risk your lives!"

There you go, those magic words again.

"There's a current that runs vertically: its name is the Knock-Up Stream. If you ride this current, you'll be able to get to the Sky Island… in theory."

"I see… so, this current will shoot our ship upwards, right?" Nami hypothesized.

"Hey, hold on, we were told all the ships struck by this current end up falling back to the ocean. Cricket-san, how do you explain this?" I asked.

"And that's exactly what happens most of the time." He replied. "The trick is to choose just the right timing to catch it. It's easy to talk about stuff like this, but actually letting yourselves get caught by such a current is much more complicated and terrifying than any of you can imagine."

I immediately feel a shiver running up my spine, gulping hard afterwards.

"Actually finding the Knock-Up is a sweet recipe for disaster, though. It must be avoided at all costs."

A shiver shoots through me once again…

"Is it t-that dangerous?" I asked, more scared.

"Just how does it go that high up? I never heard about such a powerful stream before…" Nami thought aloud.

Cricket breathed out another puff of smoke and explained some more. "The stream is indeed monstruous, but it does have a logical explanation behind it. However, nobody was stupid enough to dive underwater and figure it out. The theory goes like this: There are giant underwater caves filled with air at the oceanic floor. Every once in a while, cold water enter them. The water is then heated up by the geotermic energy below the sea and turns to pressurized gas. The pressure climbs until it's too much to handle and then there's a giant explosion that shoots the water high above in a stream."

There was no need to understand the details, really… only the part of the explosion is enough to shock us all…

"The explosion is so intense it is said to connect the sea and the sky for over a minute."

"O-over a minute? What kind of crazy explosion is that to shoot the water that high up?" Nami shot up from her seat and asked, understandably upset. That blatantly went against everything she learned about geysers and sea currents.

Without coming back to the details and satisfy her curiosity, however, Cricket continued his exposition. "The explosion never happens twice in a row at the same place and usually there's five of them over the course of a month. It never ceases to amaze me, it's a really magnificent thing to see. Trying to throw theories around to explain stuff like this is stupid."

"Grated carrots… we're gonna become grated carrots…" I repeated my mantra as I wanted, for my dear life, to regret ever agreeing to this whole Sky Island idea…

"Wait, hold on, you mean… you mean this current that comes out from nowhere five times a month… it's the only way we have to get to the Sky Island?" Usopp asked, sweating cold as he waited for the answer.

"I'm afraid it is… wait, there's something else." Oh for the love of… What else? "If you happen to fail to enter the Celestial Sea and have no safe way to land back on earth… you'll crash against the sea floor… blow into smithereens and sink into oblivion."

Ok, I decided now, no matter how deep we are in this crap, let's scrap it altogether! Now!

"Let's give up! Please let's give up, Luffy!"

"Please, Luffy, I beg you! I don't want to die trying!"

"Ahahahahahah…"

Usopp and I laughed nervously, trying a last-ditch move to talk the captain out of this flat-out suicide mission, but he laughed his ass off, grinning for no particular reason.

"Listen, Luffy, this is madness! We need to be lucky amongst the lucky amongst the lucky amongst the lucky…"

"…amongst the lucky amongst the luckiest of lucky!"

"Ahahahahahahahah…" It's useless. "We'll be alright! Probably. Let's go!"

"Aw man…" We sighed in defeat.

"We're _not_ gonna be alright! You've got to be crazy to say stuff like that! Look to the ship, that hurt soul! Look at how much it suffered!" Usopp pointed to the much patched-up Going Merry… and seeing it so beaten-up like it is now, my dread only gets worse… "One more disaster and Merry's gonna get dismantled for real!"

"Please don't take us with it, please don't take us with it, please don't take us with it!" I said, trying to plug out the whole issue.

"You're spot on. This ship of yours wouldn't handle the pressure even if it was new."

"What?" Usopp turned to Cricket.

"Speed, weight, power… The blast would trash your ship completely!"

"See? It's impossible! Let's give up, come on, can we give up?" I almost begged.

"However… we know how to fix it. Mashira! Shojo! Let's repair their ship and reinforce its structure."

"LEAVE IT TO US, PEOPLE!"

"Thanks a lot, gorillas!" Luffy thanked.

"That's unnecessary…"

However, there's still another problem to take into account…

"Hey, Luffy, you're sure about that?" Nami walked to him.

"Huh?"

"For starters… we can only stay here for another day! Tomorrow, the Log Pose will reset to another magnetic field and we're off to another island!" Nami showed them the log, still pointing up.

Yeah, there's still that! If we simply let today go away, the Log Pose will reset and we can sail through other paths!

"Say, Cricket-san, when's the next Knock-Up Stream going to blast?" I asked, hopefully waiting for him to say…

"Tomorrow afternoon."

Yes, tomorrow afternoon. So we can at last give up on this whole-

…

…

TOMORROW AFTERNOON?

"Tomorrow afternoon?" If my jaw could drop all the way to the ground, it sure would…

"What? If you're scared, just stay here." Cricket turned away from us.

"Grr… you're lying!" Usopp got angry. "There's some catch here, right? We barely met you! Aren't you being a little _too nice_?"

"Usopp!"

"You stay quiet, Luffy!" Before the captain could intervene, Usopp stopped him.

"This whole Sky Island thing… our best chance to get to a island of legend we don't even know where it is… will be tomorrow? And so we can get there, you're going to fix and strengthen our ship? Isn't that a little too good to be true? What are you scheming?"

I was frustrated as well, but not to the point of lashing out at random like this…

"Usopp-kun…"

"You're a descendant of that Liar Norland, aren't you? I don't trust you!"

The silence following Usopp's shouts was tense. Even Sanji and the monkey duo wanted to call us for lunch, but they stopped as they read the gloomy atmosphere.

"Y'know, Mashira…" Cricket said, walking towards Usopp. "He says when night sets in his territory, he can see a Cumuloregalis coming south the day after. Then, based on the five-strikes-a-month cycle, it's highly likely the stream will hit tomorrow… south from here. I'm not one-hundred-percent sure, but I know it won't be the first time if these two events come to happen simultaneously."

Cricket walked past. Usopp froze in place, gritting his teeth.

"I'm glad I found an insane bunch just like you. Now cool your head and let's get something to eat. I want you all well and happy as long as you're here, comrades."

As Cricket and the rest went in to get some lunch, I still caught Usopp stopped, trying to wrap his mind around what he just heard. I decided to stay outside a little while longer and offer him some words of comfort.

"Dan… I'm just a miserable coward, aren't I?" Usopp asked, kneeling down.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" I said, crouching beside him and patting his shoulder. "If it serves as any consolation, I'm scared as well. But, when it's all said and done, we're two against six. I'm still trying to find the courage to want to get up there… and I think you should do that too. We're up our necks in this right now."

"Dan…"

"Besides… If we do die trying, we have a certain someone to blame already. Right?" I said, smiling.

He replied with a trembling smile before he suddenly shot up again, screaming for Cricket and running to hug him as a form of apology for his random outburst.

…

…

…

Well then, it's already night and with it, it's dinner time. With dinner time, it's the habitual complete mess unfolding. Cricket stuffed himself with rum and tried to hit on Nami as he was kicked by a slightly jealous Sanji, Luffy fooled around with Shojo, dancing and jumping like the monkeys they are, Usopp pulled a spicy sauce-based prank on Mashira and… watching it all, Robin just _read a book_.

"In the skull's right eye… I saw gold!"

"Gold?"

However, the fuss stopped for a few moments when Cricket walked towards Robin and spoke to her, probably with a little too much alcohol running in his system by now.

"In the middle of tears, these were Norland's last written words. «I saw gold in the skull's right eye.» When he said that, he was executed. Even long after I got here, I still didn't figure out what's that supposed to mean. The skull's right eye… maybe it's the name of a city nearby… or a metaphor relating to his inevitable death… his diary ends here, then it's just some blank pages." Cricket explained.

"And that's why we dive! We have dreams buried down there!" Then he chugged down some more of his rum. He must be daydreaming by now…

After his tale, it was all smiles and laughter again, but Cricket still had a lot to talk about between drinks.

"Maritime Year 1120, May 21st. Today we arrived at Jaya. Just as I stepped out of the ship, I heard the strange cry of a bird coming from the forest and the ring of a giant, giant bell. The sound of that gigantic bell echoed through great distances like it was the sign of prosperity of a great city from the past. It's a passing sound from a prosperous civilization blossoming above the sea. For us, who lived only for a few decades, there were not enough words to describe it! We were charmed by that bell's sound!" Cricket read, before he bellowed out in joy, followed by his two monkey friends.

"Aaah, how beautiful, a golden bell!" When it's about gold, Nami's all ears…

"Now that you mentioned it… check these out!"

Cricket went to his bookshelf and grabbed three golden, shining, ornamented bells. As he barely took them from their place, Nami crawled to grab and caress one of them, switching her eyes for beris…

"Umm… what's exactly big about them?" Usopp asked.

"I wasn't talking about these ones here." Cricket replied. "These are ingots shaped like bells. I found them at the bottom of the ocean."

"You found them? So, the City of Gold does exist after all!" Luffy theorized.

"That's not enough proof, squint. That's stuff you can find in any old ruins." Shojo sat up to join the conversation.

"They do, at least, prove there was a civilization around here. Ingots were created to split the gold in equal weights." Robin explained. "That means commerce exchanges were done here."

"Yup. And about that bird's weird cry, hey Mashira, show them."

We turned our eyes to him as he unwrapped an object resting in the floor, revealing a shiny sculpture of a bird, made entirely of gold!

"That's all we have."

"Swe~~~et!" Cue Nami going squee.

"Golden bells and birds… are they the symbols of old Jaya?" Sanji wondered aloud.

"I don't know exactly, but I assume they're examples of old decorations. This one here's a South Bird, a species from here." Cricket said, pulling the sculpture closer. "It's got a weird cry."

"South Birds are used in ships since centuries ago and… wait… AAAAAHHHH!"

All of a sudden, the monkeys shout like they just recalled something.

"Brats, get ready, you need to rush to the south forest! You need to catch one of those right now!" Said Cricket in a rush.

"What? Why? Have you gone nuts?" Usopp retorted.

"Listen, you all. Tomorrow you'll face the Knock-Up Stream. It will hit exactly south from this cape. How do you think you'll get there?"

"Easy, we just turn south and head straight." Luffy replied.

"This is the Grand Line, brat! If you veer off-course just by a little, you'll be lost forever!"

"I get it!" Nami stepped in. "We're heading south, but it's to the middle of the sea! Without any reference, we won't know where we're going to. What now, how do we find out we're doing it right?"

"You'll need this bird's special ability. He's the extreme example of a sharpened sense of direction, so he'll tell you precisely where you're supposed to go. That's because no matter which way he's facing, his head will point to only one direction."

Ah, that's helpful…

"Long story short: without that bird, you can't leave, and you'll waste the only chance you have of going to the Sky Island!"

"WHAAAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY IT BEFOREHAND?"

"No time to explain! Hurry up, quit fooling around, rush to the forest!"

Armed with _butterfly_ capture nets (?), we were basically kicked out from his house.

"We're now going to work on your banged-up ship. Goddamn it, we shouldn't have wasted time partying at all! You have 'til morning to get a South Bird here!"

Usopp still wanted to ask why we should head to the forest at night, but he was dragged off to the job. With no time for further exposition, here we go to the dense forest. It was completely dark. If it weren't for the full moonlight, we would be completely lost. We walked as one group but it didn't take long for the complaints to begin: Chopper barely could walk with a full belly, Nami still didn't understand why we had to do this if it's so cold outside and Usopp wouldn't stop tugging Sanji, scared off his pants. We quickly realized just walking around would do jack for our task, so we stopped to reassess our clues.

"Ok, what we've got: a bird with a weird cry…" Luffy started.

"And it looks the same as that golden statue…" Sanji mentioned.

"Is there really a bird with that funny face?" Zoro wondered.

"Hey, don't you think a 'weird cry' is too vague as a clue?" Usopp called.

"Well, he said we would understand when we got here…" I said.

"Jiyo~~~~" Jiyo… jiyo?

Whoa! That's a weird cry! It must be the south bird! How convenient…

Well, conveniences aside, we settled for this: as we had three nets, we separated in three teams and scattered around the forest. Team one: Luffy and Chopper. Team two: Zoro, Robin and Usopp. Team three: Nami, Sanji and I.

"Don't worry, no matter what we have to face, I'll protect you, Nami-san!" Sanji assured.

"Little… lucky bastard, trying to steal the spotlight…" I muttered.

"You said something?"

"No, no, nothing! Ah, now that you mention it, can you protect me too?" I asked, smiling sheepishly.

"Take care of your own ass, you-"

"Aaaanyway, let's just catch the bird and leave!" Before Sanji could waste time cursing, Nami intervened.

"Ok, people, silence now." Sanji calmed down, putting his hands on his ears. "Let's search for the cry we heard before."

As it was taking forever to hear something, I decided for another approach. "Jiyo… jiyo! Come here! Jiyo… jiyo?"

Just for Sanji to 'capture' me. "Hey, what's the big deal? Wait…" However, I noticed something odd. "Hey, Nami, did you put accessories in your skirt? Cool, huh, where'd you get it?"

"Wha? Wa-AAAAAHHHHH! SPIDER! KILL IT! IT'S EVIL!"

It turned out not to be an accessory but a real spider climbing on her legs. Naturally, as she noticed it, she screamed and ran away to hide behind some bushes. What I didn't expect was for Sanji to run after her, scared out of his wits.

"Guys? Aw, come on, it's just a spider!"

"I hate spiders, you idiot! Kill it, kill it, kill it! Throw it away!" Nami hollered, freaking out.

"Get away from there, Dan! They can be poisonous and… whoa! THEY'RE FALLING FROM THE TREES! GROSS!" Sanji almost lost his marbles.

"Aw man, what, they're harmless as long as you don't provoke them. I mean, you have fear of spiders? That's something I had when I was, like, a kid…" I said, crouching to watch the tarantula that 'attacked' Nami. "Usopp would love to see one of these…"

"Like I give a damn! I fear what I fear! These hairy insects are goddamn gross! Blergh!" Oh, I'm so going to tease you about it, Sanji…

"Hate, hate, hate! Get this crap away from me! Throw it away, Dan-kun, stomp on it, kill that thing!" Nami screamed, still freaking out.

"Hey, you're throwing a fit because of a spider, but all the moths and centipedes behind you are A-OK?" I said, pointing behind and trying to stifle my laughter…

Needless to say, they froze in place as they stared forward. Little by little, an entire colony of moths and centipedes came out of the darkness and scared them. They slowly turned to the side, caught the insects coming to them and then sprinted like there's no tomorrow…

Then I just let all my laughter out…

"Aaahahahahahahah… aha? Hey, wait! Don't ditch me here!"

…but I had to stop or else I'd be left to fend for myself in the forest.

…

…

…

"Jiyo~~~!"

"They're crying!" I called. "Where's the sound coming from?"

I tried to close my eyes and focus on locating the birds. However, another sound joined the confusion and messed things up.

"What sound is this? It's different… and it's heading our way, it seems." Sanji mentioned.

"Look, up there!"

Nami pointed to a set of balls rolling down the hill straight into our direction.

"Are they boulders? Dung balls?" It was quite dark, I couldn't tell what it was.

"No… they're insects!"

They turned out to be blue and red ladybugs rolling towards us!

"Whoa, they're huge!" Sanji still tried to kick them away, but some of them hit him back. All that as we heard a South Bird clearly laughing at us with his weird cry…

"Retreat!" As the enemies were too many, we decided to follow the stream where the ladybugs headed to and find an escape route.

However…

…

"GIANT SNAIL! THROW SALT AT IT! SALT!"

As expected, the salt dehydrated the snail until it was dead.

…

"Fireflies!" Coming out from the bushes.

"Beautiful!"

…

"COCKROACHES!" Marching towards us…

"Killkillkill!"

…

"PIGS!"

Uh…

"It's a stampede! Run like the wind!"

There were so many things jumping at us we had no idea where to run!

"I~~yaaa~~n!"

"GIVE ME A BREAK!"

…

…

…

Coincidentally, the eight of us met each other again and it looked like the others had their share of misfortune along the way, since Luffy and Chopper had red sting pimples and swelling all over them…

"We caught nothing…" Zoro was the first to talk.

"We saw one but there were so much stuff coming at us we didn't catch it! It was like running left and right!" Luffy lamented too. Chopper panted, recovering from the shock.

"Goddamn… we're eight and still can't catch a single bird? Get a grip, people!" Usopp complained.

"That's for you too!" Zoro hit him lightly in the head.

"Aaahn… I'm so tired… I can't run anymore!" Nami ran out of power to keep standing and kneeled.

"Jiyo~~!"

"Guys, look!"

Then, a south bird lands in a tree branch. With a condescending smile, it laughed at our ineptitude, jumping left and right and taunting us in his language.

" «I'm never gonna let you catch me, suckers!» He said." And Chopper translated.

"What? You came here to brag, you bastard? Ah, you little… I'm going to take you down with one shot!"

"No need for that, Longnose-kun."

Before Usopp could shoot, however, Robin acted faster, sprouted two arms to hold the bird in place and another to throw it to the ground. There. Captured in five seconds, mission accomplished.

"Ah…" We immediately turn to her, baffled…

"I just needed to see the thing. That's it." Robin, as simple as that.

Mission complete, it's time to return to Mr. Cricket's house, it's already daybreak. With the moon high up in the sky, we left the dense forest…

"Uncle! We caught a south bird and… wh-what?"

…to be greeted by a frightening scene.

"W… what the hell happened here?"

Nami exclaimed, deeply worried with the authentic disaster scene. Cricket, Mashira and Shojo were fainted and covered in blood, two of them lying down in the ground and Shojo floating in the water. Their house had a gaping hole in the front, going all the way to the cardboard cutout. What's worse: Going Merry. Usopp almost freaks out when he sees the prow broken off and resting in the ground and a completely bent mast. Instead of reinforcement, the ship took a serious beating, is currently worse than it arrived here and the men who were about to fix it are knocked out and covered in wounds.

What on earth happened to them?

No.

The pressing question right now is…

_Who did all this?_

* * *

**The Straw Hats successfully captured a South Bird, but as they returned from the forest, they found their ship even more damaged than it already was. Montblanc Cricket and the monkey-men duo are knocked out for an unknown reason and the situation took a sudden turn for the worse.**

**What now? How are they going to go to the Sky Island? What's behind this sudden attack?**

**More on the next chapter!  
**


	96. Luffy back to town! It's payback time

**Chapter 96**

**"Luffy's last straw! Give back the gold you stole!"**

* * *

"Hey, old man! We caught the bird… what the… old man!"

"Mashira! Shojo!"

I took thousands of bee stings up my butt, but despite that, we managed to snatch that pesky damn bird. However, as we were heading back to the old man's house… for some reason everything was all messed up and destroyed. We found Cricket and the giant monkeys knocked out and covered in blood. Sanji and Chopper scrambled to rescue Shojo, who was floating unconscious, belly up on the water. The trio's house was completely messed up and it had a huge hole at the front door. That's not all, though.

"Aaaah! Our Merry!" Usopp almost had a stroke when he saw Merry's front totally broken in the ground. Our wooden comrade had been attacked too.

"I'm sorry…" The old man woke back up, still a bit dizzy.

"Old man! Come on, old man, wake up! Are you alright? What happened?" I ran to him, crouching to talk to him.

"Forgive me, I… I'm so sorry…" He wanted to reply, but he just grunted. "We were here but we just couldn't do anything… We… we can still do it! I have to reinforce your ship… until morning!"

"H-hey, hey! Old man, just tell what happened first!" The old man still wanted to get up and get to work, but as beaten up as he was…

"Uh, it was nothing, don't… worry… That doesn't matter anymore." He stood back up as he was talking, but just doing it seemed to be a lot of effort. "Putting it aside, you… nice, good job, you got the South Bird. That's good." He said when he saw Zoro holding the bird.

"Luffy!" I heard Nami calling. "The gold… they got the gold!"

"Huh?"

So that's it… they really were attacked.

"Forget that, guys… it's really no big deal. What we have to do right now is-"

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? YOU SPENT TEN YEARS DIVING IN THE SEA DAY AFTER DAY JUST TO GET THAT GOLD!" All of a sudden, Usopp screamed at him.

"SHUT UP, BRAT!" The old man yelled back. "That's our business to deal with. Listen up, brat. We, the Saruyama Alliance, have lots of work to do. Your ship is far from ready to sail again. We have until morning to make it ready! We're never giving up on your trip, ever! I swear, I'm going to make you go to the Sky Island!"

"Hey, Luffy." Zoro called me. When I responded, he pointed to a weird mark painted on the wall. It was a round, crossed out smiley face.

"It's… it's Bellamy's mark!" Nami screamed.

It was him… that damn hyena from the bar… That's it. Back at the bar today afternoon they had their shot. Now I'm going to do something and I won't let anybody tell me I can't.

"Want help?" Zoro asked.

"No, I'm fine by myself." I said, adjusting my hat.

"Wait… No, Luffy! Don't even think about that! We have only three more hours to go!"

I knew Nami was going to try to stop me, but I don't really care about that. Those bastards went all out, destroyed the old man's home and beat him up! Now I'll make them pay for it!

"Robin, if I run through the shore, can I get to the town?" I asked.

"Yes, you will." She replied.

There. Everything I need. With that information, I started to walk away from Cricket's home. The old man still tried to shout and stop me, but I still heard Zoro talking him out of it. I wouldn't give a crap if he wanted to stop me, though. I'm not a man to let them go crazy on my friend's house, take his stuff, beat him up and just let him laugh it off. You touched my friends, now I touch you!

"Three hours, Luffy." I stopped as I heard Nami saying. "If you're not here in three hours, you'll have to live with the fact we lost the chance to go to the Sky Island because of you and only you. Get it?"

"Don't sweat it, Nami." I said, cracking my finger joints. "I'm back before that."

…

…

…

Three hours… it's plenty of time.

With that in mind, I dashed off to a race against time through Jaya's shores. I had to cross through the forest and run right near the cliff standing over the sea. There was a time I was running so fast I barely noticed a loose tree branch hidden in the grass. It was too late to notice it before I tripped and almost lost my footing. Not on my best balance, I stepped on a boulder just ahead and it broke apart. I almost fell off, but I was lucky to catch ground right ahead and then get on the run again.

And that just added up to my frustration. I heard the sad story of a man who dives every day, gets sick because of it, but manages to grab some nice items of Sky Island… and then comes a bunch of assholes and beat him up just for shits and giggles? Of course you know this means payback!

"That damn bastard!" I said, gritting my teeth as my nostrils flared and I sped up my pace.

I wasn't tired up to that point, but I really didn't want to run while dodging giant praying mantises trying to slash me in half. I still stopped to look back and watch as the trees they slashed down instead fell down to the sea…

"Uwah, that was close… shit, they're still after me!"

No time to lose, man! Move faster, legs! Even if I was tired, I'd still have to run like there's no tomorrow! I ran as fast as my legs would let me, but the things have a crafty advantage: they can fly. So I thought, there's no other way around this, I have to beat the daylights out of them!

"Get away from me you freaks! GUM-GUM… GATLING GUN!"

I slid to a stop then I launched my arms and delivered a rapid fire fisticuff to the praying mantises. A dozen punches each and they're down for the count. I had no time to wait and count to ten, so I got back to running fast as soon as I was done with them. Good thing for me was that I found no other weird-ass animals on my way to town.

I ran so much, finally getting to town after a long while. I stopped to breathe for a few moments then I headed right to the same bar where that bastard Bellamy and his bunch would be. I walked through downtown while people here and there looked sideways at me. There it was, the pub's front door. I could hear the laughter coming from inside.

"Hmmm… I should get to a high place instead…"

I launched my arms and grabbed the top of a really high building. I figured Bellamy would hear me calling for him from there, no matter where he would be. I then let myself climb up and stood on the roof. A deep breath later and then I screamed as loud as I could.

"BELLAMY! COME OUT!"

It didn't take long for him to get out.

"Oi!"

When I called, he turned to me.

"Awesome… we were talking about you right now. You want something with me?"

You know damn well what I want with you, bastard!

"Yeah, I do. Give back the old man's gold!"

"Gold?" Bellamy laughed. Wow, his face really looks like a hyena's when he's grinning. "The stuff that old man Cricket had? Heheheh…" He then crouched, stayed like that for a good time, before he jumped off the ground all the way to where I was. When he landed on the rooftop, I noticed his legs were jumpy, just like springs and stuff. Looks like I won't be out of this easily…

"Giving it back? Not a chance in hell… I stole it from him, as a pirate, brat. You're a pirate yourself, I was told, so you have no right to disagree with what I've done."

"But I do. Those guys are my friends. So, I'm going to steal it back."

Bellamy just laughed out loud once more, trying to mock me. All this guy can do is laugh?

"A little question. You can fight, punk? Do you know at least how to throw a punch? Haha~~hahahahah! What do you think small fry like you can do to me?"

Doesn't change a bit… his trash talk's so constant it's annoying. He needed to poke the old man just so he could fight me, huh? There, you've done it!

"If you just stand there and shit yourself just like you did this afternoon, you ain't gonna steal nothing from me. Coward!"

"This afternoon's deal was different."

The bastard just laughs it off again. "Oh, really? What's exactly different from then? I get it, since you're asking for it so politely, this time I'm going to drive your skull to the ground so hard it'll make you shut your fucking cheeky mouth forever!"

Then it started. He tossed his blue coat away and crouched again. His legs turned into springs before he jumped off the roof. His impulse was so strong the house broke and started to fall to the ground.

"I'm going to end this in a snap! SPRING… SNIPE!"

I let myself stand in the house as it fell down and then I watched the man crouching against another building before he jumped and launched myself against me. I put impulse in my legs and hopped off just before Bellamy crushed the house and pulverized it in mid-air. I landed in another roof, almost sliding off of it, but I managed to catch myself and rest.

Short time to rest, though, because I saw the guy crouching again and getting ready to strike me. He takes his time to jump, so it wasn't too hard to predict where he would go and dodge. Hard thing it was to stand on somewhere when he crashed through the rooftop. I lost my footing, bumped my back against the tiles, flipped around myself, finally catching the tip of the roof to stay in place.

"Come on, I'm waiting. What's so different in you from this afternoon?"

This time Bellamy launched himself faster, forcing me to just jump in mid-air.

"You really want to take back the gold I stole? That's just bullshit out of your mouth! Look at you, you can't even fight back! Your head's just for talking about dreams! What kind of man is you?"

I was falling in mid-air, I could do nothing to keep him from launching at me yet again and striking me head on. His punch sent me spinning right to the middle of the plaza. I crashed on the ground, rising a cloud of dust.

"You have nowhere to run. The powers of my Spring-Spring Fruit will find you, no matter how much you struggle!"

I still heard the bastard bragging about that one punch as I let myself lie down for a few moments. His friends joined the trashing, saying I'm not a match for Bellamy, saying the fight's over and pitying me when they really don't need to. Recovered from the shock, I quickly stood back up, ready for whatever would come.

"I know it's little to end your shit, but that's not all! The true show's just about to start! SPRING… HOPPER!"

He was standing at the top of another building and crouched before he hopped all the way to the ground, but instead of trying to hit me, he just bounced off to another place and just bounced from place to place, getting faster and faster, so fast I couldn't track where he was going at some point. That didn't really matter, though.

"Those clowns are your friends, you say? Hahahah! I get it now… that geezer and his overgrown monkeys are the same as you! A bunch of naïve idiots believing the lies of a four hundred year old ancestor! What City of Gold, what Sky Island! The age of dreams is over! You're a disgrace to the real pirates!"

Enough.

If he's going to talk shit nonstop like that, I have to find a way to shut him up.

Time to give this bastard the beating he so well deserves!

"You asked… if I can throw a punch?"

I cracked my fingers…

"Get him, Bellamy! Idiots like him don't deserve to live in the real world!"

I clenched my fist really hard…

"GOODBYE, STRAW HAT!"

We'll see about that…

"GRRAAAAAHH!"

…

…

One punch.

…

…

One simple punch. Simple, but it was the most charged I ever delivered. I punched so hard I didn't notice my hand was painted red just as it was over. That didn't matter, as it was enough to drive that damn Bellamy to the ground. Finally he shut up for good.

Those around him stopped. Those screaming at me and mocking stopped. The wind was the only thing making a noise at that point.

"Hey… quit joking now, Bellamy… Come on! You're just playing with him, aren't you? Say something, damnit!"

No answer. Hey, stop trying, man with the blue hair. He's totally out.

"HEY, BELLAMY! Stop fooling around! Get up and do your show as always, Bellamy! YOU'RE THE 55 MILLION BIG GUN ROOKIE, AREN'T YOU?" Scream all you want. He's not going to get up anytime now.

Ah, before I forget… I have one more thing to do.

"The old man's gold. Give it back!" I said. They were all confident, laughing and sneering at me before. Now they're all scared, just as they said _I_ would be. Now they know who they're dealing with. The most scared immediately ran away from the plaza as the ones who stayed circled Bellamy's unconscious body.

Matters settled, I went inside the bar to look for the gold. A quick search and I found a large bag behind the counter. Time to get back to the boat or else we'll miss the trip!

"Hihihihi… I found it, I found it!"

"Beginner's luck, that must be it!" Hm? "HEY, YOU LITTLE DAMN BRAT! GET BACK HERE! YOU'RE GOING TO FIGHT ME WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! I AIN'T GONNA LOSE TO A SIMPLETON DREAMER LIKE YOU! GET BACK HERE! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

"Where… you say?"

He screamed that much, but once I turned around, for some reason, he just fell on his butt, scared when he saw me… come on, man, I'm just here for the gold. I'm just going to tell you where I'm going, I'm done with you now.

"To the sky!"

…

…

…

"Damn… I lost too much time back there… I have to get back right now!"

Chestnut-head old man… I took back your gold! You can be sure I will be back, be sure of that! I wouldn't do what I did for nothing, so, old man… guys, wait for me! I'll get back and we're off to the Sky Island!"

With that in mind, I ran as fast as I could, but the weight of the gold bag pushed me back so much I was getting tired faster than before.

As I ran through the shore, I bumped into a beetle on my way back… and it was that huge Hercules beetle I met before!

"Hey, you! You're that Hercules! I didn't catch you last time but you'll be mine now!"

…

Hold on!

…

"Wow, aw man, this beetle's tough as hell! Huh? Wait… damn it! I'm late! Guuuuys! Wait for me!"

I got so distracted chasing that beetle I totally forgot I have to get back to the ship!

On the other hand, would you imagine their faces when they see me with the old man's gold and a huge beetle to go as a souvenir!

As much as I ran, I still had a good few miles of shore ahead. It's endless, I thought, but I just had to run until I found a little spot ahead. The spot became lots of spots as I got close. Phew, that's a relief, they're still waiting for me, probably impatient already…

"HEEE~~~~Y! Guys!" I screamed.

"Huh? Hey, it's him! Guys, he's back!" I heard Mashira's reply… is he alright already?

"Captain!" Dan ran to the front just to wave at me… "Welcome back!"

"Guys! I did it!"

"Luffy, come on, we're way past the time to go!" Sanji screamed.

"Hey guys, I caught a Hercules beetle! I took a hell of a while to catch this one!"

"YOU WERE CHASING BEETLES?"

They yelled at me for it, but it was fine just like that. I barely knew I had something much more awesome waiting for me there.

"Hey… wow! Nice!"

Going Merry is fixed! It was equipped with some nice gadgets too: giant wings, a piece of armor in the front and the sheep head looked more like a chicken. That's funny… it looked like a chicken with wings!

"Going Merry: Flying Model." Usopp showed.

"IT CAN FLY?" My jaw dropped.

"Ye~~~s!" Usopp replied. "And it's all thanks to these guys. They did it all for us!"

"Yeah, captain." Dan completed. "Chopper-sensei treated their wounds and they spent the whole time you were away reinforcing our ship."

"Ukii!"

"Yahoo! Nice! Thank you, guys!"

They did a monkey pose, so I mimicked it with my own.

"Hmmm… I don't know… just one look at this thing is enough to give me such a bad feeling about this and I can't say why…" I heard Nami saying.

"I get it… Wouldn't it be better to put a pigeon instead of a chicken? Pigeons have more to do with flying in the sky, I don't know…" Zoro said.

"_That's_ what you're worried about?" And Nami yelled at him.

"Aw, come on, don't be so ungrateful, you two." Dan said. "They had the lots of work like that to fix our ship for a reason, didn't they?"

"Come on, guys! This ship has to get moving right now! Who's with me!" Usopp screamed, energetically waving his arms.

They screamed and jumped in joy, but I had a little last thing to take care of. I walked to the old man to hand him back the gold that was his and nobody had the right to steal. I put the bag in his table waiting for him to react, but he just smoked his cigar and said nothing.

"Get to your ship, brat. You're out of time, aren't you?" He said.

"Yup! Thanks for the ship!" I thanked.

"If you're going to thank someone, it's them." He said, pointing to the monkeys, already on their ships together with their subordinates.

I obviously went to greet them and give a big thanks to the monkeys. "Thank you very much, guys! You can have this beetle as a present!"

"Coo~~~ol!" They screamed.

"Go to your ship, dude! We have no time to waste!" Mashira screamed.

"We'll lead the way, just follow us around!" Shojo called too.

They were in kind of a hurry, so I rushed back to the Merry, since I was the only one to get onboard before we could set sail.

"SARUYAMA ALLIANCE! I order you all to do it right this time!" I still heard the old man screaming.

"O~~u!"

"No matter what may come ahead, give it your best for the sake of those brats!"

"O~~~u!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

I said before I hopped back in the ship.

"There, I'm back, guys!"

"Alright, everyone, we're setting off!" Nami screamed.

"Wahoo!"

"Yes, Nami-san!"

Wait, we can't leave before we say farewell to the old man Cricket.

"Brat!"

I saw the old man running to the tip of the shore to say his last words before we parted ways for good.

"Well, this is where we go on our ways now."

"Yeah! Thanks for everything!"

"I'm certain about a little thing. Nobody proved the Sky Island and the City of Gold don't actually exist. It might go against common sense… people may laugh at your face, but who cares about that crap? All of that is part of the adventure!"

"Adventure…" The coolest thing in the world… adventure!

"That's the spirit, brat! Thanks for stealing back my gold. Another thing… don't fall off of there and die on me, ok?"

"Heheheh…" I was so happy and excited I just felt like laughing. "Leave it to us now! See you later, chestnut-head old man!"

"Thanks for everything, Cricket-san!" Nami waved goodbye.

"Boss! I believe in the City of Gold from the bottom of my heart!" Usopp screamed.

"Cricket-san! Take care of your health, ok? We want to see you healthy on our way back!" Dan screamed too.

The ship slowly sailed away from Jaya. The time is coming, I'm really excited! The Sky Island is waiting for us. A whole new, awesome adventure is waiting for us!

Full speed ahead!

* * *

**This episode was brought to you on Luffy's point of view.  
**

* * *

**Luffy recovered the stolen gold, returned it to its rightful owner and was greeted with a completely fixed and powered-up ship. The painful and dangerous journey lies ahead! The Straw Hats will now set sail to face the mysterious and powerful Knock-Up Stream, however not before bumping into more surprises on the way there! How will it all turn out? Will they ride the wave of the Knock-Up and get to the Sky Island?**

**Look forward for the next chapter!**

**Dan: "We're so going to die... we're so going to die!"  
**


	97. A brand new adventure! Aim to the sky!

**Chapter 97**

**"Ready to the journey? It's time to ride the Knock-Up Stream!"**

* * *

He~~y, people! I'm back! Did you miss me?

"Attention: it's seven in the morning! We'll arrive at our destination at around eleven! As the old man said, Knock-Up Stream is constantly on the move! So, to determine its exact…"

Four hours until the great moment. As Mashira kept shouting instructions, we all were standing around the south bird. It was chained to the railing of the front of the ship, just waiting us to take our eyes off of it to run away or to wreak some havoc just because. It will do that, just so it can pay back for having to stand there, helpless as Luffy tinkers with it, turning the bird's head to see if it can point to anywhere other than south. His head would always snap back and point ahead.

"Oi! Are you listening?" No, Mashira, we're not.

The south bird still tried to go against his nature, telling us it would turn its head the other way around and make us veer off our route, but the bird started to sweat and snapped its head back in place.

"Hey you! Wanna piss off our boss?"

Only then, with much insistence, our captain listened.

"Relax, you people! We can't be nervous all the time, right?" He replied, grinning heartily. "Let's just take it easy and get there."

"Dude… remind me who stalled us back at the shore in the first place again?" Sanji recalled.

Luffy gulped a little. Honestly, forty-five minutes late just because he was chasing a beetle… I would feel guilty if I delayed someone…

"He's right, guys. We can't keep tense for four straight hours." Mashira agreed.

"Yeah, no kidding. Guys, here's the deal: full speed ahead, but nice and easy!"

Shojo's subordinates unenthusiastically grunted their agreement and even the ships bent each to a side, as if relaxing themselves. Maybe it will do us good to just calm down and only panic when it's actually crunch time.

…

…

…

…

"Boss! Trouble ahead!"

"What's up?" Mashira rushed to heed the call.

"Night's coming from southwest! It's the Cumuloregalis!"

Ten in the morning. The terribly frightening cloud arrived one hour earlier than predicted. The monkey-men dynamic duo quickly scrambled their teams of divers to search for the stream deep in the ocean. In coordination with Shojo's powerful sonar throat, what his subordinates found forced us to rush our preparations as well.

"Echo detected! Strong oceanic current right ahead! Giant living creature found at nine o'clock! It might be a Sea King!"

"Wave running opposite to the stream found at ten o'clock! It might be a whirlpool!"

"That's it! All ships: head towards ten o'clock! That's where the blast will hit! Find the whirlpool and don't turn back!"

Mashira immediately screamed his orders so, the three ships started their travel towards the whirlpool. From now on what happens until the stream blasts away to the skies is a great big question mark, which will slowly get its answers the closer we get to the location. Surrounded by ever increasing waves, we find ourselves treading through a very violent sea, way more terrifying than it had ever been so far.

"The blast is nearby! Hold on tight!" Mashira screamed.

Meanwhile, on our ship…

"I just want to be alive… I just want to be alive! I want my mommy!"

As I threw prayers to the wind and the strong rain fell on our heads…

"Navigator-san! Where's the Log Pose pointing to?" …Robin focused in the important matters.

"Straight to that cloud!" Nami replied.

"The… the sky island's… beyond that thing?" I asked, gawking at the sheer size of the cloud. Not only the sea got rough all of a sudden, the cloud's dark center was enough to frighten the faintest of hearts. Mine, to be precise. "But Nami… I'm afraid of heights…"

"You're still on about that? We're at the point of no return now. The wind direction is on the spot. The Cumuloregalis is sitting right above the center of the whirlpool!" Nami warned.

"But Nami, I'm afraid of heights…" The real trip didn't even begin, but I was just about ready to pass out right there…

"Oi, hold on, you're talking about a whirlpool, but where's the thing?" Luffy asked.

"It's nearby, you lot! Looks like we're next to the hot spot, bro!" Mashira screamed.

"Yeah. The blast's strength is no problem either!" Shojo replied.

"We're gonna do it?" Luffy asked, cheerfully.

"You bet you are!"

"Wait, what do we do next?" Nami asked too.

"Just leave it to luck and let the waters lead you to your destination! Get as close to the whirlpool as you can and don't look back!"

Their confidence was such that Mashira's ship shot two ropes with grapplers that gripped the front of our ship. They want to pull us to the whirlpool's stream and give us the chance to go to the Sky Island, even if we have to be dragged to it.

I don't know whether to thank them or to metaphorically deck them in the face for it…

The time is coming. Each time I stared at the giant whirlpool which is about to swallow our tiny Going Merry, my stomach only hurt more and more and my nervousness shot through the roof. An absurdity of nature, its mere grandness turned us to simple drops of water about to dive head-first into darkness. Deep, isn't it? Yeah, I know.

"WE'RE GETTING SUCKED!" Usopp almost lost his marbles.

"Wait! Nobody told me we have to get into this thing!" Nami found his while losing hers…

"Stay calm, girls! Nami-san, Robin-chan! I will protect you two!" Sanji screaming…

"From what, man? From what?" I lost track of what to say or what to do…

"I never saw a whirlpool this big." Robin, in one of her rare moments of surprise, though it isn't enough to make her jaw drop…

"…!" Chopper, speechless, with an ear-to-ear sparkly smile in his face…

"PLEASE TURN BACK! PLEASE TURN BACK! AYAYAYAYAY…" Usopp, the most desperate amongst us…

"Forget it, Usopp. It's too late now. Plus, there's a certain someone who's loving all this crap…" Said Zoro…

"WE'RE GOING TO THE SKY ISLAND! AHA~~~HAHAH!" …as I didn't want to believe I was staring at Luffy excitedly jumping and laughing about the whole mess.

Concerns that would soon be child's play when a Sea King jumps out of the water right in front of us. But, instead of attacking us, the golden-yellow, purple-striped giant looked like it was knocked out by the sheer force of the stream, simply letting itself be dragged around and sink back to the whirlpool.

"Bye-bye, guys! Now it's all up to you!"

I was so scared and nervous with the whirlpool's size I barely noticed the other ships were already far away, in the safe part of the sea. Which means, we're all by ourselves.

"Nice! Thanks for the ride here-"

"COME ON, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! I'M SCARED SHITLESS! GET BACK HERE!"

"MASHIRA-SAN! SHOJO-SAN! HELP US! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"

Naturally, everyone reacted as any human in his/her right mind would, faced against a giant whirlpool swallowing everything around it. Wait, everyone except Luffy, who merely waved at the monkeys and thanked for their help. Yeah, he's got some loose screws on his head, I know that already.

"The thing's pulling us stronger now!" Chopper shouted.

"We have to get out of here, Luffy! We can still do it!" Usopp tried his last desperate effort. "That whirlpool alone is going to shred us to bits!"

"Please, Luffy, wake up! This Sky Island thing's a dream inside a dream! I want to go ba~~~ck!" I was about to kneel and beg him but…

"Yeah…"

"Yeah, Luffy! It's impossible, let's run away now, ye~~s?" Nami begged.

"An island of a dream inside a dream… If I let an awesome adventure like this pass by me, I'm going to spend my whole life in regret!"

It's hopeless… the spark in his eyes tells everything we should've known way back at the shore. He's having a blast with all this… and out of our misery.

"Hey, you! Are you going to stand there and weep? It's time, we're going in!"

Zoro pointed to the incoming darkness. I still heard Sanji screaming for Nami to hug him, but the noise of the water was louder at the moment the ship left the water and just floated in mid-air for a few seconds before gravity inevitably pulled it down towards the hole. Another harsh shock with the water later and, as if by magic, the giant whirlpool is gone from our surroundings and the previously violent sea was serene again.

"That giant hole… wha… what the hell just happened?" Usopp asked, confused.

"I know nothing anymore…" I said, quickly giving up, not even bothering to understand what just happened.

"Hold on…" Nami whispered. A little while later I started to feel the ship floor shaking and an unknown force coming from below pulled against my feet. "It's beginning… the ocean floor completely erased that whirlpool."

"HEY YOU, OVER THERE!"

Suddenly, the tense atmosphere of the imminent blast was put on hold when we spotted a small boat approaching. In it, a quite familiar face.

"We found you! Straw Hat Luffy!"

That fat, brown man with black curly hair and a few missing teeth arrived at the scene, together with who I presume are his comrades. What's the deal he wants to settle with us, especially right when a giant geyser is about to explode, is completely beyond me.

"I came to get my 100-million beri bounty! Just surrender and nobody gets hurt!"

Hold on, 100 million?

"What? That much? Wait, what do you mean?" Luffy asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Nobody told you yet, huh… You've got a 100 million beri bounty on your head now, brat! And that goes to the Pirate Hunter Zoro too! He's worth 60 million now!"

Usopp immediately whipped out his binoculars and confirmed.

"It's true! The new wanted posters are out!"

"Hey, where's my bounty? I must have one by now." I rushed to where he was.

"Hey, is there any for me too?" Sanji got to the point and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Uhhh… nope."

"Look closer!"

"Nope, none for you."

"Lemme see." I snatched his binoculars, only to see the fat man holding two posters, one on each hand. "Goddamnit… I defeated Baroque Works' third-in-command and there's no bounty for me? Luffy's tripled his value to boot!"

"Shouldn't you be happy to come out of that scot-free?" Nami stepped in. "But still, one-hundred million…"

"WAHOO! My bounty's gone up! Zoro, you got one too!" Luffy jumped, more than happy.

"Sixty million, huh… that's cheap!" Zoro joked.

"DON'T LAUGH ABOUT THAT, DAMN YOU!"

Soon we had to cut the celebrations short as the shaking got stronger…

"Guys… Do you have this feeling we are forgetting something important?" I asked.

…something below us started to pull us up harder…

"Shit… Guys! Grab onto something! The stream's going to explode!"

…Sanji screamed and prompted us to run around the ship, go to the walls, hold on to the mast and handrails…

"Nonononononono…" I prayed to all the saints when…

"HEEE~~LP!"

…finally the Knock-Up Stream exploded. It detonated with an incredible force, but instead of destroying the ship, the discharged energy managed to make it stick to the waters and allow us to, and I can't believe I'll say this, _sail vertically_. Floor became wall, wall became floor and whoever didn't hold tight onto something would be left behind and fall to the death. Everyone leaned back against the wall or held onto the handrail, except for Usopp who was literally holding for dear life, grabbing the railing with all his strength.

"The wind…"

"Nami?"

Meanwhile, Luffy just didn't care, excitedly flailed his arms around and screamed.

"Awesome! We're going to do it! GO MERRY!"

Yeah… that's it, just hold on tight and let the speed take us to the other side… or it would be if another problem didn't show up.

"Guys… the hull's pulling away from the water!" Sanji alerted.

Slowly the hull started to lift and threatened to turn the ship upside-down, what's precisely the last thing any of us wanted to happen. With my heart jumping inside, keeping calm is what seems absurd. Right when we were going to think about a way of keeping our ship on course, came falling down a great example why that's exactly what we were supposed to be doing. Remember that Sea King being sucked by the whirlpool? It lost its power mid-way through the trip and sped past us like an arrow going back down to the sea.

"It's not long before we end up like that thing!" Sanji called.

"But man, we got all the thrust from that blast! I don't see what we can do now!" Zoro argued.

The talk had to stop there, since more debris came falling against us. Wrecked parts, wooden planks, probably from other ships' failed attempts to get to the fabulous island.

"AAAH! Knock-Up victims!" Chopper screamed, terrified.

"We're done for! We're going to turn upside-down, crash on the sea and it's game over!"

"Shut the hell up, Usopp-kun! I don't want to die!" All this is too much for my fragile heart… "I AM AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!"

"Release the sails! Now!"

Nami yelled, determinedly, putting a stop on the wave of despair assaulting us.

"I know what I'm going to say will sound absurd, but we're still in the sea! It's a water current! Plus, the wind blowing upwards is here thanks to that geothermal explosion and the vapor! So, as long as we have wind and sea, we can sail!" Without a single stutter, she explained.

"Nami…"

"Who's the navigator around here?"

She's right… we can't afford to lose our cool now. The trip isn't over until we get to the other side! It's time to overcome our fears and go forward!

Taken by a sudden burst of confidence, I clenched my fist and stepped in to say some words of support. "Just as she said, guys! Everyone, get ready!" Some eyes turned to me in surprise. "It's Sky Island or bust! And I'm all for the first one!"

"O~u!"

"Someone get to the helm! There's wind coming from starboard! Put the hull straight with the stream!" Nami screamed.

"Yossha!"

The front of the ship lifted ever so slowly, as if at any moment the ship would turn upside-down, stop and fall back to the sea, but once we released the sails and watched them puff ahead with the wind coming from below, the ship set itself straight together with the stream… and the ship _literally lifted off_. Again, I can't believe I'm saying this, but the ship has taken off, _flying right above the vertical stream_.

"WE'RE FLYING!" Or that. Luffy's better at summing things up. "AWESOME! INCREDIBLE!"

"Fantastic…"

"Yosh! It worked!"

"Nami! Is this really going to lead us to the Sky Island?" I asked, hopeful.

"With this wind and the strength of the stream, we'll get there for sure! If it does exist… the Sky Island is sitting beyond this cloud!"

With the sheer speed the ship traveled, the scary Cumuloregalis went by faster than I expected. We're about to do something many tried, but only a select few managed to do: burst through the clouds and reach the sky!

We pierced right into the cloud, an amorphous white mass surrounding us everywhere, zipping past us at a high speed. I just held it the tightest I could, hoping it would be over soon, but for some reason, in the final stretch, I started to feel a sudden lack of air and shortness of breath. Soon it got difficult to see anything and I felt my body being bathed by what I thought to be rainwater. I tried my best to keep awake, but the fatigue and the altitude knocked me out and from then on, I don't know what happened.

Did I fall? Did the ship get through? Where we are? I just hope everyone gets there safely…

…

…

"…up… wake up! Dan! Come on, dude! Get up!"

"Urrghh… Ow, my head hurts…"

"Cool, man! Are you alright?" I slowly opened my eyes, seeing two red blurs looking at me and talking with Luffy's voice.

"Ow… ouch… not quite alright… guys… is everyone here?" Still dizzy and spitting a splash of water, I tried to talk to whoever was awake at the time.

"Wow… I'm beat…" Zoro replied weakly.

"Are we dead?" I asked as I got back up.

"No, man, we're very much alive. Before that… check out the scenery!"

When I stood up, Luffy pointed to a random point around us. I turned, looked around and soon the landscape would catch my eye: it's completely white. That white mass we sped through was the only distinguishable element in our surroundings. Merry, more or less intact, only lost its wings and found itself literally _resting above the clouds_. Did we die and go to heaven? Did we survive and _got to heaven_? Is this all an illusion? In a moment our lives were hanging by a thread and in the next, everything was over. And I missed the end of it.

"Someone pinch me…" I whispered. "Ow!"

Luffy apparently heard my mumblings and actually pinched me. And it hurt. Great, we're not dead.

"We're floating… but how?" Nami asked, baffled.

"Hey, of course we're floating. We're on the clouds, we can float on them." But, Luffy…

"Not a chance in hell, man!" …clouds don't work that way.

"Clouds… clouds-AAAAAHH!" Usopp had also been knocked out, rebooting with a scream. "Wah, clouds! Lots of 'em! Hey, what happened?"

"We're at the… celestial sea." Nami whispered. "Hold on a second, the Log Pose's still pointing up."

"We must be at a middle section of the Cumuloregalis." Robin explained.

"Do we have to climb even higher, then?" Chopper asked.

"Apparently yes, but don't ask me how…"

Meanwhile, laughter and noise came from nearby as Usopp took off the top of his jumpsuit and did a pose on the railing.

"Yaahahahahah! Behold! Captain Usopp shall be the first to swim in this sea!"

"Hey now, don't go fooling around! We know nothing about this sea."

Sanji alerted, but a sea is a sea, Usopp reasoned back before putting on his goggles and diving inside the clouds. So, we silently waited.

"So nice for him, huh… I want to swim too…" Luffy pouted.

"Yeah, so nice…" Chopper too.

Silence… silence…

"Umm, hey. He's not… coming back." Zoro warned, somewhat meekly.

"Just a thing… does this sea have a floor?"

"OH SHIT!"

Robin's apparently thrown-at-random question quickly sparked many conclusions which all come down to this: Usopp fell out of the cloud. In turn, that prompted Luffy to swing his arm down to the sea and continually stretch it.

"Ojos Fleur!"

Robin volunteered to be his eyes and search for our shooter. She closed her eyes, crossed her arms, concentrated hard and stayed like this for a few moments.

"I found him!"

"Where?"

"Leave it with me. Veinte Fleur!"

Only she knows what she's doing. We can just wait and hope she's able to save him…

"There. Pull him up now."

"You caught him? Nice! Here it go~~~es!"

Luffy struggled incredibly just to pull his arm back up. He seemed to have some sort of extra weight. He tried hard enough for the veins in his face to bulge until he finally pulled Usopp out of the sea. Unfortunately, he also pulled out a giant octopus and a Sea King, both with their eyes dead set on their breakfast named Usopp.

"Come on, you're scared of those things?"

Once he said this absurdity, Zoro went to prove everyone it wasn't that absurd. He leapt a huge distance in the air and launched two slashes towards the octopus who exploded like a balloon, instead of getting sliced in neat chunks. Time for the Sea King to strike, however, Sanji used his natural jumping impulse to gain height and unleash a powerful kick in the animal's head, sending it back to the depths of the sea.

"That's strange… animals lying amongst the clouds?" Nami, incredulous.

"That only means we must think about this area as an ocean, not a set of clouds." Robin said.

As the captain and our doctor fussed about the giant flat fish we found and which is currently resting its teeth in our ship's railing, Usopp once again rebooted from the shock with a scream.

"AAAAHHHH!"

"What's wrong this time, Usopp-kun?" I asked.

"Something's inside my underweahhn~~~…" He said as he flailed around and threw a fish away from his underwear. He then laid back in the ground, muttering something like 'sky island scary, sky island scary, sky island scary'.

"So… this is a celestial fish…" Robin grabbed it as it still wiggled wildly on her hands searching for its last bits of air. "That exquisite fish Norland wrote about in his diary. Since this sea has no bottom, it must've adapted to it in order to survive."

"Like turning into a balloon or having a flat body?" Zoro asked.

"To be lighter. Looks like it's easier to sink in this sea than in ours."

Then… why aren't we sinking too? Guess it's a question which will remain unanswered…

"Its scales look like feathers… doesn't seem edible to me…

Lady, you're oh so wrong, because while we were discussing the mysteries this fish could possibly hide, Luffy snatched it from Robin's hands and handed it to Sanji, who in a few seconds cooked it in a delicious-looking sauté. At first Nami got annoyed with the two for what they've done, but soon her heart changed when her stomach convinced it to taste our cook's newest meal.

As they tasted the fish-oh shoot, I forgot to get my bit. Oh well. As I was saying, I spotted Chopper standing on a side of the ship, looking around with the binoculars.

"Did you find something, doctor?" I walked nearby.

"Not yet… hold on… there! I found a ship! A ship and… a person?" Chopper detected movement far away, suddenly going pale and trembling.

"What's wrong, doctor?"

I snatched the binoculars and located the ship as it was falling apart and sinking into the ocean. As for the person, he was nowhere to be found.

"What the…"

"Chopper! Dan! What are you doing?" Sanji and Zoro went to check on us.

"Guys! There's a ship nearby! No, there was, I mean, it's not there anymore! And then there's a bull coming here in a squared cloud and…" Chopper tried to explain, but he was panicking and flailing around so much, nobody really knew what on earth he was trying to say.

"C-calm down, please, doctor! They won't understand you this way."

"Dan, can you tell what's going on?" Sanji asked, irritated.

"Uh, we saw a ship far away, but it sank and, hold on… what's that noise?"

I stopped talking when I heard something approaching us. I turned to see whatever was coming, or rather, the man sliding through the clouds. I had no time to ask whether my eyes were tricking me because when I went to the front of the ship to check out more closely, I found out it wasn't an illusion. The painful way. He suddenly jumped out of the clouds only to land a kick right in my face, sending me flying several meters backwards, flipping and crashing on my back on the lower floor.

"Nice… it wasn't a mirage…" I said as I got back up.

"AAH! HE'S GONNA SHOOT AT US!"

Chopper's scream prompted me to turn my head up and scour the skies after the masked man. Once I found him, I paled when I saw his enormous bazooka pointed right at us and about to shoot…

"That's enough!"

However, another man leaps to the fray and pushes his spear against the shield of the first one, sending him away, flying through the clouds. The interloper floated in mid-air right before he made a perfect landing in the handrail of our Merry, facing away from us.

"W-w-w-who are you?"

The man donned some sort of stylized medieval armor, adorned with a black cape in its back and he also wielded a jousting spear. He then turned to us and showed his uncovered face, since his helmet's visor was up.

He then introduced himself, followed by a cry from his pet falcon.

"I'm the Knight of the Sky."

* * *

**The trip up the clouds was frightful, terrifying, but the Straw Hats managed to get there! Alive! Yay! However, as soon as they arrived, a peculiar character greeted them. Who is that armor-clad man and his pet falcon? What mysteries do they hide?  
**

**Look forward for the next chapter! The trip goes on!  
**


	98. People with wings! Heso

**Chapter 98**

**"Heaven's Gate and the angels of the cloud beach"**

* * *

"He left."

Just to be sure… there's an armor-clad man as a 'guest' of our ship and he's just done driving off an extremely hostile masked individual who already sunk a ship before he was about to sink ours.

"What… what just happened? Who is he? Also… what happened to you lot, huh? That was pathetic! Even with four of you, nobody could land a single hit on that guy?"

Oh, that's rich. Yet another round of Nami's complaints.

"What do you want me to do? I just took a dynamic entry to the face, remember?" I yelled, massaging my cheek. "Ouch… but that wasn't supposed to hurt this much… it must be the metal."

"That was pathetic…" Sanji, panting.

"I don't know why but… I'm really tired!" Luffy lay on his back, panting hard as well.

"It must be due to the thin air." Robin said.

"So, you're from the Sea Below?"

The old man asked, walking up the stairs to the above floor. Skipping the proper introductions, he explained that the cloud inhabitants call the surface-dwellers the Inhabitants of the Sea Below. Nonchalantly, feeling at home, he sat on the railing of the upper floor.

"I suppose you arrived here from the Blue Sea, did you not?" He asked, to what Luffy nodded affirmatively. "Not surprising to me… Now listen: this is the White Sea, located seven kilometers above your Sea Below. Higher above from us lies the White-White Sea, ten kilometers away from the ground. The point is, this environment is very bad for you Inhabitants of the Sea Below."

"Umm… sir, as you might suspect, we have lots and lots of questions to ask, do you have the time?" I stepped forward before anyone else jumped to the interrogatory.

"No." Directly, he said. "And that's why I'm going straight to business. I'm a free agent working in a sea of many dangers. Since you know nothing about sky battles, if you're not careful, you'll become easy prey to guerrilla soldiers or celestial fish. But one call and I will save you for the price of 5 million extols."

Wait, you mean we have to pay for him to rescue us?

"Extols? What's that?" We asked in unison.

The old man got flustered and flailed around. "You mean you did not come from the High West? You must have stopped in at least one or two islands before you got here, did you not?"

"H… hold on a second!" Before anyone said anything, Nami stepped in. "There are other ways to get here? One or two islands… you mean there are _more than one_ Sky Island?"

"For you to ask these questions… don't tell me you boarded the…"

"If you mean the Knock-Up Stream, yes, we used it to get here." Robin stated.

"You faced that monstrosity of a current? I thought there were no more brave souls to do such an absurdity…"

That comment sent Nami into a crying rage fit and made her grab Luffy and shake him senseless. Venting her frustration at him, yelling we could have avoided that messy trip with a bit more information and things like that… and beside them, Usopp lay down as he returned, muttering prayers. I could only sigh and facepalm at the scene.

"Did you lose some crewmate?" The knight asked.

"Huh? Ah, no, we didn't. Everyone's here." I replied.

"That's a relief. Just so you know, you wouldn't be so lucky on the other routes. If you brought a hundred people, it'd be a gamble to know how many would survive the trip, but it wouldn't be the same hundred, I assure you. With the Knock-Up Stream, either everyone does it or they all die. However, just a few souls are willing to risk losing it all, especially in the past few years. I respect confident navigators like you."

Suddenly, I felt as if the scare and shock I experienced before was totally worth it. But if you really look back, it indeed was. We went through the perils of that trip to get here, but only after a strange man in armor told us this, it dawned on me.

"Yeah, that's true! This is the route I chose to take! When the others despaired and cried in sorrow, I said: Iamthuffrgl…"

"You had to wake up now, Usopp-kun?" I pulled him aside by the cheek.

"Remember, young ones. Blow this whistle and I will descend from the skies to rescue you." He said as he tossed a small silver whistle on a string. "I normally charge 5 million extols to visitors, but for you I can do it for free. Once." He stood back up, turned his back to us and prepared to leave.

"Hold on! We don't know your name!" Nami screamed.

"I'm Gan Fall, the Knight of the Sky. This is my trusty partner, Pierre." The falcon cried an acknowledgement. "Ah, I forgot to mention, my partner Pierre…"

The pink falcon jumped from his position and started to writhe in mid-air as the claws he already possessed turned into paws and he gained another pair.

"…he has the powers of the Horse-Horse Fruit."

And his pointy beak turned into the nose of a horse.

"That means he can transform into a winged horse at will!"

"A Pegasus?" Cue Nami squeeing…

…for nothing, since the result of the transformation wasn't worth of a squee. At all. It still looked like an ugly, pink horse with purple dots on his body and the cry of a falcon. That beast's failed attempt of a cool Pegasus pose forced me to muffle my laughter…

"So weird…" The others said.

"I wish you luck, heroes of the sea!" Said Gan Fall on the gallop of his horse… or the flight of his falcon… or horse, I don't know. Point is, he's going away.

"Now that's what I call strange…" Sanji quipped.

"Umm, was there any point to him transforming his falcon?" Nami, still confused.

"Dunno~~~…"

"Well, he didn't tell us anything useful after all." Robin lamented.

"So… how the hell are we going to go up?" What Gan Fall didn't tell, Zoro recalled.

"Well, if we blow the whistle, he'll be back, right… I know! Let's call him and ask how-"

"NO, DON'T DO THAT, LUFFY! It's for emergencies only!"

While Nami and Usopp tugged to the captain to stop him from using the whistle, we reassessed our situation.

"Guys, look! Strange clouds over there!" Chopper pointed.

Far, far away on the horizon, amongst the endless white, he spotted a vertical cloud that appeared to be moving.

"Looks like a waterfall…" Robin noticed.

"It's our best choice now. Let's head there and find out." Zoro concluded.

With that, it was decided that we would sail through the White Sea towards the waterfall cloud. However, as we approached it, we stopped right before two giant clouds that mounted some sort of barrier. They had to be a special type of cloud, since they floated on the sea, but the only way to find out was…

"Touching them! GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!"

Fascinated with finding out the cloud he just touched bounced his punch off, Luffy smiled broadly, wasting no time to jump off the ship…

"Look guys, I'm bouncing! It doesn't sink! It's fluffy!" Luffy said as he let his body jump around in the comfortable cloud. Chopper got excited too, widening his eyes. Usopp as well hopped off with a mighty leap and joined the fun, with our doctor following him right behind. And there were the three, jumping about in the cloud and laughing their hearts out.

"Awww… that looks so fun… I want it too!" I pouted, with a bit of envy.

"Then why don't you jump out too, Writer-san?" Frankly, I don't know whether her question was honest or sarcastic…

"You do see how my legs are trembling, don't you?"

Meanwhile…

"Hmmm… if these clouds keep floating here, we won't get through…" Nami thought aloud. "Hey, you! You're there already so, could you please go around and search another route we can go through?" She yelled to the trio.

They walked on the bouncy clouds, searching alternate paths. When they returned to the ship, they said they discovered a giant gate-like structure nearby the waterfall cloud. Thus, our ship sailed on a slow journey, sneaking through the gaps between the elastic clouds and getting to a section of open sea where the tunnel they spotted indeed was, immediately leading us to classify it is a human construction. The waterfall, away on the horizon before, now showed its true size and imponence, falling right behind the tunnel which carried the banner 'Heaven's Gate'.

"Heaven's Gate? Aw man… the entrance to the heavens? What a tasteless joke, sounds like we're dead and going to the afterlife!" Usopp complained, fearfully.

"What's wrong about it? What if we actually are dead and going to the afterlife?" Don't joke about that, Zoro…

"Yeah, that's right… the weirdness we saw so far would make sense if we were…"

"Pinch."

"Ouch! What was that for?"

I decided to end their talk by pinching Zoro.

"You felt that, didn't you? That proves we're not dead. Now please stop treating such stuff like it's the most natural thing in the world, get it? I lost track of how many times I thought I would die in the overall trip now!"

"Hmph, if you're going to pinch someone, do it on yourself!" Zoro replied.

"I wouldn't have conclusive proof if I did."

"Talking like a scientist now?"

With the small talk over, I turned my eyes back to the slowly approaching main gate. Usopp called us all to the front of the ship when he saw a person appearing in the gate, probably to give us some welcome messages.

The ship entered the gate, turning and stopping right in front of the person who came out from one of the doors inside the large tunnel. She was a very wrinkly old lady who constantly took photos on her camera. She was wearing a simple light pink dress and, to our shock…

"She's got wings!" Chopper screamed.

"Wings? You mean, she's an angel? That means, all the angels here are like her? But she's like, what, a dried plum!" Luffy shouted too, genuinely surprised.

Then, silence. We waited awkwardly quite a long time for the old lady to say something.

"W-well…"

"I am Amazon, the ward of Heaven's Gate." After that long pause, she finally spoke up and introduced herself. "Did you come to visit or to fight?"

"Umm… visiting is much more appropriate, lady…" Nami said, trying to be polite, but tripping up in her own words.

"We want to get to the Sky Island!" Luffy, who doesn't know what awkward is, intervened. "It's beyond this waterfall, isn't it?"

Silence…

"Doesn't matter to me. I just want you to pay the immigration fee. One billion extols per person and you're free to go." She explained, with her barely-audible voice.

Alright, we don't need to do any extravagant—ONE BILLION?

"Again that extol thingy." Sanji commented.

"One billion per person? What the hell… wait, how much is that in beri?" Usopp thought aloud, looking at his fingers. "Goddamn… we have to pay that much just to get in?"

"Eight billion in total… I wonder if we have all that money?" I asked.

"I don't know either. Look, here goes nothing." Nami turned to talk to the granny. "Um, excuse me, about the money… what happens if we don't have…"

"You're free to go."

"WE ARE?"

"Also, you're free to turn back."

"Huh?"

I wonder… who in their right mind puts an old lady as a gatekeeper? I guess she's a bit too senile already for this…

"I'm not a guardian in a classical sense, nor am I in the shape to be a warrior anymore…" Oh, at least she's self-conscious. "I just listen and accept the decisions of whoever goes through here."

"Oh, ok, since you say so! Well, we're going, then!" Luffy yelled.

"We don't have the money, but we're going through, granny!" Usopp screamed too.

"Understood! You're eight in total, aren't you?" Amazon replied.

"Yeah, we are. But how are we going to get to the Sky–"

It was precisely when two giant shrimp claws grabbed both sides of the ship. I lost my balance, falling flat on my ass when the thing moved forward toward the giant waterfall. Here we were, hanging on for dear life again in a high-speed journey that is this three kilometer climb. The ship was taken to a large strip of cloud similar to an ascending spiral stream, climbing on it. Two, three, four, five and more turns on a path that kept getting darker as the clouds surrounded us everywhere. Our goal would soon be the light at the end. The ship only sailed faster through the curves until it sped past another inscription buried on the clouds near the light.

"The God Land, Skypiea!" Robin read it.

We're near the exit of this stretch of climb… which is the entrance to the promised land…

…the Sky Island, Skypiea!

Excitement and anxiety were written all over us. The ship crossed the light and for a few moments I felt my body lighter, as the ship was pushed away and floated for a couple of seconds before the hull touched sea again. When everything became clear around us, we found ourselves sailing peacefully through the White-White Sea.

"An island… IT'S THE SKY ISLAND!" Luffy screamed in pure joy.

We are here.

At last… after going through so much trouble and despairing more than once, we're here.

"Skypiea… the same name written in the map Luffy found!" Nami recalled. "That means the galleon that fell on us really sailed here… two hundred years ago, they saw what we're seeing right now!"

"Incredible…" I whispered.

Ahead of us, a beach. A regular beach and a regular shore, just like in the earth ten thousand meters below us. The catch is that the island we're seeing is all cloud. Striking elements of the landscape are the giant sets of stairs that seemed to connect the denser, larger clouds hiding some houses. The ship approached the shore, stopping right on the boundary between sea and land.

"Wow, what is this place?" Luffy asked, smiling from ear to ear, after he took a long, deep breath and felt the air of Skypiea. "I feel the scent of adventure!"

Thus he was the first to hop off towards the beach. Usopp jumped after him, falling face-first in the shallow water, emerging out of it with wide eyes.

"Don't tell me… this island's made from that fluffy cloud?" Usopp asked, stunned.

"Yes, I tell you… this island's made from that fluffy cloud! Probably!" Luffy replied, smiling still.

"Fluffy cloud!"

There the duo goes. Running around the beach and fooling around. Chopper jumped out as well while Nami rushed to her quarters to change clothes.

"Hey, what do we do to the anchor? This sea has no bottom." Zoro asked.

"Hmm, let's see…" I walked to the anchor and dropped it off, watching as it touched the ground and stayed there. "Well, it does have a bottom, at least in the shallow part.

"Anyway, what an astounding scenery…" Zoro stated, looking around. "Right out of a dream."

"Yeah…" Sanji completed as he took off his shoes and folded the sleeves of his shirt. "The way they're enjoying themselves here, it can't be helped… Yahoo! Here I go!" He jumped on the railing and leapt out with an enthusiastic shout.

"Even you…"

"Owowowowowowow, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Nami-chan?"

Suddenly, Nami bursts out of the door with the south bird pecking her head right before it flew away and left her tending to the pain on her head.

"Damn… I forgot we had to release that bird…" She said, grunting.

"Just leave it alone. That bird knows how to get around." Zoro replied.

"What about the anchor?" Nami asked.

"It's stuck in a cloud already. The fluffy cloud we found before is the ground of this island." I replied.

"Which means this island is floating above the sea." Robin joined the talk. "But does it stay in the same place?"

"I don't know but… we can find out by ourselves. Truth is there are many things we won't believe right away they exist. Well, at least we're here to see them. Here I go!" Nami hopped off. "Wow, nice! I can feel it with my own body! Guys, come down here! You're going to feel way better once you touch your feet on this water, you'll see!" She then ran toward the beach, with her arms outstretched.

Then, I decided to go along with the flow. The worst is over, so it's time to relax and enjoy. Folding my pants up, unbuttoning my white shirt and revealing my other white, sleeveless shirt under it, I hopped on the railing.

"Robin-san, Zoro-san, won't you come too?" I asked.

"Ah, we will, we will." Zoro replied.

"Scent of adventure… huh?" Robin whispered, pensive. "To think about sailing and arriving at an island as just parts of an adventure… it never occurred to me…" She jumped to the railing. "Are you coming, Writer-san?"

"Yeah, I… hey, you! Again with that 'Writer-san' stuff? I have a name, you know?"

Walking on the shallow water, we got to the beach where the others already were frolicking around and enjoying themselves. The sand was bluish-white, but other than that, just the same as regular sand. Robin and I headed each to a side. Peacefully walking around, I saw Chopper rolling on the sand, Luffy hanging upside-down from a tree and Usopp messing with the sand.

"Hey, Captain, how's the view from up there?" I asked with a smile.

"Nice, it's really awesome! Huh? Look! I found a weird fruit!" Luffy stretched his arms and yanked a giant green pumpkin from the top of a tree. "Thanks for the me~~al!"

Luffy found out right in the first bite that his teeth would be powerless before the mighty pumpkin shell.

"Ouch! Fudge! This thing's hard!" He complained, hitting its shell. "Hey, Dan! Open this thing!"

He tossed the pumpkin down not caring if it would hit Usopp's head, which it did. I could only sweatdrop. You do realize you could've knocked him out with that thing? Was what I wanted to say…

While the two squabbled over the incident, I decided to investigate the fruit closely. Precisely… how do I open this thing? Let's stop and think about it: Punching it open will only end with broken fingers for me, so… ah, this. I grabbed a long piece of wood lost in the forest and tried smashing it open. Holding the wooden stick the tightest I could, I unleashed the first blow.

Nothing.

Tried hitting it repeatedly.

Not a single crack.

"Grr, I'm gonna smash you open, dammit!" I cursed.

I tried an unorthodox move, but my front flip leaning on the pumpkin, followed by my throwing it to the ground did not work. Once again, I resorted to the stick, this time bringing it downwards with all my strength, but the pumpkin didn't even move, instead breaking the stick in two.

"Hey, how's it doing? Huh?" Luffy ran to check on me, unwittingly catching the broken flying shard of the stick.

"I'm still trying… to… open… this bitch… of a pumpkin!" I said, throwing the fruit against the sand.

"You want some help?" Luffy volunteered.

"Nice timing. I have an idea."

Which consists in the following: Luffy holds the pumpkin on his hands. I walk back a good thirty steps, sprint forward full speed and jump to the air in the exact moment Luffy throws the pumpkin for me to grab. Pumpkin in hand, I focus all my upper strength to throw it to the ground, hoping it will end in delicious pulpy pumpkin for all!

"Hungry Tiger Throw!"

The pumpkin crashes on the ground with a loud thump. Feet back on earth, I pant, hoping the cloud of sand clears to reveal an open pumpkin… it didn't work? Shit!

"Aaaah! That's one hard pumpkin!"

However, at the time I officially gave up on opening that damn fruit, a music started to play. My ears could be tricking me, but it didn't sound like it.

"What wonderful sound is this?"

The sound of a harp. An alluring harp. A sound that brings to mind the stories of explorers drawn to the song and melody of mermaids in the middle of the sea… so beautiful it was, I found myself walking towards the source of the sound, as if infatuated with its chords.

"Who's playing this melody? Is it…"

"An angel…" I heard Sanji's whisper. "Over there!"

The shadows parted ways and revealed the silhouette standing on the top of a fluffy cloud. Sporting white wings, pale skin, braided light blonde hair (with two unusual antennae on top), dressed in a short, simple pink dress that leaves the legs uncovered, and wearing sandals. An angel!

"She's pretty…" I remarked.

A short pause and…

"Heso."

Heso?

"What did she say?" Luffy asked.

"Umm… bellybutton?" I said, confused.

"Suu, come here." Suu?

A quick wail answered her call and a tiny little fox walked to the arms of her owner. "You came from the Sea Below?" The young lady asked, walking towards us.

"Yes, we did. You live here?" Luffy asked back.

"Yes. Welcome to Angel Beach. Let me guess, you want to eat this fruit?" She asked, pointing to the impossible-to-open pumpkin.

"We want to eat it… but I don't know how on earth we're going to open this… hu-what?"

I widen my eyes when I see her easily work the pumpkin. She turned it upside-down, grabbed a knife and made a circular cut in its center, effortlessly. The pumpkin's tough armor defeated by a simple kitchen knife.

"The top of this conashu is hard as steel. If you bite it, you might lose a few teeth. So, the best way is to open it from the bottom. There! Taste it." She put a straw on the hole and gave it to us.

"Deli~~~cious!" Luffy, Usopp and I said in unison when we proved the conashu's delicious juice.

"Ah, sorry for the delay. My name is Conis. This is my little fox and her name's Suu." She said, petting it. "If you need anything, I'm here to help you."

"Yeah, about that… this piercing stare of yours just went through my heart-OWOWOWOW!"

"Excuse… me!" Before Sanji's angel-wooing instincts kicked in, Nami tossed him aside by the ear. "Um, we do need you to tell us lots of things about here… this place's totally new to us."

"Of course, ask all you want."

"Hey, guys, something's coming here." Zoro called.

"Ah, that's just my dad. Heso, daddy!"

"Conis, my dear! Heso!"

"Again with that weird greeting!" Luffy commented.

He came from the sea, speeding over the waves in some sort of boat that emitted a strange engine noise… what could it be?

"What's that thing he's riding?" I asked.

"He's in a Waver." Conis said.

Waver? Hmm… now, where did I hear that name again? I'm sure it was-ah, old man, watch out!

"Ayayayay!"

For some reason, when he approached the shore, he totally lost control of his ride, wasn't able to brake on time and ended up flying and crashing on the sand. His thingamajig also flipped over a few times before resting partly buried in the sand.

"My God, are you alright?"

I ran to check how he was after such a nasty crash.

"Did… did anyone get hurt?"

"We should be asking you that, sir!"

I helped the man get back up and retrieved his Waver. He's a bald man (well, almost, he also has those hair antennae), dressed in a sleeveless golden-yellow robe. He sported hairy eyebrows and a round, weirdly well-cultivated beard covering his mouth and his eyes were permanently closed. I wonder how he's able to see?

He stood back up, straightened his clothes, thanked for the help and introduced himself.

"I'm fine now, thanks, sorry. Conis, my dear, are these your friends?" He asked.

"Yes. They're from the Sea Below." She replied.

"I understand… I apologize for this unsightly entrance… my name is Pagaya. I'm sorry. Since you're here, how about you stay in our home for the while? We were going to make lunch now. I'm sorry."

Does he really need to end every sentence with an apology?

Him talking about food immediately caught Sanji's interest for Sky Island's cuisine. Nami, on her turn, walked to Pagaya's Waver and inspected it curiously.

"You didn't need sails to move around and you weren't rowing it. Ok, how does this boat move so fast?"

"Umm… have you ever heard about Dials?"

Obviously not until you mentioned it! Man, I guess we have lots and lots to learn about this place…

* * *

**Citizens with wings, who make strange greetings! Having sailed past Heaven's Gate, the Straw Hats are now ten thousand meters above sea level, on the fabulous Sky Island, Skypiea. However, their lifestyle's way different from the one of the Inhabitants of the Sea Below. What do the celestials have to show us?**

** Find out in the next chapter! The trip goes on!  
**


	99. Curiosity and anxiety! The Upper Yard

**Chapter 99**

**"Upper Yard, the sacred ground! Desecrators shall be punished!"**

* * *

"Waaaah! Wa-wa-wa-why is this thing s-s-s-sh-shaking so m-much? I CAN'T STOP IT! WAAH!"

There goes Luffy flipping to the water in a spectacular crash with the Waver. Chopper immediately jumped in the water, however, both he and the captain fell victim to the Devil Fruit's effect: despite being made of clouds, _it's still seawater_. Conclusion: both had to be rescued by non-Fruit users before they fell out of the sea and Usopp's little episode happened all over again.

Again retrieved the Waver back to shore, I decided to step forward and test it out myself.

"Pagaya-san, can I ride now?" I asked.

"Yes, young lad, but be cautious. Wavers require specially delicate maneuvering. Any little wave affects your handling of the boat. Only someone with good knowledge of the seas can tame it."

"Gulp… not that motivating, is it…" I swallowed hard.

"It is like this… I have this thing for a couple years now, but even I'm still learning how to use it properly." Conis's experience did nothing to tranquilize me.

Still, I decided to just go through with it and test-drive the machine. Taking control of the handlebars and putting my feet on the pedals, I quickly found myself trying to balance my weight and having to watch the pedals. I put a little gas, feeling the boat speed up. Mr. Pagaya wasn't kidding. Any slight movement I did and the boat would turn where I didn't intend it to.

"Wow, this boat's really light!"

Slowly I felt confident enough to accelerate the boat, first in a straight line, then doing wide turns. As I gained speed, I started to get the hang of delicately using my hands and feet. I risked a few sharp turns, learning where to put my weight.

"Nice! I can ride this! Wow, guys, look at this! So cool! Pagaya-sa~~n!"

"Don't take your eyes off your front! Or else…"

"Or what? Huh? WhoahwhoaAAAH!"

Unfortunately I ended up finding out what he meant by that. The painful way. By waving to the shore, I immediately lost control of the pedal, put more throttle on it than I should, unwittingly turning the handle. Needless to say, it all ended with me face-first in the water and the Waver flipping away to God-knows-where.

Fortunately, as I am a non-Fruit user (which I like to remind) and I landed relatively near the shore, I managed to stand up by myself, wipe away the excess water and retrieved the Waver for the third time.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry…" Pagaya said.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, Pagaya-san. You're right, this thing's too light! But mastering it is like trying to ride a bike. You can't learn it without scraping your knees at least once." I said, returning the boat to him.

"I'm sorry…"

"Except if you crash here, you won't scrape just the knees… c'mon, give it to me now, I want to ride this thing."

Which she did right away.

"Wow! This is awesome!"

"How is she handling that thing?" Luffy said, completely baffled.

"Impressive!" Pagaya too.

I tried to be delicate in handling that thing by not putting full throttle and controlling the turns, but it ended in a crash anyway. Nami, however, as soon as she put her hands on the handlebars, she pounded on the gas and sped away with absolutely no trouble to steer it around.

"Wahoo! This thing's incredible! It's so delicate you wouldn't handle it in a thousand years, Luffy!"

"Hey! Nami! I wanna ride too!" Luffy yelled. "We're going to gramps' house! Get off now!"

"No way! I want to stay here and ride more! Can I, Pagaya-san?"

"You can, but be careful!" He said, before turning to us. "Young ones, I'm sorry but, do you want to walk around Angel Island before lunch?"

…

…

…

"Hey, old man, is that a construction site?" Usopp asked, standing atop a cloud.

"Ah, yes. There are the cloud cutters." Pagaya replied.

Walking on the large stairs passing through the great blobs of fluffy cloud, the great part of Angel Island's landscape. Pagaya told us they are actually used as raw material for the island's workers to build… basically everything. Even the Milky Road (that spiraling route) through which we came was made from clouds cut and molded by the construction workers.

"There are two naturally-occurring types of clouds. The type through which you pass with your ships is called sea cloud. And there's the fluffy cloud you can walk on, which is called island cloud." Pagaya explained as we walked through the stairs.

"Is there any difference between them, Pagaya-san?" I asked.

"Yes. It's their solidification factor. You probably have heard about a substance called seastone, right?"

"Seastone?" Robin parroted. "What does it have to do with all that?"

"It's found in particles of protein and sulfur, which are thrown in the air with the volcanic ash. It's called pyrobloin. When these particles combine with water, the difference in density determines whether sea clouds or island clouds are formed."

He then went on to explain that clouds we're able to find are both the sea and island clouds, but there are also the synthetic clouds, made from the island clouds. Throughout his exposition, we barely noticed we had made it to the end of the walk. The city entrance gate stood right ahead of us.

"Wow, what a nice view!" Luffy said. I turned around and watched the clouds right below us. Also, a black spot far away frolicking at the sea.

"Nami… damn, how come she's so good at riding that thing? Go sink, you-"

"Cut it out!" Sanji kicked him upside the head, which made him bite his tongue. He then dragged him to the entrance.

…

…

Everyone made their way to the living room of the father and daughter angel's house. A very spacious room of white walls and wooden doors connecting the room to the kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. We heard the comforting chime of a small wind bell as it waved along with the barely existent breeze blowing past. Sitting in the comfy island cloud sofas, I immediately lost the will to stand back up.

"WAH! THEN DON'T LEAVE IT HERE SITTING AROUND!" Glass breaking in the kitchen… "I ate a full damn spoonful of that thing!"

"I'm sorry, did you cut yourself?"

"No!"

Back on our side…

"Sounds like he's having a lot of fun in the kitchen, isn't he?" Luffy asked.

"I bet he's just excited about Sky Island's cuisine thing." Usopp joked.

Let's get back to business, shall we?

"Since we're here already, can you tell us more about Dials, lady?" Robin asked.

"Sure. Well… it's quite complex, where can I start…" She thought for a few seconds, then she walked to her chest of drawers, grabbed a spiraly seashell lying on it and gave it to the captain.

"A shell? This is a Dial?"

"Yes. It's nothing special at first glance, but try saying something to it."

"Ok… Usopp's a moro~~n!"

"Why are you speaking about me?"

Conis giggled. "Now press the apex of this shell."

"Apex?"

"It's the center, the highest point. Here."

_"Usopp's a moro~~n!"_

_"Why are you speaking about me?"_

"AH! The shell's mocking Usopp!"

"And that's with Luffy's voice too!"

"See? We call this a Tone Dial. It's a shell from the White-White Sea that can record and reproduce anything it hears."

A shell which records people's voices? Hmmm, I could use one of these…

"Hold on, I didn't think there was a bottom to your sea. Where do these things live anyway?" Zoro asked.

"On the reefs of the shallow parts of the sea."

"Umm, I don't see how it can move your father's Waver. Or is there's more to that?" I asked.

"Yep, there's more. For instance, the Waver propeller one is this." Also lying on the chest of drawers. "This one's quite small, but the principle is the same as the Tone Dial."

Conis pointed the shell to the wind bell. Pressing its apex, it discharged a little breeze that made the bell clink.

"This is called a Breath Dial. It sucks the wind and stores it for later use." Personal breeze device, anyone? "The power output varies with the shell's size, but if you attach the right size to the stern of a small ship, you can move it."

"Wow… that Waver… is fun!" Luffy, dying to ride that thing again.

"There are other Dial-powered means of transport. Skate-type, board-type and several others. The Waver's the only one I can drive, though."

"I wish I was riding that thing instead of her! She's so lucky… right when we can't figure out how to fix the one we have…" Luffy whined.

"Wait, do you possess a Waver too?"

"Yeah, we found it by accident, but it's too damaged already." Usopp replied. "That junk's two hundred years old and it's a total wreck now, it'd be a miracle if it worked!"

"That might not be the case. Dials are made from remains of seashells. Provided the shell itself is not cracked or outright broken, it can be turned into a Dial and used indefinitely."

"Interesting… so I guess there are many types of Dials. Is this one a Dial too?" Robin asked, pointing to the giant shell in the center of the table at the room.

"Yes, it is a Lamp Dial." Conis pressed its apex and the shell turned on a bright yellow light. "There's also the Flame Dial which stores fire and heat, the Flavor Dial, which stores smells and scents and the Vision Dial, which records everything it sees, for a person to watch again and again. And that's just to name a few types, because there's many, many more."

"Neat! There's a Dial to every little thing? Even for things we don't have down there? Quite interesting, I should say!" I said, fascinated, putting a hand on my chin.

"Yes, Dials can be used for lots of things. Because of that, our very own culture has developed throughout the decades based on the energy the Dials can store… the sofa must be very comfy for him, isn't it?" She giggled softly, looking at Zoro soundly napping in the very comfortable cloud sofa.

"He's gone now… believe me; he sleeps literally everywhere, Conis-san. Well, on this sofa, anyone would fall asleep in a snap, though!" I said, sharing a few laughs with the others.

"Guys, it's lunch time!"

Not long after this, the dishes came out of the kitchen, loaded with plenty of food for the lunch. Sanji and Pagaya prepared a "Sky Island Seafood Special" banquet with a side of fruits whose names are a bitch to pronounce. It had a bit of everything, but the main dish is a lobster as big as a Christmas turkey, open in the middle, just to show a bit of its tender meat and make anyone drool. Since we're not crazy to let such a feast just sit around and look tasty, it's chow time!

"Deli~~~cious!" Again, we exclaimed in unison, tasting the delicious lobster.

Meanwhile, as we literally devoured the sweet banquet, Sanji went to smoke a cigar on the outside.

"Hey, guys. Does anyone know where Nami-san is?" Sanji asked.

"She's riding the Waver, isn't she?" Luffy answered, chewing.

"I don't see her, though."

"She must've gone somewhere farther away. Leave her alone, she can fend for herself." Usopp said, without a care.

Conis and Pagaya, however, weren't so carefree about this.

"I have a bit of a bad feeling about this, but I can't say one way or the other." Pagaya said, as I noted Conis casting a worried glance at her father.

"What's wrong, what do you mean?"

"Here in Skypiea, there's a place you're never allowed to set foot on, no matter what. Unfortunately, it's right beside this island and it's very easy to get there if you know how to handle a Waver…" Conis explained.

"You can't set foot on? Why? What's so bad about it?" Usopp asked.

"It is sacred ground. Upper Yard, the island where God lives."

"Th… there's actually a God? A God living there? In the land we're not supposed to go?" Luffy asked in surprise.

"Yes."

"By God you mean THE God? That same one of the old stories? And he lives in an island next door?" Chopper asked out of curiosity.

"Yes. Skypiea is also known as 'God Land', governed by the Almighty God Enel. He knows about everything happening in his domain."

Almighty? Omniscient? But Gods aren't, like, ethereal or spiritual entities? Is this God actually meat and bone?

"He keeps his eyes focused on everyone in the island. Always."

"For real? Even now, while we're talking?" Usopp asked, shocked.

Conis nodded.

"A God, huh…"

Zoro, on the other hand, seemed unfazed by all this talk about a God.

"Zoro, you don't believe in God?" Chopper asked.

"It doesn't make a difference whether I believe or not, or whether there IS a God or not. I never really cared about that. But if there's people who believe, I got nothing against it."

"Conis-chan, have you had any contact with this God of the Upper Yard? Have you even seen him?" Sanji asked.

"Eh? No, no! Absolutely not! The Upper Yard's the place where God goes to rest." She said, flailing her arms and lowering her head afterwards, depressed. "Sacred ground is forbidden for us."

The damp mood didn't last long, however. I felt like I was being poked by some tiny stars coming out of, guess who, captain Luffy.

"Cool… a place we're not allowed to go to no matter what, huh?"

"Aah! Stop right there, I saw those eyes before and it usually spells lots of trouble! Listen to her, for fudge's sake! When the lady says we can't go there because it's sacred or whatever, that's exactly what she means! WE CAN'T GO THERE! Please don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking!" Usopp tried to shake Luffy's seemingly absurd idea out of his systems before it comes to fruition. But…

"Aww, hey, calm down, I understand we're not supposed to go there…" Luffy said, with a big fat smile on his face. "Come on, guys, do you think I'm the kind of guy who would do that?" He said, still smiling.

"Yes, absolutely."…was the general thought.

Congratulations, Conis, you managed to catch Luffy's interest with that story. Ninety-nine percent of the things that catch our captain's interest end up in a big ball of mess, usually with casualties on the way… Damn you, forbidden apple! You just have to entice us weak-minded humans!

"But hey, this guy knows it all, doesn't he? So, he must know we're only going there to get Nami back. He's a nice guy, right?" Luffy asked.

"No! The laws are absolute and breaking a law established by God is nothing less than treason." Conis explained nervously.

"Really? Doesn't matter to me either way…"

Even if it cost his life, he's dying to go there…

"Conis-san, I presume whoever happens to enter this Upper Yard has to face some drastic divine punishment, right? You know what it is?" Robin asked, after she sipped from her wine.

"Well…"

"Well?"

"It is believed that if you go there… you don't come back alive." Pagaya had to explain.

"What? Everyone who goes there dies?" We swallowed hard. Usopp's phrase prompted Sanji to let the cigar fall from his lips.

"You're concerned with her too, aren't you? Your friend Nami… I hope she doesn't come close to the Upper Yard…" Pagaya prayed, anxious as well.

"NAMI-SWAA~~~N!"

"Let's get going! To find Nami!"

"SHUT UP, I KNOW YOU, YOU JUST WANT TO SATISFY YOUR URGE TO DO EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TOLD!"

"NAMI-SWAA~~~N!"

That brief explanation sent Sanji on a fit of desperation, filled Luffy with (more) excitement and left Usopp fearing for his life (again)…

"Hey, Luffy, let's go right now!"

"Hold on a second, let me just eat this meat here!"

Everyone lost the appetite, but the captain was still hungry and when captain's hungry no one moves until he's not hungry anymore or until anyone hurries him to get it done.

"Conis-chan," Sanji said, hurriedly. "We're going to be stuck here all day waiting for him at this rate. Could you tell me how to get to the Upper Yard? Please!"

"But…" Conis was reluctant. "We don't know for sure if she actually went there and…" She held her hands together and lowered her head. "Provoking God Enel's wrath has tragic consequences for anyone involved."

God Enel…

…

…

…

"Alright, time to release the sails and head to the sacred land we're not supposed to go or else God's going to kill us!"

I continually wonder how Luffy can say such ominous things with a shiny smile on his face…

"So, how's the wind blowing, Pagaya-san?" I asked. "Can we sail now?"

Pagaya put a finger on the air and didn't give a positive outlook.

"I'm sorry, there's much tail wind blowing past! If you set off now, you would take extraordinarily long to get there!"

"Extraordinarily?" Usopp asked.

"Yes, exponentially much more time than if your ship was powered by one of our Dials! I'm sorry…"

"That's real nice, but can you give us a precise amount?" Sanji asked.

"I'm sorry. Only the wind can answer your question…" Pagaya lowered his head.

"Come on, old man, you have to know a faster way to get there! I can't just sit here and wait for the wind to pick up! At this rate, Nami's going to be back!"

"Ah! I knew it! No matter what we do, you always manage to find a way to get us in trouble!"

"What's your problem?"

"I'm nervous."

Leaving Luffy and Usopp's comedy routine aside, the situation is serious. So much so that it prompted our captain to do something about it. Even if it's quite brain-dead on his part.

"WHOOOAAAHH! Just as we find a dangerous place to go! If anyone thought I would sit in this beach and wait for the wind to change, you're sorely wrong!"

"Hey, Luffy, what's that thing you're carrying?" Usopp asked, back at the ship as Luffy ran at random on the shallow water… "Oh man, is that the wrecked Waver? Stop it, you're just going to drown with-"

"WAAAHH-abbububu…" Too late. He put the Waver on the water, jumped on it and, to exactly nobody's surprise, sank.

"What an idiot…" Zoro sighed.

"How could he possibly not know that was going to happen?" Usopp, annoyed.

However, as the others got irked at our captain's stupidity, I just rolled around laughing. "Aw come on! Aahahahah… My belly hurts!"

"Stop it!"

"Umm… is anyone going to save him?" Chopper asked meekly.

"Let him drown!"

As the rest were so used to Luffy's brain fades, they let him deal with his own shortcomings and ended my laughter by trusting me with the task of dragging his limp body back to shore.

"Damn… you never change, do you… now spit!"

Another unwanted bath later, here I am with a foot on Luffy's overgrown belly, forcing him to spit out the water he swallowed. Meanwhile, Pagaya and Usopp examined the broken Waver.

"Hmmm… you should've taken better care of it." Pagaya said as he moved the handle stick.

"Actually it's not ours, we found this thing like it is." Usopp explained.

"Would you like me to have a look at it? Assuming it can be fixed, I can do that for you."

"Really? You know how to work with it?"

"Yes. I once was an engineer of Dial-powered vessels."

"Please hurry and…"

"Spit, Luffy!"

"Fiii~~~x iiiit…"

Strangely, the water Luffy spat out did a neat rainbow illusion.

"Oooh…" Usopp and Pagaya stared at it.

…

…

…

A little while went by and the wind didn't change nor it seemed to give any hint of changing, just for you to see our luck. Since we're effectively stuck here, Usopp and Chopper left the ship and decided to let their imaginations run around, playing of making cloud sculptures.

"I'm done here! Beat this one, Usopp!" Chopper jumped in joy when he was done making a snowman, or should I say, a cloudman with paws on its eyes.

"I don't think that'll be a problem! Ladies and gentlemen, behold! My masterpiece of realist art, faithful to the finest detail!" Usopp boasted about his sculpture of us as happy simple servants of King Usopp III, The Longnose.

"What is it faithful to again? It's the worst piece of art I've ever seen!" Unfortunately, it all ended in disaster when Sanji voiced his disgust with the form he was portrayed and went to settle the issue by stomping the piece in question, despite the desperate protests of a crying Usopp, desolate with the desecration of his art. "That ain't a portrayal, you long nose!"

As the three played (and squabbled) over some snow-I mean, cloud sculptures, Conis, Pagaya and Luffy still circled the destroyed Waver. It didn't seem the former naval engineer would fix the boat anytime soon as he needed to study it more closely. However, far, far away, I noticed some small dots walking in rows, coming down the stairs towards the shore. Little by little, I could hear the sound of boots stomping the ground in unison.

"You there on the ship! Do not move!"

Hold on… are they the police?

"Who are they?"

As they finished the stairs, they marched along the coast. For some reason I can't quite explain, they stopped their march and began to crawl this way, as if trying to sneak on us or to… look, I don't see what's the point of doing that, really.

"Who knows… maybe they have some issues." Usopp wondered.

"Issues?"

Please, don't put weird ideas on Chopper's mind…

"Platoon, halt!"

After taking forever to crawl towards us, they stood back up and realigned in a formation. Putting their left hands behind their heads, they saluted the two citizens.

"Heso!"

"Heso."

"Heso, gentlemen."

"Speak our language, we don't understand you!" Luffy quipped.

"They must be soldiers…" Zoro said.

"Usopp said they have issues…" Too late.

A brief look around and the commander spoke up. "Look who we have here! If it's not the eight inhabitants of the sea below who illegally entered the sovereign land of Skypiea!"

Wait, what? Illegally?

"WE ARE HERE TO BRING DOWN HEAVEN'S JUDGEMENT UPON YOU!"

Eeeeeeeeh?

* * *

**Nami went by Waver to the Upper Yard, a place which is not supposed to be seen by anyone but Enel, the Almighty God of Skypiea. A lot of trouble heads the Straw Hats' way! The already tense wait for the navigator takes a turn to the worse when a squad of soldiers arrives at Angel Beach to take them to judgement! What will happen with Nami? Are the Straw Hats going to fight back?**

**See this and much more in the next chapter!  
**


	100. Labeled as dangerous? In half an hour?

**Chapter 100**

**"Criminals already! Skypiea's upholders of the law!"**

* * *

"Illegal visitors?" Conis and Pagaya gasped.

A-yup. In the short half an hour or so we've been here, we already let one of our crew run away to a place nobody's supposed to go and now we're labeled as illegal immigrants, subject to be arrested and taken to Sky Island's version of jail. Or worse.

"You have no way to deny your actions. The ward of Heaven's Gate, Amazon, sent us the photos she took with her Vision Dial." The captain says, as he pulls out a handful of them from his pocket.

Wait, are these the photos she insistently took of us back at the gate? She didn't even ask for permission beforehand!

"This cannot be, it must be some sort of misunderstanding!" Pagaya exclaimed, nervously waving his arms. "You must have made a mistake, Captain McKinley! I'm sorry! They're not bad people, I assure you…"

"Illegal visitors? Why? What's the meaning of this?" Sanji asked.

"It must be due to us not paying the immigration fee…" Robin recalled.

"Wait, that granny did say we could get in without paying, didn't she?" Usopp asked as well.

"Yeah, she said that… wait a second…" Immediately it dawned on my head whatever she meant with her words. "If you want to enter, you're free to go. If you want to go back, just turn around."

"What's up?"

"She just accepts the will and whim of whoever comes her way." I thought out loud. "But we _still_ do have to face the consequences! Although she's not responsible for our behavior, we still have to act under Skypiea's rules!"

"Damn granny! Why didn't she say so from the beginning?" Usopp roared.

"It's too late to cry now. Admit you're guilty."

By this perspective, indeed we're guilty about this, but what were we supposed to do? We don't possibly have that much money, whatever that gazillion of extols is worth! What are they going to do to us? Are we going to jail or what?

"However, don't despair. Illegally entering Skypiea is a minor, Class 11 offense, punishable by Celestial Judgement. " Huh, Captain McKinley _then_ explained that much… thanks a bunch. "As soon as you receive your punishment, your crimes will be erased and you will actually be treated as visiting tourists."

"I still don't like the sound of that, but come on, what's the penalty?" Sanji asked, frowning.

"Simple. You are to pay a fine corresponding to ten times the immigration fee, what amounts to ten billion extols per person."

"Again that extol thing!" I said, somewhat exasperated. "Question, Captain, if you allow! Can you tell us what does that amount… _in beri_?"

"Beri? Ah, the Sea Below's circulating currency." He paused to do some quick math before he gave the actual exchange rate. "About ten thousand extol per beri, I presume."

Wow, is the currency here that undervalued?

"Oh well… ten thousand extol for a beri… One, ten, hundred, thousand…" Usopp counted his fingers, but soon lost count himself.

"Eighty billion extols… it's eight million beri in total. Just cut four zeros." Robin explained.

"Eight million? That's too much!" Sanji yelled, inadvertently dropping his cigar. "You can buy a crapton of rice with that money! We risked our lives to get here, now we have to pay this absurdity of a fee? I can't agree with it!"

But I ask, do we actually have that much?

"If you don't agree with our terms, you should have paid the original seven hundred thousand beri fee in the first place."

"It's still too much!"

"Sanji! Don't get angry now." I walked to him, whispering and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want us to get in more trouble?" He turned and glared at me with gritted teeth before turning back to the soldiers in formation in front of us.

"I should warn you, though. We, the White Berets, act under direct orders of our superiors, the Priests. Refusing to pay the fee implies a…"

The captain kept talking about something I plugged out to join the others in a circle and debate our actions from now on. Sanji immediately ignored the possible punishment, instead worrying about his precious Nami-swan, who could be crying, defenseless in that dangerous place… Luffy was all about getting in the ship and going to that dangerous place to run around… aaaand rescue Nami. Yes, to run around in search of Nami, not bad guys to beat up or reckless adventuring, just get Nami back. Just as he heard Luffy mentioning that, Usopp scrambled to talk him out of it, however, not before pausing to breathe and let the panic go away from his face.

"Ah, that's it… if Nami's off to visit somewhere else, she might be coming back any time now." Usopp said, crossing his arms. "If we leave now, we're going to miss each other."

"She's taking too long for someone who's out on a walk-"

Usopp flailed about again, running to tape Chopper's mouth shut.

"Stay quiet! Can't you see Luffy's just using Nami as an excuse to run away to that dangerous place?" Usopp whispered, extremely distressed.

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Ah, no, nothing! Go talk to him, you!"

Usopp shoved me ahead as he sent me a worried glare and receiving a blank stare of my part. What am I supposed to do? Well, might as well just talk about the weather with Luffy to pass the time.

"Nothing, captain. Look, why don't we wait a little more while Nami gets back here." I said, putting a hand over his shoulder and walking a few steps away from the rest of the group. "Usopp's right, if we moved now, both us and Nami would be going to keep moving around, never to find each other."

"Hmmm… I'm not sure about that…" He said.

"She must've come to the conclusion by her own power that that was a dangerous place, I assure you."

"Ok, I'll wait then. But just a little bit more!"

"Alright. Sanji-san! You too, let's cool our head first and then act, ok? Our dearest Nami-chan is alright, I'm sure of it!" I said, winking, smiling and thumbs-upping to him.

"Ok, ok." He just huffed and nodded.

I turned to catch Usopp mouthing a silent 'good job'.

"Were you discussing something? I should warn you, though, if an illegal visitor is nowhere to be found, he or she might be labeled as a fugitive from the authorities-"

"Aaaah! No, no, no, sir, for the love of… we wouldn't do such a thing! She's coming back, it's true! Our friend… We're going to pay the fee, just wait! We're sane people, actually, believe it!" Not taking a single pause to breathe, Usopp rushed to talk the guards down and buy some time. "Alright, guys, do you agree to wait until she's back?"

Everyone just nodded and went along with it.

"Fine! You're free to go for now!" Usopp ordered, just like a good second in command would do. Or third down the line. Wait, the third should be Zoro, if there _was_ a hierarchy in… nah, who cares.

Sanji immediately escorted Robin to the comfy beach seats under the shadow, inviting her to a spot of tea. Usopp breathed a good relieved sigh and took Chopper to do some fishing, what our doctor happily accepted, both of them being led on by Conis to a proper pond, sitting just nearby. Luffy and Pagaya, meanwhile, resumed their work on the Waver. Well, mostly Pagaya, since Luffy's only task was supervision, if you want to call it that.

"Ah, Zoro, wait! I'm going with you."

Zoro walked to the trees, sat down and took a nap. Since I wasn't willing to do anything, I went along. I can't just chill out and lounge about if Nami doesn't get back.

Soon Captain McKinley inspected Mr. Pagaya's work. He said it would constitute a Class 10 offense to damage a Waver, even if you own the thing yourself, implying Luffy had done it. Pagaya explained, stating it was ours, what only raised the captain's suspicions by finding it strange for us to find a Sky Island object down in the Sea Below. In a mighty leap of logic, he assumed we stole it, which would constitute a class-

"Shut that trap! I'mma punch your mouth shut!"

I widened my eyes when Luffy's patience dwindled dangerously low, but Usopp's sharpened ears let him run to our captain and drag him off to furiously scold him before he did anything funny.

In order to cool him down, Usopp handed him a makeshift fishing rod and there they were, just searching for fish. Not too long after that, the wire pulled and the three of them had to cling to each other to bring it out of the water. Great capture it was, one of the giant yummy-looking fish… unfortunately, the wire snapped…

"Aaaaaah!"

The creature jumped right at Conis's way!

"Zoro!"

"I'm on it!"

Instantly, Zoro woke up. Him drawing his sword out, and me turning my pencil in a staff, we jumped to the rescue and beat down the fish with two blows to the head. The creature fainted in the shore when we were back in the ground. But…

"I'm sorry, thank you for saving my dear Conis but… this surely is not good…" What? What law did we violate now?

"Oh well…" Here comes the captain… "This fish's from a threatened species and its capture is strictly prohibited. You used violence against it, thus violating the Endangered Animal Protection Law! A Class 9 offense!"

"Hey! That thing was about to eat Conis!" Chopper screamed.

"Do you think it makes sense, captain? Protecting an animal is more important than saving a human life from that exact same animal?" I said, irritated.

The soldier just snickered.

"Did you kill it?" Usopp asked, somewhat nervous.

"No. I used the back of my sword."

"I whacked it with my staff. It hurts, but that's it!"

"Cool! Then if we just return it to the sea, it's problem solved!" Usopp kicked the creature, for it to whine in pain, wagging its tail. That only served to awaken Luffy's stomach and prompt him to get up and rush to give a good bite on the fish, despite Usopp's protests.

"You can't deny your friend tried to eat it. This sure constitutes a Class 8 offense!"

Greatly struggling to drag Luffy away from the thing, Usopp pushed it back to the sea. Jumping high, probably panicking, the giant yellow fish ran away through the waves.

"Grr… This guy talking about these stupid crimes all the time, it pisses me off!" Zoro?

He clutched one of his swords, sending a defiant glare to the captain.

"Zoro! Don't, don't! Calm down! Calm down!" Usopp stood in front of him, begging him to stay put. Poor one, he must be going nuts with us…

"Your behavior sure appears to endanger public order. Threatening an officer is a Class 7 offense!"

"He's not threatening anything! He just said that if you didn't stop whatever you're doing, he's just… he's just going to laugh his ass off! Yeah, that's it! Just a joke, a little gag, that's what I say!" Usopp gesticulated overdramatically to calm everyone down, but at this time, no one's buying it anymore.

"Hey, that's ridiculous! He's just making a lot of stuff up to frame us-"

"CHOPPER, SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Again, our long-nosed sharpshooter scrambled to tape his mouth shut. "Please don't say anything, anymore!"

"But it's true, Usopp-kun! We can't do a simple thing without that guy coming up with a crime tagged to it!" I said, not taking my glare away from the soldiers.

"We can't do a thing… Wait…" Usopp put his brain to work. "Yeah, let's not do a thing from now on! Let's just… I know, sleep! Take a nap!"

Quickly Usopp created a cloud pillow to lay his head on, snoring his way to sleep. Just like the rest, I went along with it, sat in the ground and closed my eyes, mock-sleeping.

"Making this abhorrent noise in the peaceful Angel Beach… Sound pollution! Class 6 offense!"

Wait, what? We can't even _snore_?

"Ok, that does it!"

I instantly shot back up and faced the control freak captain, despite Usopp's continuing pleas for me not to do so.

"Ok, captain! With all due respect, but what's up with that noise pollution stuff? We can't even snore? At all? Ok, snoring does disturb other people's sleep and I hate when someone's snoring right in my ear, but this isn't private property, or is it? Captain, you would do a great public service if you…" As I ranted longer than I intended…

"Ah, what a buzzkill! That beret uncle's too damn annoying!"

"Wanna fight him?"

"Hey, you over there, cool down! We still can settle this as sane people do-"

"GUYS! I'M COMING!"

Nami's back! Finally! Sailing at a high-speed through the seas, Nami brought herself and the Waver back to Angel Beach.

"Luffy! Don't piss them off!"

"But Nami! They're a bunch of…!"

"Nami! Use your money to pay the fee! It's eight million beri!" Usopp screamed.

"Got it!"

Ah, finally, the woman who will settle this whole issue arrived! We're calmly going to pay the eight million… wait, why isn't she slowing down?

"Eight million…"

Hey, you're coming too fast to the shore! Brake already! Where are you going?

"FUCK, IT'S TOO EXPENSIVE!"

There goes my jaw all the way to the ground (and surely, everyone else's too) when Nami speeds up her Waver and gains momentum to pull it off the water and bring it directly into McKinley's face. Her Waver face slam sent him flying and crashing against the trees while she landed, miraculously not flipping over herself…

"Oh! I got angry because of the money all of a sudden and…" Now you come back to your senses?

Great… so much for self-restraint…

Problem it was when she simply returned the Waver before her long ride in it, just ignoring the outright assassination she just attempted.

"What crime did we commit this time, Pagaya-san…" I said, palming my face, not wanting to face or believe in the scene right in front of me…

"Attacking an official, Class 5 offense, I think… I'm sorry…" Pagaya replied, anxiously.

"Ah, it's still Class 5, we can make it through-"

"No, not anymore!"

Usopp held on to a false hope, quickly shattered by a deeply frowning Conis.

"Class 5 offenses are punishable by nothing less than being dragged along the clouds."

"What's so bad about it?" Luffy asked, putting his arms behind his head.

"It's extremely bad! It's a death sentence!" Huh?

"You're lying… please say you're lying!" Usopp begged.

"I really wished I was lying… it happened before, more than once!" Conis yelled, visibly distressed. "Your ship is attached to a cloud and condemned to wander along the clouds until all its crewmates are dead and the ship falls to pieces! It's the equivalent of a life imprisonment!"

Fall to pieces… hold on!

"That's why that ship fell off of here, isn't it?" Robin concluded.

"Saint Bliss, if I remember… shit!" Just as the real extent of the punishment dawned on me, I widened my eyes. "You… y-y-y-you mean the c-c-crewmates wandered adrift through the sky for t-t-two centuries because they were_ sentenced_ to it?" I said, gulping hard.

"Yes. Probably."

Shit… that means we're going to be stuck in a cloud, starve to death or probably kill each other, wither, be devoured by maggots and turn into skeletons who are going to fall off and be buried in the bottom of the sea below forever?

"No, everything but that! I want to get down! I want to go back to the sea below!" I kneeled and clutched my head.

"Hold on, calm down! There's no way we're being sentenced to death because of something so stupid!"

"HEY, YOU!" The soldiers screamed. "Do you realize what you've done to our captain?"

Decided to settle this issue (and the absurd stupidity she just did), Nami stepped forward and tried to act cute towards the soldiers.

"Don't be so angry, boys… that was just reflex!"

"REFLEX?"

"Um, well, no, that's not the word… it was, I don't know, I didn't mean to do it!"

"YOU DIDN'T?"

"Yeah, that's it, it was… an accident!"

"ACCIDENT?"

She continually adjusted her wording until the soldiers stopped dramatically overreacting like that. Or until it suits her.

"Yes, yes! It was an accident! You know how hard it is to ride a Waver, don't you? That was my first time on one, I mean, the handle was so delicate, how clumsy of me! Starters shouldn't run around and do something stupid with dangerous things!" She said, lightly hitting herself in the head.

"Hey, you loved to ride that thing! And you did it so easily, I wanted to-"

"Shut it, Luffy. I know, she's trying to act cute, it greatly irritates me and I doubt they're buying it, but it's for our sake, so don't blow it, ok?"

I whispered, simply putting a hand in his mouth and muffling his rant.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, but… shouldn't you be taking care of Captain McKinley? He's fairly beaten up… ah, I'm sorry."

"AH! WE FORGOT! CAPTAIN McKINLEY!"

Panicking much more than a normal soldier would, they ran around screaming before Pagaya calmed them down and followed them as they tended to their fainted captain, putting him in a stretcher and taking him home. While crawling. I don't know how, with a, at least, two-hundred pound man in it, but still…

"I understand you're not of an evil nature." Conis stated, in an overly worrying tone. The joy was long gone from her voice. "Head back home, please!"

"H-hey!"

She ran away, saying nothing more.

"Well… we better do as she says." Nami said. "I saw it, people! That island's chock full of bad guys! I saw it with both my eyes! I don't know whether they're gods or guerrilla or whatever, but the bottom line is they're dangerous!"

Zoro deepened his frown. "You actually went there, didn't you? To the…"

"To the place nobody's supposed to go? And there's bad guys all over the-"

"AAH! Enough of that! La~~lalalala, don't talk about that, I can't hear you!" Usopp quickly covered an overly excited Luffy's ears.

"Let's run away before they get us, run away now!" Nami screamed.

"Yeah… we can't let those two get in more trouble than they already are." I concluded, sighing in relief. "What if the soldiers think they're our accomplices or stuff like that? We can't get involved with them any longer!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're spot on!" Usopp eagerly nodded. "Let's go, then?"

We all headed to the ship, preparing to leave Skypiea. Or we would, if Luffy didn't stand his ground and cross his arms in absolute refusal.

"Why are we leaving?" He asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We're in great danger!" Nami tried to explain.

"We're always in great danger."

"This time it's not only us. The guards want to catch those two as well!"

"Catch them? Why? They did nothing wrong. Wrong will be the guards if they catch them."

"You're right, but…"

Nami was about to give up, but insisted further, only managing to keep on with the ping-ponging argument and nobody moved an inch.

"Please run away! Now!"

The talk was over right then, since the White Berets were back, with the two Skypieans in their custody.

"Geh… oh crap…"

Captain McKinley's back to the scene, this time with an evil-looking grin on his face, much more determined to catch us at all costs.

"That's enough, little lady. Just so the two of you know…" McKinley turned to them. "Once I decide you're covering these eight criminals up, you will suffer the same fate as them! Offensive language against us and attacking an official. I declare the ten of you, criminals sentenced to be dragged along the clouds for two Class 5 offenses!"

"Like I said, that was an accident! Ah screw it, Luffy, let's run!"

"LINE UP!"

There's no other way around it now. The punishment's abusively harsh. Those two have nothing to do with our actions! The only choice is to fight!

"Nami, you go ahead!" Luffy prepared a fighting stance.

Nami ran away alone. Luffy faced the quartet of archers, half-kneeling and pulling their arrows back, ready to fire upon their commander's order. Sanji and Zoro stood at attention in the ship, in case something went wrong.

"Stop! You're powerless against them!"

"FIRE! MILKY ARROW!"

And fire they did. Luffy jumped high to evade the incoming arrows which left behind a thick trail of white-blue cloud, quickly disappearing in the horizon. Luffy found the trails to be solid when he fell on his back on one of them, but that was all the time he had before the soldiers fired another set of four arrows at him and jumped on the trail, speeding to meet him.

"Go forth, White Beret Squad!"

The soldiers slid on the trail, each with a pair of weird shoes that allowed them to use the trails as high-speed tracks, which is like our captain just found out the hard way when he had to jump out of the way of a speeding White Beret. They turned around, paused and drew out their short swords, one in each hand. Luffy promptly thought 'oh crap' while running back to shore and easily being followed by the soldiers.

"Damn, damn, damn! This thing's too fluffy, I can't run fast!"

Luffy just jumped out of the way, powerless to fight their attacks, free as they were to strike whenever they wanted.

"Ah, I get it! It's one of those skate-type thingies!"

Smiling once he got the hang of the game, Luffy prepared better for their lined-up charge. The Berets launched their swords forward, only catching a mirage of our captain. He actually was gone long ago, hanging and swinging his arm around a high coconut tree and gaining momentum for his final attack.

"His arm! It stretched!" Conis exclaimed, the way most people usually do in the first time they see the Gum-Gum Fruit's power.

"GOMU GOMU NO…"

Luffy flung himself high in the air and began to spin his body many, many times, each time going faster, until his arms and legs were just a high-rotating blur. He launched mirages of blows just like a firework speeding out of the launcher…

"…HANABI!" (Gum-Gum Fireworks)

…before exploding in the air, detonating a flurry of punches and kicks right in each and every soldier's face, single-handedly and creatively ending the fight, as only he does.

"Ah, fireworks in the sky… pretty." Robin deadpanned, smiling mildly.

Spectacularly crashing to the ground, the soldiers kicked up clouds of white smoke as Luffy landed beautifully on both his feet, simply adjusting his trademark straw hat. I still spotted one soldier hidden behind the smoke cloud, trying to land an arrow on our captain, but Sanji and Zoro quickly spotted him as well, and dispatched him effortlessly.

"How much money do we have, Nami?" Zoro screamed.

"Ah, I don't know… fifty grand! Money for one or two days."

"That's all?"

"Wait, how come we're always flat broke? Hey, guys, as the captain I should tell you this: think more about how you spend your money, ok? Or else we-"

"IT ALL GOES TO YOUR DAMN BELLY, LUFFY!" Sanji yelled. Luffy once again gasped, as if that was the first time someone said that of him. And that's exactly why we keep reminding him.

Well, all in all, problem solved!

"What a bunch of simpletons!"

Or not. One single soldier managed to stand after Luffy's thorough beat down. Coming out of the trees, the persistent Captain McKinley returned. Luffy kicked his ass but not his mouth…

"You should just be obedient. You should have followed our orders. We, the White Berets, are the most sympathetic of the kingdom of God. But they… they're not going to be so nice! You have soared through the ranks. You're Class 2 criminals now! Beg and cry all you want, but…"

No. We won't beg. We won't cry. I made up my mind. We made up our mind. We're going to face any challenge you throw at us. If you say we're criminals, let's pay for our "crimes". We will reap what we've sowed!

"…THE PRIESTS OF THE UPPER YARD SHALL JUDGE YOU ALL!"

Bring them on!

"HESO!"

* * *

**Many silly violations of Skypiea's law later, Luffy and the others got fed up and beat the White Berets down. Now they're about to face the consequences! Having been labeled Class 2 criminals, they will be judged by the Priests of the Upper Yard! Who are they? What surprises have in store the new obstacles in the pirates' way to adventure?**

**Join us again for the next chapter. Goodbye!  
**


	101. Fear and loathing in Angel Beach

**Chapter 101**

**"Can we escape? The ordeals of God are underway!"**

* * *

Now that they've taken a beating that's still resounding in their ears, the White Berets are no longer responsible for our judgement. In their stead, the Priests from the Upper Yard are charged with punishing us.

That is, if we don't run away from them first.

What did I say a while ago, again? We were going to face whoever came our way, was it? Hahaha, no. Not in a million years. That was unwise of me, I take all that back. I want to hold on to my belief that going around ten thousand meters away from ground for another second longer is very bad for my mental health.

For the love of… uh, should I say God? Anyway, in the short time we're here, it's like our priorities turned right the fuck upside down! First: get in the most trouble we can and only then find out what the island has to offer. We're up to our neck in trouble, but none of that can wipe off the dumb smile from our captain's damn face… Ah, we're used to getting chased around, he says.

"Hey, that reminds me, why did you get here?" Luffy asked.

"Huh?" Nami didn't like it.

"Just when we were getting all ready to do some adventure-whoops, I mean, go look for you in that island no one's supposed to go… eheh…" Wonderful, Luffy. You just wasted a good chance of keeping your mouth shut. He's such a lousy liar I bet Nami would find out even if he said nothing.

"You're so easy to read…"

Luffy only got the time to gulp before Nami unleashed a powerful blow to his forehead with only her fingertips and make him stumble a few steps back. She was far from done, though.

"Don't come at me with this adventure bullshit! You got some nerve to talk about that! That island's chock full of bad guys! You didn't see what I saw, so don't come talk about your stuff! I don't know if they…"

Punctuating her frustrated rant with strong blows to his torso and forehead, Nami pushed the captain towards the water only with the force of her fingers. I winced as I watched the tough-as-nails captain, the same man who defeated many powerful enemies through this trip, retreating and whimpering with the beating he took from his navigator… It's become a routine already, but I don't think he's going to get used to it any time soon.

"Don't even think about taking me there! I'm not going!" Once the strikes were over, Nami pushed Luffy to the ground with the last one before she angrily pointed her finger to his face.

He sat back up, only having this to say. "We're going there, then. You can stay here and wait."

"No way in hell! They're going to chase me! We're leaving and that's final!"

Luffy stood up, stretching his head to reply.

"Leave? That's ridiculous! What's important to you: an adventure or your life?"

"My life, stupid!" Nami yelled before she stuck Luffy's head to the ground. "And then, my money."

"And then me, right?"

"Shut up!"

Obviously, her statement of priorities didn't include dating the cook, what she perfectly demonstrated with a right hand punch to his jaw, sending him to the ground like a sheet of paper. I just facepalmed when I walked over to him, still daydreaming with hearts in his eyes.

"Wow… I think she loves me…"

Among the utter chaos that was getting up here and trying to move under the radar (a task which we failed miserably), nobody stopped to think about how we're going back down. The question immediately coursed through the group and fortunately, Conis had an answer to it.

"You must head to the boundaries of the clouds, to a place called Cloud End. It's located far east from here. To get there, you need to head back to the White Sea."

"Alright!" Usopp smiled. "We can get back to our sea, then?"

"I don't want to go." Luffy interrupted.

"Then you can stay here all alone and get killed. That's what you want?" I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Plus, we can't afford to put Conis and her father in more trouble than what they already are!" Nami recalled. "Even if we ran away now, they might still have a go at capturing us. If that's the case, it's useless to hide anywhere in this country, so we better get back to our sea at once!"

"Aw man…" Luffy pouted. "But I do want to meet the bad guys and-"

"We're heading back, period!" Tired of seeing her own safety constantly being trampled over, Nami dragged him by the ear, silently threatening him with a punch to the head if he whined. "Conis! Pagaya-san! Thank you for everything!"

The angels remained silent.

"Oh wait!" Luffy fell on his back, quickly standing up with an idea on his mind. "Hey, old man!"

"Y… yes?"

"Can we take the rest of that super-deliciously yummy lunch?" Luffy ran to him.

"Ah, yes, yes. You can take it."

"Alright! Sanji, get the lunch boxes ready!"

Sanji sighed, offering no resistance to his whim, probably thinking about how to better make the food look presentable. Usopp rubbed his hands together and took the opportunity to ask Pagaya if he could lend him some tools to fix the ship. The man and his daughter decided to take them back home.

"H-hey, guys! Where are you going?" Nami screamed, staying in the beach as we walked back to the ship.

"We're restocking! You over there, get the ship ready for our great adventure!" Luffy screamed back, jumping and pumping his arms.

"Damn… he's still dying to go there…" Nami muttered in frustration. Then she turned to us, begging for someone to listen. "Believe me, guys! That place is scary!"

"Who cares? We're leaving, aren't we? Why are you so concerned?" Zoro replied, sarcastically. "Don't take it out on me, ok?"

"Chopper… you're on my side, aren't you?" She talked to him in a manner that practically forced him to agree with her. So much so, he froze when he heard her.

"Ok, ok, don't threaten him, we understand you!"

I grabbed our blue-nosed doctor and helped him get back aboard, right before Robin brought out the ladder in which we were supposed to climb. She put it in place, so Nami and I got back on the ship.

"I mean, it's not like Luffy's going to listen anyway…" I said.

"And he won't." Zoro gruffly confirmed. "Not even with everyone screaming at him not to do it, it's just going to fly over his head."

"I'm staying then." Nami decided, with it sounding like a mere whim.

"Go on, do that." Zoro, flatly.

"Don't you get it? If I stay, those crazies are going to get me!"

"Then don't stay."

Zoro simply yawned and sat down, leaning on the mast to take yet another of his long naps, without a care for the rest of the world. He just rested, not seeing Nami grit her teeth and make funny faces at him out of frustration.

"Robin, can the two of us talk Luffy out of this absurdity by beating him senseless?" Nami asked.

"I wonder about that…" Robin shrugged.

"Dan-kun, please… you're probably the one amongst us who's the least happy about this, aren't you? Help me, plea~~se…"

"I would be glad to, but the captain's not going to listen." I said, tiredly swaying to the handrail and resting my face in my hands. "The most I can do is share your pain. Those White Berets… or Priests or whatever the hell they are… they're going to find some way to get us…" Letting out a long sigh, I rested over the handrail and faced the damning reality, what just made me cry to the skies. "Ah, I want to get back to the ground!"

"Umm… excuse me…"

I raised my head to see Conis walking towards us through the shallow water. She climbed aboard for a few last instructions.

"So let me get this straight, there's a cloud stream leading to the White Sea?" Nami asked.

Conis nodded. "Yes. If you leave through this stream, it won't take long until you're at the White Sea. From there you can calmly head to the Cloud End."

"Really?" Nami and I smiled.

"If you do get to this stream, no one's going to try to find you anymore." She said.

"Alright! All we have to do now is take the Going Merry there before Luffy notices!" Nami happily snapped her fingers. Completely understandable… I too want to get the hell away from here as quickly as possible!

"Yeah, yeah!" I said, feeling relieved. "We're going to stall until it's too late for him to do something about it! Then we're out of this 6-mile high nightmare!"

"Yay!" The mere possibility of us leaving this hell made us jump in joy.

Why, I'm afraid of what I'm afraid, damn you!

"Although him willingly quitting this whole adventure is an entirely different story…" Robin recalled. "He's going to get pretty angry at you two if you pull that stunt, don't you think?"

"Leave him to me." Nami said, spinning her arms. "If he dares to object, I'll smack him in the head until he understands!"

"Um…" Conis sweatdropped, sporting a shaky smile on her face. "Anyway, I can lead you there with my Waver. Raise your anchor and wait, I'm going to get it down here."

"We owe you one, Conis-san!" I said, to which she simply smiled before hopping off.

"Heso!" She bowed to us and walked back to the beach.

"Heso to you too!" I said, waving at her. "Whatever that means…"

Nami turned to the group with a great big smile on her face. "Ah, finally a light at the end of the tunnel! This fuss was driving me nuts!"

Robin, however, maintained a steady frown. "Hold on a second. Does a stream like this actually exist?"

"Huh?"

She then put on her serious face. Or should I say, more serious than normal. The little I know about her let me come to the conclusion that her default expression is none whenever she's not smiling mildly and making sarcastic comments about stuff. That and _wait, she's still talking_. "Stop and think about it. I mean, isn't that a little too convenient? If a stream like that actually existed, it wouldn't be rare to find Sky Island survivors back on the ground."

"Aw, come now." Nami waved her hand, trying to wipe away the question. "Rare are the people who manage to get up here in the first place. It's obvious almost none of them were able to leave safely."

"Maybe they weren't fast enough to avoid being captured." Chopper argued.

"What only gives us more reason to run away at once, right? Let's just ready the ship and ready ourselves to the trip back down!" I said, rubbing my hands.

Nami cheerfully took Chopper to help her on the duties, happily mispronouncing his transformation, calling out for him to use his Heavy Ball-I mean, his Heavy Point to help with the physical labor. I happily would join them in the preparations if Robin didn't pull me aside and whisper things to my ear. Not the kinds of things you're probably imagining, though.

"Go check on Luffy and the others." She said, sternly.

"Huh?"

"They're taking too long over there. Ask them to hurry before something bad happens here." She insisted. "The people chasing us won't stay put forever. So we can't dawdle ourselves."

"A-a-alright, I'm going." I said, meekly. I headed to a handrail and jumped off, stomping the shallow water with both feet at the same time. "Back in five!"

I rapidly ran away from the Merry and to the beach. Just as I would head in to the forest, I heard a rumble coming from the sea. I then felt the ground shaking all of a sudden, for a single moment before it stopped, but almost enough to bring me to the ground.

"Uh-oh… what the hell…"

I turned around and gaped as I watched the ship sway left and right in the water before something I think are two giant claws grabbed the ship by the broken wings and began to drive it away from the shore.

"Oh boy…" I said, kneeling. "Is it me or the ship's moving away? Son of a… Nami! Zoro! Robin-san! Chopper-sensei! Don't go without us! Hold on…"

No, stupid, Luffy and the others didn't get back here, how were they going to leave without us? Which leads to the option of them being…

"Shit, they're being kidnapped!"

Gasping with the conclusion, I immediately stood back up and headed to the forest, running as fast as I could towards the stairs. Problem was that the angels' house is located a good five hundred steps away from the beach and by the time I arrive there, they're probably off to rescue the ship!

Damn… long-distance communication would come in handy here…

Robin… what a damned coincidence! Just as she dropped me off the ship, they're taken away! Did she sense what was about to happen? No, that's not it, it's just an unlucky coincidence, just that!

Wait…

Wait, is it the Celestial Judgment starting up? If the mountain doesn't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain, even if he has to be dragged there?

"The others saw that, I'm sure! Guys, wait for me!"

Oh no… it's all coming together now. Do we absolutely have no way out of this? Are we really going to go to that dangerous island where the Priests are waiting?

Legs tired, panting hard and walking at the speed of a snail, I finally got to the other end of the stairs and knocked Conis and Pagaya's door. Strange thing it was to find their door open. I took the chance to immediately head to the living room at the second floor.

"Guys!" I said, leaning to the door to breathe.

"Dan! What the hell are you doing here?" Sanji asked, startled.

"You saw what I saw, didn't you?" I asked back, being answered with nods. "What on earth was that thing? Where are they going?"

"I think you owe us some explaining, don't you? Conis-san…" Sanji sent her a concerned glare. She kept silent, looked away and gripped her pet fox harder against her chest.

Pagaya replied in her stead. "That is a Super-Express Speedy Shrimp. Animals like the one you saw are direct servants of God! What they catch is treated as an offering once it gets to the destination… I wish I was wrong but… your friends were most certainly taken to the Sacrificial Altar."

"That bastard… Don't joke with me!" Sanji clenched his fists with pure irritation.

"Wait, please! I'm sorry, but it's not like that!" Pagaya tried to calm him down. "I heard all those that are treated as offerings go through the Celestial Judgment in one of two ways: either they're sacrificed or face ordeals. From the moment they fell in the hands of God, they're prisoners to be sent to the Sacrificial Altar. As a consequence, the ones being judged right now… are you four."

"Us?" I gulped hard. "Bu-bu-but what are they going to do to us?"

"I don't know…" He sweated cold. "Now if I had a map with me, maybe I could explain it better…"

Usopp whipped out from his bag that Skypiea map we found. Gathered around the table in the room, we talked about how to get to the Altar. According to the map that, while old, accurately depicts the island's overall shape, the Altar's northeast from our current spot. The only way to get there, as Pagaya said is…

"You have to get a Dial-powered ship and go to the Milky Road that starts from here… and cross through the forest where the Priests live."

"Wait, can't we just go around the island?" Usopp asked.

"No… even if you landed close to the Altar, you wouldn't get there by walking. The great difference between this map and the Upper Yard of today is the Milky Road that cuts through the entire island."

"A river of clouds?" Sanji asked.

"Yes, I heard that the Milky Road has the length of all the Sea Below's rivers combined."

"So, no matter where we land, this river's going to block our way…" Sanji said as he selected the cigar he would smoke next.

"Yes… also, man-eating fish thrive there too…"

"Whoa, man-eating fish?" Usopp parroted, gulping hard.

"Wonderful…" Sanji groused as he lit up his cigar. "Anyway, if we want to get our comrades and the ship back, we have to get in through the front door…"

"Is that our ordeal… the Celestial Judgment?" Usopp cried to the sky, preparing his spirit to the soon-to-ensue battle.

"Yes. If you want to come out of this alive, you have to face the power of the Priests." Looking to the floor, Pagaya recalled.

"So, we can't escape them at all…" I sighed, putting my hands around my head. "Here we go again…"

"What's the problem? It just got much simpler for us now." Luffy said, grinning. "We just have to beat up those priests, huh? Things just got more interesting!"

…

…

…

There's no other way out. All roads lead to that dangerous island. We walked down the stairs once again towards the forest, more in pursuit of Luffy who ran all by his own, not caring where he would go.

"Hey, Luffy, wait up! Where are you going?" Sanji asked as we finally caught up to him.

"Isn't that decided already? To that Sacrificial Altar place." He replied.

"How are you going to get there in the first place?"

Sanji's question was met with silence and a blank stare.

"Hmmm…" Only then Luffy put his mind to work.

"NOW YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?"

"I don't know, let's just steal a ship and get to the Milky Road."

"How are we going to find a ship sitting there just to be stolen?"

Again, silence and a blank stare.

"Hmmm…"

"QUIT THINKING ABOUT IT!"

"Our only reference is this old map, but it tells nothing about the island's topography!" Usopp complained.

"How boring…" Luffy sighed. "Huh?"

He had noticed Conis, standing a few steps above us. I guess she followed us from the shadows.

"Conis-chan! You came here to wish us good luck?" Sanji said, melodiously.

"In fact, I'm here because my father asked me to do a favor to you." She replied. "Come with me, I'm going to take you to the Angel Beach harbor. There's a ship you can use to get to the Altar."

"Umm… Conis-san, thank you for the help but… sorry for dragging you down with us…" I said, not very pleased with her help.

"Don't worry with us. Now follow me."

Here we are, walking back upstairs, everyone carrying fully-loaded backpacks and with high spirits for this great challenge! Well, everyone except for me. I kept muttering curses on the way.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" With each step, I kicked the air, trying to vent out my frustration with this whole mess.

"What's wrong? You're still complaining, aren't you?" Sanji asked.

"Of course I am! And I will keep complaining until we're out of this nightmare!"

"For the love of… stop whining, ok? Wasn't it you who did an oh-so-wonderful speech about how you were ready to take on the Sky Island?"

"Wait, what? Who, me? When did I do that? Hah, I would never do such an atrocity when there are things having to do with height!" I said, somewhat proud of my irrational fear…

"Ah, I remember now, it wasn't here but in Drum, was it? Before you_ climbed that mountain_, right?"

"Ugh…" I sighed. "The way you stress it out makes me hate myself for ever having done that…"

Still walking upstairs, we passed through the Lovely Street, where the Angel Beach harbor is located.

"This is going to be awesome… Just you wait, Upper Yard, here I come!"

"You do realize you might die over there, don't you?"

Did I hear that? Did I hear her talking about such a thing so casually?

"Die? But that happens to everybody, sooner or later." Perfect, that's way creepier than what she said…

"You're alright with it?"

"Alright? Not just that, I'm super-excited–"

Ok, enough! Beating time!

"SHUT UP WITH THAT CREEPY TALK, LUFFY!"

"DON'T LAUGH ABOUT SHIT LIKE THAT, ASSHOLE!"

"WHAT ABOUT OUR SAFETY, DUMBASS?"

"So… sorry…"

Something's off here. Why did she mention the chance of us dying so casually? Why do I have this nagging feeling that her smiles are forced?  
Conis… what's wrong with you?

* * *

**On their way to the Ordeals of the Upper Yard, the Straw Hats are being guided by Conis to the harbor, but her continuous smiles aren't genuine. Of course they wouldn't be in a crisis like this, but why is she forcing herself to do that? What's going to happen to the pirates?  
**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter! Same bat-time, same bat-channel!  
**


	102. Divine punishment and the Upper Yard

**Chapter 102**

**"Trap at the Lovely Street! The road to the Upper Yard!"**

* * *

The only commercial district in the Angel Island, Lovely Street is where we're at now. A bustling atmosphere, very familiar to us despite the fact we're six miles above sea level. The stores are just the same as any store of a city center, with the only difference being that the clients have wings. Ah, and the merchants too, for that matter. And there are certain stores suspended on the clouds, located at the end of the access stairs. Just looking at them makes me dizzy…

As we walked through the street, something odd caught our eyes…

"Sanji… you're seeing what I'm seeing, right?"

"Yeah."

Wherever we walked, people would back away the farthest they could or just discreetly walk away as if nothing was happening.

"Hey guys…" Usopp noticed it too. "Is it me or are they avoiding us?"

"We're convicted criminals. It's normal for them to do that." Sanji stated.

"Nice! Our reputation's spreading, huh? Look, the street's free for us!"

Not all the punches to the head in the world can take the smile off his damn face…

"Luffy…" Calm down, me, just calm down… don't burst a vein over this guy…

Soon I wouldn't be the only one trying not to pop a vein with his antics. The three of us had to stretch our patience, witnessing Luffy going around and scavenging the emptied stores as if he was in a Sunday drive. He pulled a lever and went to one of the stores hanging overhead, only to be kicked out of there just as fast. He got bored and then we walked to a crossing where a weird brown sculpture was in exhibition. It was some sort of totem or mud statue, I don't know.

"This? Ah, this is 'Vearth'." Conis explained when she was asked. "It's the personification of the eternal desires of all those who live in the sky."

"Vearth? What a strange name…" I put a hand on my chin.

"You wish that hard?" Luffy asked. "Have you lost your marbles?"

Conis simply giggled. "Maybe it's something difficult for you inhabitants of the Sea Below to understand. We'll just skip it for now. Come with me, the harbor's nearby."

Luffy wanted to stop and chill out in the town, even with everyone else avoiding us like the plague. However we marched directly to the harbor where several boats of all types were anchored.

"Hotel-boats where you can sleep… high speed models, powered by high output Dials… and many other different models-"

"Check out that gondola!" Luffy interrupted, fawning over a really flashy gondola with a bull cranium for a figurehead. "That's so cool! Let's rent this one! This trip's gonna be awesome!"

"Trip my ass, Luffy! We're here to save Nami-san, Robin-chan and the guys, remember?" Sanji bopped him.

"Your ship's nearby."

A few steps later, we arrived to our rented ship.

"Here's the Little Crow."

A conventional boat, with a meek umbrella and two inflatable floats, one in each side. Powered by two propellers, this is the boat Conis used before she tried to tame her Waver, according to her explanation. A boat shaped like a crow.

I repeat, a crow.

It would be understandable if it was a duck or some other aquatic bird, but… a crow?

"It's not as fast as a Waver, but the two Breath Dials powering it do come in handy. Use it, please." She said, smiling. And creeping me out a little more.

"I don't wanna go."

You give up, Luffy? Just like that?

"Hey, I liked that one better!" Pointing to the fancy gondola.

Ah, forget it. It's just him being childish.

"Yo… you didn't like it? I'm sorry, but-"

"YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARD! APOLOGIZE TO HER NOW! FROM THE BOTTOM OF YOUR HEART! WHAT A DISGRACE OF A GENTLEMAN YOU ARE!"

Sanji turned him around and single-handedly delivered the second round of Luffy-beating of the day.

"Don't mind the stupid crap he's saying, please!"

"I'm sorry…" Luffy apologized, with his face all swollen.

A few steps more and Conis pointed to the way we were supposed to go.

"Leave through Gate 2. It's directly connected to the Milky Road leading to the Upper Yard… You just… you just need to go through it." At that moment, she dropped the smile and looked to the ground, visibly tired.

"Hey, Conis." Luffy spoke to her. "Why do you keep shaking since we left your home?"

Conis barely spared a glance at him, visibly freezing with his sudden question.

"Did… did I look like I was shaking?"

"Yeah, it's just like you're afraid or something like that. If you're so scared, you could've just told us where to go and we got here by our own, no problem!"

"Don't tell me… Conis-chan, you're concerned with our safety?" Sanji stepped forward, smiling broadly. "How flattering of you!"

Not just concern. Sheer apprehension. Something at the back of my mind told me she was forcing herself to smile.

"Hold on… isn't it strange?" Usopp said. "Every other citizen turned his or her back at us and that was evident. Yet, you still brought us here, you even lent us your boat! Is that alright? That way - and I can't help but point that out - that way, you're going to be labeled, by all accounts, as our accomplice."

"Conis-san, I'm sorry to say this, but your smiles aren't fooling anybody." I said. "Nobody in his right mind talks about dangerous ordeals so casually. Please drop the act. Please tell us the truth. What's happening?"

"I…" Hesitation. Clenching of the fists. She slightly opened and closed her mouth, as if trying to find the right words. "It's not what you're thinking." Bought a little more time for herself. Tried one more time, only to find them… and find it painful to say.

"Strange, isn't it? For me to talk so casually about the ordeals… to bring you all here… to talk about how the ordeals are so deadly…"

I noticed the more curious citizens gathering in the beach, but slowly walking away from us like we were the personification of a disease, hissing things like 'don't you dare' or 'what is that girl doing', fearing for the pale blonde-haired female angel. Conis, on the other hand, stopped trying to control her shivers and kneeled in the ground, in desperation.

"I'm sorry! The one who called the Super-Express Shrimp… was me!"

What? The shrimp that…

"So that story about the Cloud End was a…"

"I lied." Conis revealed, choking in her own words. "I told them to raise anchor and wait… and that was the signal for the shrimp to attack."

"Please say you're lying…" I whispered, trembling myself.

"I wish I was lying! Whenever we find criminals, it's our duty to take them to the judgment place. If we don't comply, we're murdered!"

It was the cue for the residents who stayed to see the scene unfold shoot their disbelief at what they just heard. 'Blasphemy against God' was bandied about.

"It's our duty…" Muffling her crying voice, Conis let the tears fall out. "It's our burden! Funny, isn't it… I'm sorry!"

"No, it's not funny…" I whispered again, clenching my fists hard.

"You idiot! You had no choice! If so…"

At the same time, the four of us felt compelled to shout:

"WHY DID YOU TELL US THAT?"

"Now you're going to be pursued along with us!" Luffy yelled.

"It's too late!" A voice screamed amongst the scattering crowd. "Get away from her, the judgment's about to begin!"

The people then definitely ran away from the harbor, leaving us to our own devices. Seconds later we would notice that the true judgment was about to come from above. Electrical sparks coursed through the air and a very bright light flashed above us. In the following moment, I felt my life literally escaping from my grasp when a giant blue light descended from the sky right in our way.

"RUN AWAY!"

I shrieked, immediately trying to run as far away from the imminent doom as my legs would allow, to grab the small sliver of hope of staying alive. I just know I felt my feet leave the ground altogether and a sudden shockwave pushing me aside when the giant light beam collided with the ground. I rolled on it and only then I realized I wasn't dead. For some circumstance I couldn't quite understand, but I wasn't dead.

"W… what the hell was that?"

"Luffy! Conis-chan!"

"Where are they?"

We screamed, only to be met with silence. The dispersing smoke revealed a huge hole sitting where the light had gone through, right beside us.

"It's over… they've been punished… Almighty God Enel is watching us all!"

Luffy and Conis are gone… possibly dead…

"Captain… Conis-san! Where are you?"

I shrieked again, only to be met with silence.

Until…

"They are safe!"

Hey, I know that voice…

"Gan Fall-san!"

In the nick of time, the last ray of hope appeared in the form of Gan Fall, the Knight of the Sky. Riding on his partner Pierre, the Pegasus-falcon, he rescued them both before that unholy discharge hit its target.

"Consider this my service." Gan Fall dropped Luffy off. "I will take care of this little lady. As long as she's with me, Enel won't be able to attack her so easily."

"Alright." Luffy stood back up, adjusting his hat.

"You now know what the reigning sentiment among the islanders is." Gan Fall said. "As you now know the might of this God. What do you intend to do?"

"Honestly, we have nothing to do about this island." Luffy replied, holding his hat. "But our comrades have been taken to the God land and we're going to save them."

"Good luck to you all."

For the general surprise, we simply brushed off the dust, put our bags in the Little Crow and headed right to the Milky Road. Despite myself and Usopp's protests, begging to have no part in this mess, here are the four of us heading to look for the others.

"Upper Yard, here we go!"

I know it's impossible, but I would love if we escaped without meeting any of the Priests…

…

…

…

Considered a criminal punishable by the same charges against us… Conis… is she going to be alright? That armored knight doesn't seem to be a bad guy.

He saved her and Luffy from certain death after all… we have no choice but to entrust her to his care for now. It's too dangerous a journey for her to go through.

By the way… this boat's already strange and it's goddamn slow! If the Milky Road is really as long as all the greatest rivers of our sea together, the others are going to turn into the meal of the gods or whatever way before we get to the altar!

"Ah, look at the forest! It's huge!" Luffy pointed.

Anyway, our Little Crow shrunk even more as we slowly approached the entrance of the forest. Slowly I would turn my head up and gawk at the sheer size and height of the trees.

"Giant!" I exclaimed. "Hey, is this forest in the map?"

"It is, but it doesn't look all that big in it."

"Whoever had this map got here two hundred years ago. It might be so old even at that time it wasn't much of a helper." Sanji stated. "I'd say it takes at least a thousand years for trees to grow this huge!"

"Nice!" Luffy grinned. "I'm itching to climb on one, how about that?"

"Please count me out…" Apprehensively, I looked away. "A tree as huge as that one is-"

"Let's climb one?"

"NO F*CKING WAY!"

Closer to the entrance and to the darkness of the scary giant forest, our boat marched on undisturbed… for now, at least. In each margin, a large torch was erected, apparently made of the cranium of a bull, decorated with two spears crossing each other and burning a constant stream of flames.

"Dan! Usopp! We're at the point of no return now. Are you ready?"

"U-umm… no?" I said, rather meekly.

"Um, I-I want to t-t-turn back, i-i-if–"

"LET'S GO!" Luffy interrupted.

"Listen to us!"

The point of no return is gone. With the ship accelerated to full speed, which isn't much, is like a snail trudging through a road in the desert, we entered the forest and soon Usopp and I began to squirm. We were greeted by a dozen or so sculptures uncannily similar to the one we saw back at the Lovely Street, only much bigger and creepier.

"A-ah! Something's there!" Usopp got startled with the cry of a bird.

"We're in a forest, Usopp, of course there is. It must be the birds living here." Luffy said.

"B-bu-but guys, look around!"

I swallowed when I noticed the various wrecked ships by which we passed. Wait, wrecked is the wrong word… It's strange, they're not wrecked but cleanly cut in equal parts… Anyway, it must be the Upper Yard's ship graveyard… what just helps to make the atmosphere more somber.

"Please, grab the oars and let's get outta here… this place's giving me the creeps!"

Usopp said, tugging to an oar as if it was a part of his soul. It actually would become part of his soul faster than he or any of us could talk about it when a giant axe suspended in a rope jumped out of the trees and swung directly in our path. It missed, what led us to imagine the danger to be gone, but this is an ordeal and nobody here's that naïve to believe they would give up after just one try.

"ROW AS HARD AS YOU CAN!"

A poignant warning from our captain when a wave of giant axes and their doomy blades swept through the waters of the Milky Road.

"Dan, take the wheel!"

"W-w-w-what, what, I-"

I tripped in my own words as Luffy walked to the back of the boat and threw me to the driver's seat.

"Lu-Luffy, what are you going to do?" I gripped the helm and looked back.

"Just go straight! I'm going to take us out of here! Gomu Gomu no…"

The axe's coming, Luffy! It better work!

"BAZOOKA!"

A boom and the ship cleanly dodged the last of the axes (I hope it is the last), gaining momentum to fly for a few feet before it touched the water again. However, soon another object would hit it…

"A spear?"

"Look ahead, Dan! Lots of them!"

Lots of spears. Hundreds, in fact. Swerve right, swerve left, said the others, but the spears are shooting out from everywhere! Sanji and Luffy immediately sprung into action to break as many spears as they could, but the onslaught is relentless!

"Ah, enough of this shit! Gomu Gomu no… KAZAGURUMA!"

Until Luffy single-handedly settled the issue by spinning his torso and acting like a giant human windmill, repealing all spears and making them fall harmlessly in the water.

"It's over… we're alive!" Usopp celebrated, still shaking with the shock.

"For now, at least… I wish it was already their best shot-"

A giant spinning blade coming our way went against my expectations.

"SHI~~~T!"

"Dodge it!"

Steering the helm all the way to the opposite direction of the curve of the deadly blade, I managed to save the ship long before it dawned on me that one single mistake and four small pieces of human meat would be doomed to the sea floor. Unfortunately, I had no time to brag about it due to a curious property of that blade that is acting like a boomerang. Which means, if it doesn't hit the first time…

"IT'S COMING BACK!"

…it can try again.

"Shit, shit, shit… aha, it missed! Yeah, I'm the-FUCK, IT'S STILL HERE!"

…and again.

"HE~~~LP!"

…and how many times it needs until it hits something. Indeed it hit something, but since I'm still alive to describe the story of how that scary blade hit one of those giant trees and sent it to the ground, it can be assumed pretty certainly it wasn't me.

"Aaaah! What the hell's wrong with that blade? An eternal boomerang? Shit, no matter how many lives we have, this place's going to end them all! Dan, turn the boat around NOW!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't you dare, you two!"

"SHUT UP LUFFY, I'M THE CAPTAIN OF THIS BOAT-"

"When did we settle on that again, Usopp?"

"Right now!"

The squabble had to end as another of those giant blades spun furiously our way and it's lather, rinse, repeat. Or rather, dodge, breathe, repeat.

"Ok, this pisses me off! Gomu Gomu no…"

"Get'em, Luffy!"

We waited… okay… so?

"I can't do it."

Luffy suddenly remembered he can't deal with a cutting target, forcing me to take the ship out of its way at the very last second and watch in horror as the blade cut a giant tree symmetrically in half.

"We escaped…" I let out a long, relieved sigh. "Great, now we can't turn back, can we? We're too deep inside the forest… can we take a break? Please no more of those things jumping at-"

A giant worm jumping out of the water right on our way went against my expectations.

"SHIT!"

Fortunately Sanji leapt to the action, sending the giant back to the depths from where it came with a single kick.

"A giant lamprey…" Sanji said as he landed in his feet. "Another celestial creature? There's not enough blood in the world for a beast that huge to suck!"

"Wow, real wow! What an interesting forest-"

"INTERESTING MY ASS, LUFFY!" Usopp shrieked. "Everything living here is trying to kill us!"

"We have to keep going… if we take a break, it spells death."

Please Sanji, stop talking about that…

"Goddamn it…" Usopp groused, lying down on the floor of the boat. All that scare business worn him out, apparently… "Enough of this crap already, it's not over yet?"

"Aw come on, why would it be over? It's getting to the good parts now! Those Priests are just dying to test us!"

"Luffy… can you keep that excitement to yourself, please?" I said.

"Wait, so no one ever went through those ordeals before?" Usopp asked.

"Maybe. Remember that huge-ass lightning that almost killed us back at the harbor?" Sanji commented. "Whatever trick they used to do it, if you're hit by that thing, you're dead meat."

"Ah… nice, how comforting…" I shivered, not bothering to stop.

"That God Enel…" Sanji muttered. "While we don't know a thing about him, he's watching us since the moment we stepped here."

"You mean he was at that town too?" Luffy asked.

"Most definitely. How could he possibly have pinpointed that giant bolt so precisely if he wasn't there?"

"Yeah…" I said. "From the moment Conis-san confessed she was the one who called that shrimp, she committed a blasphemy and sealed her fate. Hey, wait…" A quick thought later… "Does that God read our thoughts too?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if he did…"

"While we're talking, let's just ignore the GIANT LAMPREY TRYING TO EAT US!"

"GYAAAA~~~!"

Again, lather, rinse, repeat. Another giant lamprey coming at us. As Usopp and I screamed in horror…

"Hey, that thing would taste good in a barbecue, right?"

"Forget it, it's too damn huge, I can't possibly cook it here."

"STOP CHATTING AND PUNCH THAT THING AWAY!"

"Ok, I'm on it." Luffy said, somewhat bored. "Gomu Gomu no… PISTOL!"

A single pistol punch and there goes the lamprey up high, crashing in a tree branch and sinking back in the sea.

"Sky Island scary… Sky Island scary… Sky Island scary…"

"Wanna hop off here, you two?"

"DON'T BE STUPID!"

Well, so far, don't ask me how, we went through all the tribulations and deadly blades and everything trying to kill us. Luffy pointed forward and saw a giant as the next obstacle when in fact, it was some sort of entrance with five tunnels. Each one had a different label carved above it.

Left side: Ordeal of the Swamp and Ordeal of Iron.

Middle: Ordeal of the Altitude.

Right side: Ordeal of Strings and Ordeal of Spheres.

"We can choose one? Neat!" Luffy grinned, pumping his arms.

"That God wants to play a game?" Sanji asked.

"Five ordeals…" Usopp muttered. "Which one do we choose?"

"Spheres! Let's go!" Luffy pointed. "It sounds the most fun!"

"They're ORDEALS, Luffy! They're not supposed to be fun!" Usopp yelled. "Although I'm all for that one… doesn't sound like too violent a death for us…"

"Let's see…"

Imagination springing into action!

If we head to the Ordeal of the Swamp… it might leave us stranded in a dense, inescapable swamp just to wait for our slow and painful death… no, too creepy, not that one!

Oh well… Ordeal of Iron… I don't know, hundred-ton weights being hurled towards us until they crush us flat? Or trying to swerve waves of iron razors… too painful, no chance!

Ordeal of the Altitude… NO F*CKING WAY, PERIOD!

Ordeal of Strings… doesn't sound all that bad… if it involves a complicated, cloud-based version of cat's cradle… or making us walk a tightrope a few miles off the ground… no, that's too scary, just by thinking of it I'll lose control of my bowel movements! Rejected!

There's only the… Ordeal of Spheres.

"I'd like it if they were comfy, but what if a giant one comes to hunt us and crush us? Aah, we can't!" Usopp brought his hands to his head. "Damn… why that sphere one couldn't just be, I don't know, a harmless match of dodgeball or something involving balls?"

"Dodgeball still hurts though..." Sanji quipped.

"Yes it does, but it doesn't kill!"

"You sure about that?" Luffy joined the talk. "I bet they rigged it to be-"

"SHUT UP AND CHOOSE!" I screamed.

We have to choose one, the entrance is already there!

"Anything but the altitude one…" I gripped the helm.

"Let's go! Spheres!" Luffy screamed, visibly excited.

"No choice then… when push comes to shove, let's just trust Luffy's instinct… or whatever." Usopp said. "D-D-Dan, h-hard turn to the right!"

"Ok, here goes nothing!"

Hard turn to the right, we sped past the entrance gate and then it went dark all of a sudden.

"Wah, I can't see a thing! Where are we?" I screamed, looking everywhere and only seeing pitch black.

"Don't take your eyes off the road, driver! Just go ahead." Sanji joked.

"Hey guys, you know what this reminds me of?" Luffy said. "There were five doors, right? Maybe one of them has a prize and the others are misses!"

"Huh? What the hell?" Usopp bellowed. "Why did you bring that up now? What if we picked a wrong one?"

"I don't know…" Luffy looked up, thinking. "If we lose… we're falling off Sky Island or something like-"

"SCREW THAT!" I shouted. "I'm not falling off anything! It's a good TEN THOUSAND METERS away from sea level, get it? Do you have any idea how many times life flashes before our eyes in a fall like that? I don't want to die here! Even falling has to have a limit!"

"Enough of this dumb shit! I mean, it's not like—"

Unfortunately the fact we arrived early at the exit and that it led to a waterfall greatly went against my expectations. My widened eyes almost left my eye sockets in these elusive moments where we floated, suspended in the air for a few seconds… and where I only had time to sum up my thoughts on the matter before gravity finally did its job.

"I think we missed."

I only remember hearing myself and the others shrieking before I swear I felt my soul literally abandoning my body. It gave up on me just like that, leaving me to faint and from then on, I don't know what happened.

* * *

**At the end of the tunnel leading to the Ordeal of Spheres, lies a waterfall. Which means...**

**"FREEFA~~~LL!"**

**Are they really that unfortunate? Are they going to fall off Skypiea? If so, what about the Ordeal?**

**"What about us, damn you!"  
**

**Where are they going after this? Check out on the next chapter!  
**


	103. Fighting against a ball?

**Chapter 103**

**"Survival rate: 10%! Here it is, the Ordeal of Spheres!"**

* * *

I have to ask myself… how on earth can I get in such trouble?

"Ah… ah… we're alive…"

I literally lost the air in my lungs when I felt the boat colliding against a body of water sitting right at the end of the long waterfall. After coming to the conclusion that we didn't actually fall all the way down to the sea below, I stood back up, wiped the dust off, took a few deep breaths and quickly recovered. The others, though, didn't fare so well.

"I thought… we were falling… all the way down…" Said Usopp, still colorless from the scare. His soul almost let it go altogether during the fall. Dan, on the other hand…

"…"

Fainted. Fell flat on his face in the floor of the boat.

Long story short, everyone almost shat their pants with the panic, except the usual suspect.

"A~~HAHAHA-AHAHAH-AHAH!"

Luffy…

"Grrr… STOP MAKING SCARY SHIT UP, LUFFY!" Laughing his ass off while we almost die of a heart attack? Enough of that shit, it's beat-up time!

"I was scared too! I thought we were going to die-"

"PULL THAT STUNT AGAIN AND I'M F*CKING CHOKING YOU!" I vented my anger booting him repeatedly in the head. Not likely, but I definitely wished he stopped having ideas that stupid.

Ah, I'm getting too stressed… I need a freaking cigarette. Drawing out my lighter, I lit one just so I could calm back down. It's no use getting nervous now. We need to get ready to face whatever's coming ahead.

With Dan fainted (and showing no signs of waking up any time soon), I had to take over the helm. The boat continued its irritatingly slow journey through the forest until it led us to an area chock full of balls.

"Wow, this place never fails to surprise me…" And lead me to sigh in annoyance.

"Ordeal of the balls, huh? Balls." Luffy glanced around.

Balls. Hundreds and hundreds of them. White orbs, which I assume are made of island cloud, had varying sizes, floated right in mid-air (don't ask me how) and surrounded everything around us, even the Milky Road itself. The road climbed the trees and whirled around them. At this rate we're going to take centuries to get to the Altar…

"Wahah! Cool! They look like giant snowballs!" Luffy cheered. "This place's really really weird, isn't it? I love it!"

"Mgrl…" Usopp's recovering still.

"Hey, Sanji, do you know where the ordeal's going to be?" Luffy asked.

"Like hell I know!" I replied. "I'd just love if we went through unmolested, but that's not going to happen."

"Hey, hey! What if we chose the right door?" Luffy deduced. "If nothing's happening to us, that means we got it right! Or else we would already be in one hell of a pinch, right?"

"Yeah! Maybe you're right!" Oh, Usopp's back up already?

"See?"

"You idiots!" I grumbled. "You're still on with that crap? Who in their right mind prepares a prize door for criminals? Think about it for a second: Nothing's happening _right now_, but it probably won't take long for us to find some messed up hidden trap like those of a while ago. So, stay ve~ry sharp."

Usopp swallowed hard.

"Hey, Usopp, what's up with Dan? Is he sleeping?" Luffy noticed.

"Huh? Hey, Dan, wake up!"

Not letting go of the helm, I glanced behind me to catch Usopp repeatedly slapping the sleeping Dan in the face to wake him up. To no avail.

"No dice, man. He's knocked out." Usopp dropped the fainted body of Dan in the ground. "What happened to him?"

"Maybe it was the fall of a while ago." I said. "He must've been so scared by the height (and Luffy's story) that he flat-out fainted. Let him sleep it off for now, at least until we bump into an enemy. Let's just keep going now."

"Aahn~… I'm so thirsty… let's make a little tea break?"

"Cool, cool! Hey, get the snacks for us, Luffy!"

"I like it!"

You…

"Hey, Sanji! Want some cookies?"

"Quit the crap, you idiots!" I yelled. "No tea break! I'm going to drive this thing and you two are going to watch out and that's final!"

Dammit… I'm trying to think and these two keep goofing off in the damnedest of times… relax, Sanji, no need to get worked up with these two. Hey, now that I think about it, there's something a bit off here. There were five doors for us to choose. I could've sworn each one of them would lead directly to the priest and to our ordeal, but we're still at the Milky Road and no one's around. Besides these white balls… what do they hide? Where's the priest?

"Hey, Usopp, pass!" Huh?

I just turn my back and there are the two stooges playing volley with one of the orbs!

"I TOLD YOU TO LOOK AROUND!"

"Aw, come on, can't we play for a little whi-AAH, SNAKE!"

Which was right when the orb twitched for a while before letting out a snake that immediately tried to bite Usopp's head clean off. He swerved out of the way on time and gave Luffy room to kick the ball away.

"Wow, that's scary… what the hell…" Luffy took a deep breath.

"SANJI! CLOUD AHEAD! KICK IT! KICK IT! KICK IT AWAY!"

I just turn back to look ahead and I'm greeted by another ball as tall as us, creeping close to the ship. I get it now…

"Those orbs are giant snake eggs?"

When I swung my leg forward and kicked the ball away, it glowed for a few moments before letting out a huge explosion right on our faces that covered us with soot head to toe.

"What the hell's with those orbs?" Usopp asked the wind, in utter frustration.

…

"Ho… hoho~… how fun is it to wonder what's going to come out…"

Huh? Who's there?

"You don't know but I'll tell you! These are my Surprise Cloud-spheres!"

Show up already, bastard!

"Heso! Hohohooo~!"

There he is! Wait, what the…

"Thank you for choosing… my Ordeal of Spheres! Hohohooo~~!"

All of a sudden, we found ourselves standing before a perfectly round, winged… uh, being… dressed in a simple white robe, sporting opaque glasses, a nifty hat and wine-colored hair…

"What's up with that guy… he's a muffin? What am I even looking at?" Seriously, things get so ridiculous I have to pinch myself every once in a while…

"Dunno… a ball on top of another ball?" Luffy theorized.

"Don't say… That weirdo is one of the Priests?"

"Seems like it…" Usopp said, sweating cold.

"I told you not to say it!"

"Hey, wait…" Luffy put a hand on his chin.

"Hohohoooo~~! Hoho, hohoho~!" Meanwhile, the ball(-man?) danced and hopped around on top of the proper ball.

"You mean, this is the Ordeal of Spheres? And the sphere's that guy?" Luffy concluded.

"Hey you over there! Stop dancing and say who you are! Spill it!"

"Hohoho~! Hoho~~! Hohoho~!" He didn't listen, keeping with his dance and not a care for the rest.

"Thank goodness…" Usopp sighed. "That guy looks dumber than I thought."

"Hold on, didn't Nami and that old guy tell us they were, like, superpowerful and stuff?" Luffy asked.

And that damn dance's already ticking me off…

"HEY, MUFFIN! If you lay a finger on Nami-san and the others, I'm going to…"

"Ah, you're talking about the offerings?" Finally he replied. While dancing still. "I don't care about them. If they're left on their own, they're bound to die… even if they escape, they're still bound to die anyway! Hoho!"

"What?" I'm about to pop a vein with that guy… he can be way more annoying than Luffy!

"I advise you to look after yourselves." The muffin replied, not stopping to hop around. "That means, if you want to keep going, you'd better be ready to face me~~y! Hoho!"

The muffin-man then hopped from his position, spinning towards us…

"He's coming! Luffy, punch him to the sky!" Usopp screamed.

"Alright… Gomu Gomu no—"

"You'll stretch your arm…"

"PISTOL!"

I heard him mumbling something right before he effortlessly swerved Luffy's pistol arm. He then prepared his counterattack by just reaching his hand to Luffy's face. Then, some sort of energy came out of it, sending Luffy forcefully flying backwards all the way to the other margin, where he crashed with his back against a giant tree.

"LUFFY!"

Defeated in a single hit…? That can't be!

"Huh…" Usopp almost lost his voice… but brought it back. "Huh? LUFFY! HEY, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? LUFFY! A LIGHT PUNCH LIKE THAT CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!"

"Punch?" We turned our eyes back to the muffin-man. "My hit's… just like a punch but… slightly different."

"Different how?"

I sprinted to plant my foot in his face, but…

"High kick with the right leg…"

As I got ready to land the kick…

"Collier… wha?"

…I caught him mumbling again right he swerved out of the way of my leg, again effortlessly.

"A special gift bestowed upon its practitioners. Mantra!"

Impossible… is that guy predicting my movements?

I barely had time to prepare a second kick when I saw an orange glove approaching my face… then I felt a huge shockwave coursing through it. It sounded like a giant bell hit me square in the head. Literally powerless, I saw the world spin around me until I crashed like a ragdoll in the ground of the opposite margin, next to Luffy's fallen body.

"SANJI!"

"Impact."

"AAGH!"

Usopp got hit too… sent to the side of the river… I knew it'd be too easy to judge the book by the cover… that madman just needed three hits to take over our boat!

"Shit… Sanji! Usopp! Get up! Are you guys alright?"

Looks like Luffy's up and running again. I can't let myself go down!

"Ah…" Massaging my aching face, I sit in the ground. "I'm fine. Little woozy, but fine. What was that… that bastard…"

"I don't know." Luffy replied. "But that's a dirty trick! And I will figure it out!"

"Hoho! Hoho~!" The muffin-man just sing-songed, jumping cheerily in our boat. "The name's Satori. And I'm one of the Priests under the rule of the Almighty God Enel! I represent the 'Vearth' of the Lost Forest!"

"Lost Forest?" Luffy parroted.

"Yes! It's the name of this forest." Opening his arms, the muffin… I-I mean, Satori, presented the forest. "And…"

And…

"Well…" All of a sudden, the engine screamed before the boat started to move away.

"What's going to get lost here… is your boat… as well as your sleepy friend!"

Oh no…

"The boat's moving on its own!" Luffy screamed.

"Shit… Dan! Wake up, come on!"

Shit… shit, shit, shit! If Dan didn't turn into a dead weight, he could stop the boat!

"Now your boat is going to march down this forest's Milky Road and, sooner or later, will get to the only exit. If you don't know, I'll tell you. Losing your Dial-powered boat means losing the way to the Sacrificial Altar. I advise you to get back to it before that happens… that said, the Surprise Cloud-spheres laid out here, as well as myself, are going to stop you!"

Thanks for the explanation. Since it's that simple, we're leaving!

"Welcome to the Forbidden Sacred Land… Upper Yard! Hoho!"

That guy… if we could do something about those hands…

"Welcome to the Ordeal of Spheres. Your survival rate is 10 percent!" Is it me or he's another one of those guys that love to give 'bad news with a smile'?

"Damn it…" Usopp snarled. "Guys, we have no time to waste! If we lose track of the boat, we'll be stuck here forever!"

Before he began to sprint away, I called him back. "Hold on, Usopp! It's only going to get harder if we separate from each other! Luffy, what do we do?"

He cracked his knuckles. "Go there and stop the boat! I'll take care of that muffin!"

"Hoho! You think you can do it? I'm floating in fear! Hoho~!"

Anyway, someone's going to have to stall that clown while we search the boat… good thinking!

"Watch out with that guy, alright? As soon as we get back on the boat, we'll be back here!"

"Got it!"

Leaving Luffy to deal with the muffin Satori, I sprinted as fast as I could to catch back up with Usopp.

A while later, I heard the noise of something crashing down the trees and that same impacting sound of that guy's punch… Luffy's taking a beating already… but he's got to keep going and take it for as long as we take to get back to the boat…

Hang in there, Luffy!

…

…

…

"Hey, Usopp! Found anything yet?"

While I kept running close to the margin of the Milky Road, Usopp climbed one of the giant trees, searching the boat at a higher spot with his goggles. At first he didn't reply, staying silent for a handful of seconds, before…

"FOUND IT!"

"Alright! Tell me where it is!"

"Right ahead! Try climbing the tree after the next one!" Usopp shouted back. "You can jump off from the branch and get to the boat!"

"Got it!"

First tree… second tree… here it is! Coming to the tree, I immediately began to climb it… right before I noticed I wouldn't be alone.

"Sanji, watch out! There's an orb coming at you!"

Mid-climb, I turned my head and caught the white orb growing right ahead of me. I closed my eyes, expecting the worst, only to open them back again and watch the orb touch another one, change direction, touch a second one and change direction again…

"USOPP! GET OUT OF THERE!"

…and heading right to Usopp.

He let go of the branch, expecting the worst as well… but nothing happened.

"A FLOWER?" He shouted in disappointment, before crashing flat on his back on the ground.

"Tch… a faulty one…" Satori grumbled.

I got it… not even the Priest himself can keep track of what every ball's storing! We can use that to our advantage! Looks like everyone's at the mercy of their own luck…

But still, for that guy to catch up to us… did he take Luffy out already? Nah, he won't fall that fast. Anyway, can't think about that now, got a boat to get back to!

"Nami-san… Robin-chan… I'm going to save you!"

Filling up with willpower, I continued the climb until I got to the first branch I found.

"Ooooooorryaaaaa!"

Told ya! Luffy's back on his feet!

"Gomu Gomu no… GATLING GUN!"

Yeah, he's back, but the problem with it is that he began to launch his fists to the air without caring with what he would hit and in it, he moved a good bunch of the balls floating in the air!

"Stop, Luffy! You're hitting the orbs!"

"Huh? Whoa! What happened? They're all over the place!"

All hell broke loose. Now the orbs are going to come from anywhere! Nobody knows what each of them's storing, but we can't take any chances!

"You're so fun to watch… now I don't have to move a finger!"

And he might be right on that one…

The orbs are bouncing back and forth on each other, it's impossible to predict! We can't do anything but try to swerve!

Spears…

Crabs…

Another snake…

…uh… peanuts?

Zigzagging through the trash that shot out of the orbs, I came to a stop in another branch nearby and watched how the others fared. Usopp was too far away to catch, but I could see Luffy flying after he was bitten by a fish and shot right through an upper section of the river, falling to the water below.

"Luffy! Don't fall in that river! It might not have a bottom!"

With my call, he quickly stretched his arm and grabbed the first branch he could catch. Swinging on it, he gained forward momentum and began to fly on the lianas like a jungle boy.

"Wow, this is so much fun!"

"FUN MY ASS, LUFFY!" No use screaming… I could just facepalm…

"Hey… that reminds me of something!" I caught Usopp saying. He was standing back up, on the ground, close to four brightly-colored, fainted birds. He must've gone through a bit of a hell, since he got back from it with a black eye and a swelled cheek… "It's the perfect time to test out my masterpiece!"

"Masterpiece?" I asked. "So, Usopp? Got any ideas?"

Recovered and standing proud with his hands on his waist, Usopp valiantly declared: "Of course! I am widely known as the Great Pirate Inventor, after all. Behold my newest invention: Usopp… AAaaaAAaaaAA!"

Huh?

"Usopp what?"

"Just watch and learn!" Learn what? Geesh… Anyway, he put the glasses back on his face and located the boat. "Found it! It's still in the river, right ahead! Rolling out! SET… UP!"

Usopp's belt launched a rope in high speed and it wrapped itself around a tree branch standing up high. As soon as he was done tightening it…

"Alright… I have a free way until the Little Crow. This is my only chance… I can't waste it!"

"Eh… good thinking, Usopp! Watch out for the orbs!"

"Talk about something new, Sanji! For someone widely known as the King of the Jungle as I am, these obstacles are nothing. I'm going to get to that boat and kick Dan awake! Here I go! Usopp…"

He jumped!

"AAAaaaaAAAaaaaAAAhhh!"

Floating mid-air, sustained only by the strength of the rope, he swung his way to the boat. Getting closer… closer… until he reached very close to the boat!

"Right on the spot, Usopp! Get down and shut off the engine!"

"Yeah! I just have to… ungh… detach… that…"

"What's wrong? Get off the rope and board the boat!"

"It's just… the rope's kinda stuck to the belt and I can't… detach it! Ah… AAAAaaaaa…"

Thus, he still floated in the air, swinging the way back. He would still swing back to the river again, but he already missed his timing and the boat sailed away.

Hold on… don't tell me he _forgot to put in a way of detaching himself from the rope_?

"aaaaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa…"

Yup. He did.

"Wahoo! Check this out, Usopp! You're having some fun too, huh? Nice! AAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAA…!"

Luffy…

"You two… we need to have a little talk…"

And by 'little talk' I mean 'thorough beating'.

Damn… I need another cigarette. I can't believe I'm surrounded by idiots.

"I will pretend that whatever happened now didn't happen. But you're going to do exactly as I tell you from now on. Is that clear?"

"Yesh, shir!" Luffy replied, despite his enormous swelled cheeks. "I'm shorry, shir!"

"I'm shorry choo, shir!" Usopp followed suit.

"For now, let's just forget about that boat. In the event that Dan actually wakes up, he already got the memo that he has to head to the Altar, although on his own. We have no other choice but to pray he's awake. As for us… let's just get together and beat up that muffin once and for all. I don't care if he's a Priest or whatever. If we gang up on him, it's our win!"

"You want to beat me, huh?"

Oh God, the muffin's back! But where is he… where is he?

"Show up already, muffin!"

"Right behind you."

"Wha?"

…

…

"Impact!"

Just as I turn to face him, he hits me square in the chest with another shockwave coming out of his hand. Another point-blank strike sent me crashing against the tree behind me before I fell on the ground.

"SANJI!"

"One down… two to go."

…

Damn… that man beat Usopp too… again…

"AAAgh…"

Luffy's gonna get pounded again… and I can't move! That energy wave's too strong for my muscles… but we have to fight back!

…

…

"Hoho~! Hohoho~!"

Damn… that shockwave hit really hard… it's still resounding inside me, I can't stand!

"Son of a bitch…"

I could only turn my head up to watch Luffy standing up, covered in dirt.

"Oh no!" Usopp's awake as well and it seems he caught something…

"Behold my Sphere Dragon!"

"What the…" I hissed. I was lying down before a dragon head leading a long line of spheres strung together.

"So what? It's just a bunch of balls stuck together! Should I be surprised?" Panting, Luffy defied.

"No, but there's something you don't know and I'll tell you… my little secret! This dragon's made only of the spheres storing bombs and explosives. One touch will start a chain reaction of the flammable spheres that will fry all of you!"

Shit…

"Now go, my Sphere Dragon!" Satori ordered his dragon to charge…

"GOMU GOMU NO…"

"Luffy, no!"

Luffy tried to fight back, but Usopp quickly shoved him out of the way as the dragon sped past the two.

"Don't touch it! We're going to get vaporized if you do!" Usopp yelled.

"How am I supposed to fight that thing if I can't touch it then?"

"That means you don't have to fight it! Running away is the only option!"

The dragon charged back down, forcing them to run away through the forest. And Satori followed them, to watch and laugh.

…

Perfect.

"That's actually a good move… Usopp… Luffy…" I mumbled as I stood up, having recovered a little. "Stall that muffin so I can recover." I wiped the dust off my knees and stood back up, trembling still. "Damn… so that guy _does_ know what's stored in the orbs? Stringing a contraption like that… Who cares, I can't lose track of them!"

Once again, I sprinted to climb to a tree branch. Albeit slowly, I managed to get to a spot good enough to watch the action from high above. That reminds me, I have to smoke again…

"Aah… ah… help…" Aw man… Usopp's on the last of his strength… "I can't go on anymore… I feel like my heart will stop beating any second now!"

"Then you can head straight to your prayers." Satori, alive and kicking… "Your boat's almost on the way out of the forest! It's your end! Hoho~! You will never escape unless you know how to fly somehow. You're going to get lost here forever and ever!"

"We're not… we won't let it happen!"

"Of course you will! Go, Dragon!"

Luffy unleashed another pistol punch, but Satori easily evaded and took the chance to launch his dragon again. Luffy ran away like crazy until he was right in front of a tree and…

"You want to climb it and escape, huh?"

"Damn! Stop reading my thoughts!"

Out of frustration, Luffy climbed it with his feet and leapt backwards, grabbing an almost-invisible string attached to the head of the dragon. Yeah… now that I saw it… Satori's cane is connected to the head of the dragon!

"I get it!" Luffy caught the trick as well. "Break… the chain!"

"NO!"

Yes. Luffy snapped the rope and kept holding the two halves.

"I lost control of the dragon…" Satori's pissed now… "Oh you're kidding me! Get back here!"

Bringing his cane, he brought Luffy closer, but…

"Let go of the other end, idiot! No… no! AAAhhh!"

Three…

Two…

One…

Kaboom.

After a little while, the smoke went away and I caught Satori floating atop his ball, covered head-to-toe in dirt and panting, in the middle of an enormous crater. Let's get close to the action now… well, I wonder if there's a harmless ball nearby…

Touch… another flower? Awesome.

"One, two…" Sitting in the defused ball, I slowly headed towards the scene of battle. "Take me to the stage, s'il vous pla_î_t?"

"Damn it… he really wanted to take me down with him… curse him… I'm getting rusty… I lost focus of my Mantra-"

"You betcha."

"What?"

"That was a close call, huh?"

Luffy caught Satori off-guard, tugging to his back.

"AAH! Let me go! Let me go, you idiot! Get away from me, you pervert!"

Satori tried to get free of Luffy's hold. Perfect… time to strike back!

"Don't let him go, Luffy. That muffin won't escape me."

"Sanji! You're alive?"

"I WAS HALF-DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU, THOUGH! Look around before you do something stupid!" Breathing deeply after this little fit, I lit another cigarette as I turned my eyes to…

"As for you, muffin-man…"

…the target.

"You keep going on about the ordeal… so it's only fair if you prove a bit of your own poison. I have two delicate ladies waiting their knight in shining armor. So, I will be quick to present you… my Ordeal of Love!"

"NO! No! Let me go already! Two to one's cheating! Get off me!"

Luffy stretched himself around Satori's body, effectively immobilizing him.

"First, you kidnap us. Then you make a cute little angel cry and try to kill her… now you tell us we're the cheaters? Well. Get ready to choke on those words-"

"Hey, Sanji, can't you hurry up? This guy's annoying me!" Luffy whined.

"No sweat, Luffy. I will finish him off… with a little hands-on cooking tip: the secret to a good fillet mignon."

Crouching, I readied my jump.

"Here's the tip: tenderizing the meat. Beating down on it until it's very soft."

Jumping high up.

"That way you can unlock its hidden flavor!"

Spinning on the way down…

"STOP! STOP RIGHT THERE! IGNORING THE JUDGMENT OF A PRIEST IS A CLASS 1 OFFENSE-"

"CONCASSER!"

A swift and powerful kick to his head and the matter's settled.

…

Now that the Priest's a shivering heap, we can get back to what's important: the boat! And Usopp brought great news.

"GUYS! I FOUND THE BOAT! IT'S LEAVING THE FOREST ALREADY! FOLLOW ME!"

"Usopp? Is he alrig-"

"Hey, he said something about the boat! Let's follow him!"

We chased Usopp down, catching up with him in a higher spot.

"Guys, hold on to me! Here we go… Usopp…AAaaaAAaaaAA!"

Wait, did he retrieve the rope?

Seems so, because he launched it again, managing to wrap it around the boat's figurehead!

"Awesome! Bulls-eye!"

"Great, Usopp! You got some ideas in there, huh?" I patted his shoulder.

"See? You just keep looking down on me… huh, hold on… oh dear…"

"What?"

"Guys, we're going to have a slightly bumpy trip back-aaaaAAA!"

Just as he was done saying that, the rope pulled us, launching us like a bullet ricocheting off every single tree on the way back to the boat, leaving us with a couple of lumps on the head…

"You…" I growled.

"I could just… have stretched back to the…" Too late to say that, Luffy.

"Anyway… we left the Lost Forest-DAN'S GONE!" Usopp noticed.

"Yeah, we… wait, what? He's not in the boat! Shit…"

Now there's that… God damn it… where did he go?

* * *

**Since our author passed out, we brought to you this chapter under Sanji's point of view.**

* * *

**Luffy, Usopp and Sanji managed to get back to the Little Crow, but the fainted Dan is gone! Where is he now?**

**Dan: "NOOOOOOOOOO~~!"**

**Not good...**

**Find out in the next chapter!  
**


	104. Fighting high in the sky! Scaaary!

**Chapter 104**

**"Ve~ry much terrifying! Priest Dogu and the Ordeal of the Altitude!"**

* * *

That's it. I must be dead by now.

Weird… I don't remember ever coming back to my senses for quite a while now… I mean, literally, the last thing I recall is me in a boat with three other guys, leaving a dark tunnel which led directly to a tall waterfall and then… poof. Everything blacked out.

Did we actually fall off from Skypiea and die? No, Luffy's story was too stupid to be true. But usually when someone says that it turns out to be true and I'm conditioned to never turn the other cheek so, I don't know! Hey, I think I'm feeling my senses coming back now… wonderful, I'm not dead! I'm not dead!

Yet.

This island's too scary not to have its own version of '1001 Ways the World Wants You Dead'.

"Unnngh… ow…" Slowly, I opened my eyes, being greeted with a blurry sight and becoming aware that I was currently lying in the ground. The sky above me was the first thing I saw upon waking up.

"Uh… sorry, guys, I was so scared I kinda fainted and, uh… hey, how long have I been out? What'd I miss?"

Silence…

"Wow, it's windy out here… Guys…"

I felt a strong breeze down my neck upon sitting up. Little did I know that looking around would be the absolute worst thing I could have done at the time…

"Guys? Uh-oh."

I noticed I was sitting in some sort of giant pillar of rock surrounded by six or so smaller pillars erected at the same height and connected by wooden bridges. Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, that's if you don't count the fact that this place is standing _wa~~~ay above the Upper Yard_, fact that was enough for me to…

"NO~~~OOO!"

…shriek.

"Help! Help! Where the hell am I? How the hell did I get up here? Luffy! Sanji! Usopp-kun! SOMEONE GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

I totally lost my marbles, right then and there. The problem was: I had no way to escape. I was effectively trapped in that chain of rocky pillars _without any connection whatsoever to the ground below_. How is that even possible?

"Luffy! Sanji! Usopp-kun! Somebody save me!" I screamed desperately, begging someone to rescue me, not realizing how stupid I was being. I then curled up in a little ball and whispered to myself. "Sky Island scary, Sky Island scary, Sky Island scary… Damn it… I'm all by myself… in a high up place… No. No, I can't go down like this! I have to think about a way to hightail it!"

I have the greatest tool a person can have… imagination! I can actually put it to use, so I absolutely must do something!

"Thou shalt not need to."

W… who said that?

"Thou shalt stay in this pillar for all eternity and shalt perish as a deserved punishment for thy crimes."

Crimes? Which crimes? Who's spouting all this nonsense?

"Hey! Who's there?"

"Welcome, dweller of the Sea Below. Turn around."

Oh crap… is it another of the Priests?

"Who are you?" I turned…

Indeed it was.

"I am the holy guardian of the skies, under the rule of the Almighty God Enel… Priest Dogu!"

"…Dogu?" I parroted.

"Precisely."

Well, he surely looked like one of those weird religious-looking statues… though I have no idea which. I found myself standing before a strange winged statue I have never seen before. It was painted silver with yellow markings, sported almost closed eyes with a yellow-ish glint, a small waist and large hips, some very bizarre body proportions.

"Ok. First of all: can you tell me how on earth did I get up here?"

"Simple, dweller of the Sea Below." Dogu started. "Upon leaving the Lost Forest, thou hast entered the Milky Road that stands above the canyon below us. This is my protected area. Therefore, automatically, thou hast to subject thyself to mine ordeal."

"Wa-wait… I left the forest already?"

"Precisely. But don't think thou art returning to your route. Thou shalt perish here and now!"

"Heh… trying to pick a fight?" I taunted, cracking my fingers. "Let's get to it then!"

I immediately lunged towards the statue, launching a…

"Thou wilt try to hurt me with thy arm…"

…punch, but he swerved and… huh?

"Gone!"

"Behind thee, simpleton."

I turned my head and indeed, he was floating in the other end of the pillar. How did he dodge my punch I would never know.

"Get back here, you…!"

"A lower punch…"

I tried to land a hit on him again, but he disappeared right in front of my eyes! How is he… wait a second, is he reading my moves?

"I advise thee to quit. I have more than enough means to enforce thy punishment!"

"Not if I can do anything about it!" Close quarters scratched off, I immediately pulled my pencil out. "Enpitsu Yari!"

Turning it in a spear, I lunged at the Priest again, thrusting the spear forward just to catch him dodging out of the way and vanishing from my sight.

"Here."

Just as I sighted him, I tried to slash him in vain, again, again and again, swinging left and right as if I was trying to splat a fly.

"Tired already?"

I turned yet again just to spot him further away, floating just above one of the smaller pillars.

"Oh you…"

"Thou wilt get nowhere, simpleton."

I dashed through the bridge to the smaller pillar, but he had long teleported away before I noticed it. I had to stop at the last second, feeling my heart almost jumping out of my throat as I unwittingly looked down to the scary canyon below me. I tilted my body backwards and fell flat in my back in the scarily small piece of rock.

"Heh… that was close…" I said, laughing nervously and sweating a cold waterfall. Slowly I sat down, massaging my dizzy head.

"Damn… where did that crazy matryoshka go?"

"Up here."

Huh? Now what…

"He can fly?"

"Precisely, simpleton." He replied, calmly as always. "The thing that puts me apart from the other priests is that I am able to use the wings that adorn my back. I gave thee too much time. Now see if thou can survive! Thou shalt burn in my… Marbles of Hell!"

"Eek…"

I swallowed hard when I saw the statue's shoulders glowing moments before they shot waves of fireballs right at me. I got back on my feet, running through the central pillar to the opposite side, being relentlessly chased down by the Priest.

Only seconds later, when he was done, I noticed what I was doing…

"Hold on… he's destroying the bridges!"

"Precisely, simpleton."

"Grr… stop with that 'simpleton' crap, will ya?"

"Thou can use the bridges however thou likest." Dogu continued. "That is, until I am done destroying them and trapping thee!"

Shit.

"Thou hast not much time before they crumble. When that happens, thou shalt be trapped here for all eternity to lament thy destiny!"

That's his idea of punishment?

"Ye all disgust me, dwellers of the Sea Below."

Oh?

"Countless times ye prove your naivety… countless times ye step in forbidden land, searching for futile adventure… countless times ye art punished by the divine hand! Thou and thy comrades shalt not escape your destiny!"

"Oh yeah? Well, I'll tell you this…" Mentally, I turned my spear back to normal. "To hell with destiny!"

針 "Rain of Needles!"

Pulling a piece of paper from my pocket, I focused my energy on a barrage of needles aimed at the priest…

"Why dost thou insist?"

…in vain.

"Divine Bolt!"

He scored a hit, directly behind me, with a powerful electric current spreading through my body and sending me to my knees.

"The sacred skill of reading the future… Mantra!"

Damn… he _is_ reading what I'm doing!

What now, how can I possibly fight back? Other than just sitting here and doing nothing but glaring at him until either of us drops dead, I can't do a thing without him knowing immediately-

"I hope thou art not thinking of sitting here and glaring at me until someone dies, art thou?"

Shit.

"Even Lord Enel runs out of patience. Very well, I shalt end thy life faster so thou dost not wait too long… Divine Bolt!"

"AARGH!"

Before I was hit with another painful energy discharge, I saw a blue light glowing from his chest… I don't know why I keep stopping to look at these things… I can't punch him out, I can't hit him with any of my weapons… I have to come up with something new…

Imagine…

"Divine Bolt!"

Aagh… it's tough to stop and imagine something useful when there's a crazy statue trying to fry my brain up!

"Help! I can't stand it anymore!"

One bridge collapsed… eleven to go…

I can only try to shield myself behind… wait, that's it! Doesn't help much, but at least it'll allow me to think of something else!

"Come on! Bring it!"

"As thou wishest!"

Filled with courage, I tore another piece of paper, speedily writing on it…

盾 "Shield!"

Pressing the paper against the ground, it rapidly produced a wall made of the same rock the pillars are made. A lightning bolt hit my makeshift shield, shattering it… and I'm still blocked.

"Nothing's coming… I have to keep defending!"

That priest's become a moving target. If I become a moving target too, that puts us on even ground! Screw the bridges, I gotta use them while I can!

"Eeek… ayayayayay… whoawhoawhoa!"

"I understand what thou art thinking… stop moving now!"

"No, stupid statue!"

Two bridges down… three… four… I'm running out of options!

"Whowhowhooooa!"

I couldn't run any longer, since another lightning hit the bridge I was about to cross, breaking it in two, sending me to a long freefall… if I had not grabbed the remains of the bridge at the last second and climbed my way back to one of the smaller pillars.

"Huh… huh… come on, Dan… think harder! I can't keep running forever…"

I have to strike back! Six bridges are down… four in the middle and two of the borders… really, all this nervousness is making me forget I'm so high I could… aw, no, my legs are shaking now! Why did I even mention that?

"Focus."

"Huh-AAAARRRGH!"

Another of his bolts hit me… I'm probably going to die now…

"Hahahah… the foolishness of thine existence entertains me… ye dwellers of the Sea Below art worthy of pity! Restrict yourselves to your life in the inferior world! Stay out of our sacred Skypiea! This is the land of the holy, almighty God Enel… and none of ye worms art worthy of putting your dirty feet here!"

Grrr… If I only could hit him from here… wait, that's it!

"Stay at ease, little worm. I shalt slay you now."

No.

No, you won't.

"I summon thee…"

Drawing out from the little stamina I still had, I tore another piece of paper, writing…

"Shield…"

"STORM PUNISHMENT!"

For a second, I noticed the same blue light glowing even brighter in the priest's chest before he shot it towards me…

盾 "SHIELD!"

The strength of my invocation enhanced the strength of my wall, making it larger than normal, but forcing me to keep infusing power to it and withstand the attack… with one hand, I sent my power to the wall, freeing the other to grip the pencil and try to sneak in a new spell.

"Come forth…"

"Dost thou not surrender? Dost thou not prolong thy suffering! Perish once and for all, worm of the earth!"

"I'm… not… a… worm!"

Raising my free arm, I let the light of my pencil glow stronger before I screamed…

"COME! ENPITSU YUMIYA!"

At the same time the rock wall disintegrated, I stood back up, this time armed with a bow and a stock of six arrows in my back.

"What?"

"The real fight starts now. You doll."

"How come? Where didst that weapon come from? How didst thou survive?"

I bet he was so focused in frying me up with his lightning that he forgot to turn his Mantra on or whatever he's using to read my mind. I can make that play for my side!

"A mud wall deads a cannonball. You can be a moving target but… I have a way of shooting you down!"

"Then try if thou havest to! Celestial… Mirage!"

Just as he taunted me, Dogu began to spin around me. Floating faster and faster, increasing his speed in such a way he projected clones of himself…

"Ho… that's your trick… I have to guess which the real one is, right?"

"Hahah… that is correct! Dost thou still believe thou can? Every thy mistake wilt be punished!"

Damn… just six shots? Then I have to make the most out of them!

Focusing on the rapidly spinning illusions, I searched something to tell them apart from the real one.

"Fly, arrow!"

I shot the first one, only to watch it go through the circle.

"Away goes thine arrow, worm! Receive thy punishment!"

A rain of fireballs pelted the place I stood, forcing me to sprint out of the way. I have to keep moving and hit him!

"Here goes!"

Second try… second miss.

"Thou art still standing? My fire shalt put thee down!"

Lather, rinse, repeat. Another wave of fireballs, me running around and taking another bridge down. Only three standing now…

"Hit him!"

Third arrow… fruitless.

Wait… that blue light again…

"Burn! Burn in thy naivety!"

Now only two of the bridges are up…

But I'm going to turn the tables, just wait!

"Hit already!"

Fourth arrow… the more I tried, the more I hit thin air!

"OOUCH!"

Taking another barrage of fireballs in my back yet again. Driven to the ground by the pain, I grunted, breathing harshly, knowing I couldn't give up, but knowing if he resorted to a stronger attack… I'd probably fall to my death.

Only two of the bridges in the middle survived. If I run to either of them, I'm trapped. If I keep in the center, I'm trapped. No way out of this now.

Handling the burning pain in my back, legs and arms shaking, panting hard… I slowly got back to my feet.

"I… can't fall here. My comrades… are waiting for me!"

"Run out of thine arrows and it is thine end!"

This is it… focus, Dan. Focus!

"Storm…"

Plug that out. Just focus!

I still heard the electrical rumble gradually getting louder. I swiftly drew my fifth arrow, aligning it in the bow. Please, Usopp… lend me a bit of your awesome aiming skills!

…

…

"PUNISHMENT!"

I opened my eyes…

"Now!"

A moment before Dogu shot his final attack, I shot my arrow first…

"Aaaaargh! You…?"

Bulls-eye! A fast, unerring arrow carved in the priest's chest ended his trick for good.

"Impossible… you worm… how?" He grunted, slowly falling towards one of the smaller pillars and cracking up as an electrical current coursed around his body.

"Your light."

"What?"

"Your blue light. I repeatedly noticed that before you launched your attacks, the jewels in your body would light up for a second. Then I thought: if I caught you off-guard right then, maybe hitting you there could do something. Turns out it did!"

"Hahahah…" You still laugh? "Dost thou think thou won? I commend thee for spotting my weakness… Be happy with thy triumph…"

He said before the statue completely cracked and released a golden, blinding light that forced me to cover my eyes. A few seconds passed before the light vanished…

"…because it won't last."

Cue me going slack-jawed at the sight of a body replacing the statue. A human body floating in the air, roughly as tall as a teenage boy, dressed in a simple white robe and having silvery hair.

"Wha? It's not over yet?" I screamed.

"Heheh, congratulations for lasting so damn long. I don't normally have this much trouble with the criminals I capture to my ordeal, but you're special. You're the first to awaken my true form."

"Should I be happy for that-"

"Like I care." He interrupted, only to do a slow, sarcastic clap of the hands. "Nice job… hero. Here's your prize!"

Once again, he was gone, only to reappear literally an inch away from my face. Wasting no time in formalities, he grabbed my neck, flew up and unleashed a flurry of punches, now that he actually has arms to do it. Just as he was done, he threw me back down to the central pillar, from which I bounced without any control of my body, crashing in the smaller pillar right ahead and waiting to fall in the endless expanse, before being caught by the leg.

"You…"

"I ain't letting you fall… for now. Since you pissed me off to this point, you're going to be my toy until I get bored!"

He then just dropped me off in the air, vanishing from my sight. I wouldn't see him again, just feeling strong blows coming from all directions, one after the other, keeping me afloat, although completely defenseless.

That statue was a container… now that he's free, he's way faster! I can't see where he's coming from at all!

"Where's your courage now, worm? C'mon, hit me!"

How can I?

Before I could even think about fighting back, he stopped behind me, to grab me by the neck again.

"Haha, kidding." I felt his hand touching my back. "You won't hit me. This ends now."

Guess what, a crackling sound later and here I am, getting hit with another shock discharge and going limp for good. Then, he simply let me fall. I crashed again in the central pillar, sliding down on it. I tried to hold onto something, but the strength I had abandoned me and I fell in the endless void.

That's it… now I'm dying…

_"I wish you luck, heroes of the sea!"_

Gan Fall… why did I even remember him?

If I had that whistle, I could call him to rescue me…

…

…

…

Wait…

Gan Fall! That's it!

…

I. Got. An. Idea!

…

Opening my almost closed eyes, I struggled to gather all the strength I still had and grip my pencil once again.

"Time to unleash my imagination! Come…"

…

…

隼 "FALCON!"

I didn't inherit this pencil for nothing!

I focused my energy on the sheet, making it glow before letting go of it and making my own luck. Seconds later, I was blessed with the rescue of a snow-white falcon. The newest piece of my imagination screamed to call my attention. I then realized I was lying on his back.

"Thanks for the idea, Gan Fall-san! Ok, my falcon, it's time for a sky battle!"

Kneeling in the falcon's back, I took control, made it speed up and lift off.

"Enpitsu… Yari!"

Here we go, back on action!

"Hey, you damn brat!"

"Wha?"

Just as he spotted me gaining altitude, Dogu almost popped a vein…

"You don't stop surprising me! Dumbass human!"

"Told ya… I'm not giving up until I beat you to a pulp!"

Willpower resurrected, I returned to the battle, immediately speeding towards the enemy, dodging his desperate electrical discharges.

"It can't be!"

"Yes it can!"

I slashed a dumbstruck Dogu with my spear, but I'm not stopping there.

"How about me beating the crap out of you, huh?"

"What…?"

"Falcon Wings!"

Live by the sword, die by the sword. I returned the favor, bashing him back and forth with the beak of the falcon and the tip of my spear. I still hurt him quite badly, but not for long, since he quickly vanished.

"Slow!"

He teleported and stood right ahead of me for a second before unleashing a high kick to my face, sending me plummeting again.

"Come!" With a quick whistle, I called him to my rescue and rode him again. Hold on… that could be useful!

Not now, though. "Falcon, let's get this over once and for all!"

I never handled two spells at the same time… but it's not like I can't try!

火"Lend me your power… FIRE!"

Pressing the other hand on a piece of paper, I put it on top of the falcon, which immediately burst into flames.

"You bastard… what are you planning to…? Your falcon's on fire!" Terrified, Dogu slowly backed away…

"Precisely, worm. That's just what I need to end your shit for good!"

Speeding the falcon up, I prepared the final attack!

"Blazing Falcon…"

Grabbing him by the beak, my falcon then dove hard…

"SCREAM!"

…towards the forest.

When it crashed against the trees, my falcon vanished, not before engulfing the immobilized priest in an explosion of flames.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Up against a tree, defenseless, Dogu felt the fire burning his wings and driving him to the ground.

"Whooo~~~aa!"

I had leapt from the falcon before it landed, having to prepare my crash-landing back on earth. I touched the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop near where Dogu had been flung.

"My… wings… my precious wings!"

Surprise, surprise! He stood back up. Panting hard, shaking hard, very weak in the knees, but he stood back up. I had no more power for spells… but I still had a little time to settle the issue with good old fisticuffs.

"Priest… whatever you may be…"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

He still tried a last-ditch punch…

"Don't underestimate our courage!"

…only to be easily stopped before I dealt my last punch, knocked him out and ended the fight.

"Whew… Written by… Dan."

Finally I could kneel and let the steam off. I let myself be there, next to the priest's fainted body, taking a few deep breaths.

"Wow… I survived… again."

I whispered, looking to the enormously tall trees. Such was the adrenaline I completely forgot I was fighting high up in the sky… Maybe that's what I need to overcome my fear! Adrenaline, excitement! Something to drive me away from my height scare!

I smiled a little, looking down and touching the dirt with my fingers.

"Soil…" I whispered, twiddling with the dirt. "Hold on…"

…

…

Dirt?

As in, the same dirt I find down there? Up here?

"Hey, I thought the Sky Islands were made of island cloud or stuff like that, so we were told… something's amiss here…"

I was so caught up in the fight I didn't notice it… the Upper Yard's _all dirt_!

Another thing that just crossed my mind: I couldn't help but notice that Montblanc Cricket's house had only one half behind that huge cardboard cutout… where did the other half go? Was that house always like that?

And…

How are these things connected? If they have any connection whatsoever, that is!

"Nay, is it really the time to wonder about stuff like that, Dan? Focus. I have only one thing I must know." Standing up, legs still shaky, I recalled the important stuff right now:

"Where the hell do I go?"

If I'm correct, I'm already out of the Lost Forest. I crash-landed in the other side of that deep ravine… I have to figure out where the Milky Road goes through here!

I immediately sprinted through the forest. "Luffy… Usopp-kun… Sanji… did they leave that forest?"

Finding the Little Crow is going to be just like trying to find a needle in a haystack… but I have to try! Otherwise I'll be stuck here forever anyway, priest or not!

* * *

**Two ordeals cleared, three to go! Dan needs to hurry back to the Little Crow if he wants to have any hope of getting to the Sacrificial Altar.**

**But some things need answers. How can such a huge piece of land be here, six miles away from the ground? Why is it made of the same land found in the islands of the Sea Below?**

**Stay tuned to the next chapters!  
**


	105. The mystery of the City of Gold

**105** **– The floating land of gold, Jaya! Head to the divine temple!**

* * *

I've been running through this forest for over half an hour and it just doesn't end. Worst of all: I have absolutely no other idea how to find the Milky Road!

"Luffy… Usopp-kun… Sanji… wait for me!"

Bit by bit, I began losing patience with myself. I just ran around and tired myself out, while worrying (or rather, being certain) about getting lost in this dense forest forever, priest or not. However, just as I started to think about ways to entertain myself if I actually couldn't escape, next thing I knew I was out of the trees.

"Whoa… what?"

I slid to a halt only then noticing a wide grassy field where, to my relief, there was a section of the endless Milky Road.

"Wow…" I wiped the sweat off my forehead and sighed. "Finally I found you, road of hell… if the guys passed the forest, it's certain they will be here in a while."

Clinging to that thought, I decided to walk through the field and wait until I'd spot a black boat with three blokes aboard. At least I would take the time to rest and let it all sink in… this whole mess really wore me out.

Great, I'm still talking like it's something new.

Well, it _is_, if I stop and think about it! Do you think anyone with a right mind has "Stopping at an island ten kilometers up in the air" as a goal in life?

I should get used to see lots of weird stuff together already…

So, there was I walking through the grassy field, getting increasingly disturbed all the while.

"Holy cow… here's something you really don't see everyday…"

The field was peppered with skulls hanging from small wooden sticks, all around the road. Whether there's any meaning to it is beyond me. I presume it's a new form of graveyard?

"Aaaah… aaah! Another one of those freaky priests is gonna show up?!"

Somebody screamed and it wasn't me… hold on, I know that voice!

"Usopp-kun?"

"Sounds fun!" That one too! Luffy, is it you?

"DON'T BE STUPID! If we lose to the priests, they're going to kill us and put our skulls in these sticks too!"

At last, my wait would be over, as I spotted, far away, the black boat with three blokes aboard.

"Oo~~~i! Guys! Wait for me!"

Again running and waving my arms, I caught their eyes, making them stop the boat.

"Who…?" Sanji turned his head.

"Wait… it's Dan!" Usopp called.

"O~i! Dan! You're alive?"

No, Luffy. I'm very much dead. What you're seeing is just a hallucination brought about by my spirit.

"Where have you been, dude?" Sanji asked.

"Sorry guys, I kinda passed out and someone kidnapped me."

"Kidnapped?" The three of them asked in unison.

"Let me get in there so I can explain it all."

As I hopped onboard the boat, it got back to full speed (which doesn't mean much, this thing can't go above 'slow as a turtle'). Then I got around to telling them the important bits of what happened to me.

"…but I awakened my imagination and turned the tables on him with a good dose of air combat!" Like that, I finished my story.

"Wow, cool! Just like the armor old guy!" Luffy smiled excitedly.

"Yeah, I thought of him and Pierre and-"

"Hold on… do you hear this?"

Sanji interrupted me, turning our eyes and ears to some screams echoing from inside the forest. Soon to be followed by loud explosions and a cloud of smoke billowing from between the trees.

"Hey, it's coming this way." Luffy warned nonchalantly.

Usopp immediately panicked. "Hiiii~! Iron? String? Swamp? All of them at once?!"

"All at once? It'd sure save us some trouble…" Sanji, frighteningly unconcerned.

Soon he would become concerned upon spotting a bunch of little dark blots darting out from the smoke cloud, right in our way.

"AAAH! THEY'RE HERE!"

The problem was that, instead of priests, the attackers were some brown guys with paintings on their bodies, flying in the air with weird sandals. Fortunately, they just passed above our heads and left us alone.

"Uh oh… they're looking at us!"

Haha, no. They didn't.

"Cannonball comi~~ng!"

One of them, whose face is strangely familiar, took the momentum he gained with the leap to turn upside-down and point his gynormous bazooka at us.

"Stand back! GOMU GOMU NO…"

Before I could leap into the fray, Luffy took the spotlight, shoved the desperate Usopp out of the way and started to bloat like a…

"FUUSEN!" …balloon.

He leapt up high, took the impact of the cannonball and bounced it back to the trees, where it exploded. The attackers landed on some tree branches high up and stared menacingly at us.

"Hold on… I know that face from somewhere…" I said, scratching my chin.

"HEY! COME ON, YOU! WANNA FIGHT, HUH?! BRING IT ON! I'M READY FOR-"

"Shut up, Luffy!"

I tried to tape his mouth, but he continued his taunts.

"It's you, right? The foreigners from the Sea Below running loose in Skypiea?" Worse, the offenders decided to reply.

"Hey, it's that masked guerrilla who attacked us at the White Sea." Sanji said.

Also the one who landed a dynamic entry right in my face before trying to sink our ship…

"If you value your lives, go back to the Sea Below as soon as you can." The painted warrior warned. "If you try to pull any stunt in this island… we will take you out together with Enel! Although that's a story for another day. You manage to get out of this island alive, then we can talk."

Advice given, the painted-face warriors left.

Hey…

"Enel? You mean, they're trying to overthrow God Enel?" Sanji immediately deduced.

"They're not the priests?!" Usopp asked, crying in fear.

"No… but they do seem just as dangerous." I said.

"AAH! I want to get down! This Sky Island is too scary! My heart won't handle it anymore!" Usopp kept shouting to the skies. "Luffy! Quit this crap altogether and let's get the hell outta here! Right? Luffy!"

Luffy kept standing, facing the leaving painted warriors.

It turns out this island's God has an actual physical body and there are people out to dethrone him, whatever the cost. And the same guerrilla force that has God as its enemy, made us their enemies too.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! COME HERE! I'LL BEAT YOU TO THE GROUND!"

"Luffy! No! STOP SHOUTING, LUFFY!"

Trying desperately to restrain Luffy's irritating propensity to fight whoever looks him the wrong way, Usopp tried to keep him in the boat despite our captain's insistence to get out and give chase to the bad guys.

"Ah! I just hate, hate, hate this island!" Usopp whined and sighed in frustration, putting a hand on his heart. "Ouch guys, help… I caught I-can't-go-into-this-forest-flu…"

"Yeah, yeah, Usopp… take some medicine and it goes away. Let's just get going, it's the best we can do right now." Sanji butted in.

"Man, this mess is just making me hungry…"

"Is this really the time to be thinking about food, Luffy?! I can barely stand up! Hey, come on, Luffy…"

So, to raise our spirits back up, (and to calm himself down), Usopp suggested singing songs while we're not attacked. Starting by Sanji's signature…

"Ote o douzo~~…"

"That's not how you sing it!"

…

…

It wouldn't surprise me anymore if more hordes of enemies went out for our heads in that grassy field, but so far, other than that attack by those painted guys, nobody else bothered us.

"Something's coming, something's coming! I'm sure they're out to get us!"

Still, that didn't calm Usopp down. Hell, nothing ever calms him down.

…

"Hey, Sanji… we're in this road for, like, ever! Sanji! I'm getting bored…" Luffy, the usual suspect, would get on our nerves, taking on the role of that annoying kid who keeps asking…

"Are we there yet?"

Shit.

"Are we there yet?"

"Luffy! Anything. Literally _any_thing _but_ going on that 'are we there yet' spiel. 'Kay?!" Before he started, I belted a warning out. "Phew… thank goodness we got through that field without something happening…"

Great… I guess being too much time around a super-powered captain makes me put "almost taking a cannonball to the face" under the "mildly worrying" category of event…

"Cool. We'll keep going without nothing else happening. We will survive this-"

Usopp soon would trip in his words right when he spotted a monstrous downhill.

"Uh-oh…"

Which reminds me of something.

"Sanji… say, tell me again who decided I would drive this thiiiii~~ng!"

Unfortunately I couldn't finish my complaint as the boat began going down and rapidly speeding up.

"Coo~~l!"

"Not cool! Not cool!"

Besides being an endless descent, it spiraled several times around an empty, frighteningly dark void between the trees.

"I'm getting dizzy… uh, dizzy… guruguruguruguru…aaa~~…" Usopp had two spirals instead of eyes… I began to get woozy myself with the spins of the boat and the sudden drop, where I felt a force pushing me upwards.

"Enough already, road of hell!" I said, curled up in a ball, clinging hard to the helm.

Turns after turns, increasingly faster turns, in which the boat gained even more speed before crossing a section that was more like a rope knot. It turned and passed through the giant trees without going nowhere. We went through uphills, descents, tight turns and a loop which turned us upside-down for a few scary seconds. All the while, Luffy screamed like a child playing in the park.

"That's awesome! I love the Milky Road!"

"Don'tlookdowndon'tlookdowndon'tlookdowndon'tlookdown…" If at least the road had guardrails in the margins…

While we were in the forest, the rollercoaster ride from hell didn't seem to end. Still, time flew away, as we got back to a calmer section of road, the sun already set in the sky.

"Uwah… I can't see beyond the clouds!" Said Usopp, righting his goggles.

"Wow, there's sunset here too, huh…" Luffy breathed, enjoying the view.

"Hold on… is it me or we're going up again? Oh no…"

Indeed, the boat looked as if it was going through a very steep climb, "cutting" a giant tree in half. The tree appeared to be the tallest of them all, thing that sent a shiver down my spine just as I thought about it…

"No…"

"Wow! We're back to the top of the trees! It's a re~~ally big one this time!"

You know what comes next, don't you?

"No…"

Usopp got it already. Everything that goes up…

"Nononono…"

Must come down.

"NONONO, NOT AGA~~~~IN…"

"ARE WE SPINNING AGA~~IN?!"

No, worse than that. This is a straight descent, zipping through the trees before…

"Hey, there's something down there."

"WORRY MORE ABOUT THINGS, SANJI!" I snapped, taken over by desperation.

Something waited for us, ready to tear us into little bits, probably…

"THERE! HERE COME THE PRIESTS!" Usopp screamed.

"No, they're celestial sharks!" Sanji corrected.

"Ah, good, just some sha… wait, SHARKS?!"

Really, why bother with priests when we're about to get eaten by giant celestial sharks with their mouths wide open to take us in? Well, shame it is that they're too many and we're so tiny there won't be enough meat for everyone…

"AAAAAHHH! THEY'RE GOING TO EAT US!"

Not if Luffy can do something about it, Usopp!

"Gomu Gomu no… GATLING GUN!"

Arriving at the finish line of the giant slip-n'-slide crossing through the skies, Luffy happily greeted the giant sharks by knocking them out with a rain of fists, solving our problems in a matter of 30 seconds. As the sharks sank, returning to the depths of the ocean, our boat leapt to the air once it left the sea cloud connecting road to sea. As it landed back on the water, we could stare at our surroundings.

"It's the Sacrificial Altar!" Luffy pointed.

"NAMI-SAN! ROBIN-CHWAN! HAVE YOU MISSED ME!" Sanji screamed lovingly.

"Nami! Robin-san! Zoro-san! Everyone! You're all alright!" I screamed and waved to them, getting a response.

So, we got back to our dear Merry. Which looked to have taken a severe beating while we were out. Badly damaged, with broken planks, burn marks… and the mast ripped out.

"Where… where's the mast?" Usopp asked slowly, frozen upon the sight of his mastless ship.

"Usopp… I…" Chopper, the watchman, tried nervously to reply.

"Um, Doctor… Usopp-kun, this isn't the time to…"

"Are you hurt, Chopper?" Usopp turned all of a sudden.

"Huh?"

"Uh, I'm alright, but…"

"Phew… thank goodness…" Usopp breathed out in relief and smiled ear to ear. "That hot spear guy must've been tough to deal with, eh? Good to know you weren't the one being burned!"

Honestly, what was I thinking?

"Let's get some rest and then we can fix the ship!" Usopp walked off to the kitchen with a smile in his face, surprising both myself and Chopper.

I walked to the doctor, still dumbstruck by Usopp's attitude. "You were waiting to be reprimanded, right? Just so you know: a friend's life is worth much more than a mast or anything else."

Chopper stood still and let what happened sink in. He then would let out some tears, before running all of a sudden to a side of the ship and spontaneously combusting with the flames of his own willpower!

"I WILL GIVE IT MY BEST TO BECOME A RELIABLE MAN!" He bellowed to the skies.

"Hey, Chopper, how did you scare off that priest?" Luffy asked.

"I used the whistle. The Knight of the Sky came to help me."

"Ooh… where is he now?"

"Wah! I completely forgot about him!"

Chopper immediately darted to the upper floor. Luffy and I decided to follow him, only to end up finding the old Gan Fall lying down, armor doffed, sleeping in a mattress laid down in a corner of the room.

"He offered us just one free aid… and then fought this hard for our sake…" Luffy crouched.

"Yeah… if he hadn't come to help me, both the ship and myself would've been torn to shreds…" Chopper sighed. He himself had bandages covering his torso.

"There are many things I'd like to ask him, but let's wait until he's awake and healthy." Sanji decided.

"For now, thank you very much, Pierre-chan! We owe a lot to you two!" I said, smiling and patting the pink falcon, who saluted happily in response.

"Night's coming and the ship's in this state… we won't be able to get back to Angel Island for a long while now…" Sanji meditated before breathing out a puff from his cigarette.

"What do you suggest we do?" I asked.

"Let's stay here for now and set up camp on shore."

We decided to let Gan Fall rest and talk about our plans in the deck.

"Why?" Luffy asked.

"Think for a second! If they attack us here and we fight back, we're only going to destroy the ship even more, Luffy!" Usopp grumpily replied.

"Not to mention that it's way easier for us to fight on shore than here."

That answer only meant one thing in our captain's little head…

"Wahoo! Camping! Party!" Luffy concluded, jumping in joy.

"Oi, oi, Luffy!" Usopp warned. "We're in hostile territory! The worst of all places to think about camping!"

"Cool! We could start by barbecuing the daylights out of these sharks!"

Hostile territory or not, our captain didn't give a fraction of a damn about it.

…

…

…

Sun already gone, giving way to the night. Our priorities: nourishment and keeping ourselves warm. We set up a tent in an open space between trees and collected wood for a bonfire. With our celestial shark-based dinner cooked and our bellies full (except Luffy's – believe me, it's _never_ full), we sat around the fire to discuss our next actions.

"Guys and girls! Time to the report!" Usopp called our attention, standing beside a blackboard he specifically asked me to draw.

Then, each group came up with a report of what they saw and discovered.

Sanji…

"We went to the Lost Forest and found a priest called Satori who used some trick of surprise-balls. We had a hell of a time to fight him with those balls floating around and no idea what would come out of them. What was most unsettling was his Mantra. He predicted all our attacks! We defeated him still, but it sure wasn't child's play…"

Chopper…

"A priest called Shura appeared all of a sudden, riding a scary red-and-blue falcon, and he had a spear which burned everything it touched! And he read all my attacks too! I tried to hit him with everything I got but he evaded… His falcon spat flames on the mast… and they took out the Knight of the Sky…"

Me…

"I recall passing out as we were falling from a waterfall. When I woke up, I found myself on some pillars way higher up than the rest of the island! Then the priest who kidnapped me appeared. He called himself Dogu and was a statue floating in the air."

"A floating statue? How's that possible? Aren't the wings they have on their backs just for decoration?" Usopp asked.

"Don't ask me… I remember he said he was the only one who could actually use them, but he didn't say how…"

"Did he predict your moves too?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah. I had a hard time to score a single hit. When I did, I thought I defeated him, but totally out of the blue, he transformed into a boy and got a lot stronger. I crash-landed with him back in the island and took him out but… I lost count of how many times I was about to die only there…"

"Wow… lots of trouble for you guys, huh?" Nami asked.

"What about you? What did you find?" I asked back.

"A very valuable finding. We found that this island is a piece of Jaya. The City of Gold did not sink into the sea. It was hurled all the way up here!"

"Hurled? Up here? How, exactly?" Disbelievingly, I launched a string of questions.

"Knock-Up Stream, Dan-kun. It's the only explanation."

"Y… you mean… that Knock-Up Stream is strong enough to slice an island in two?!"

"Apparently it is… how _else_ would you think an entire piece of land would come all the way up here?"

"Yeah, I don't doubt you… I had my suspicions going on already, but… still all this sounds too absurd for me…" I said, slumping and wiping the sweat off my forehead.

"Guys!" Usopp interrupted, vigorously tapping his wand in the blackboard. "Thank you all for the valuable information! In a short analysis, the most important part of what we found out is this: it's in this island that lies the famous City of Gold that the Saruyama Alliance has searched for so long!"

As the others let the information sink in and discussed plans of action, I retreated to my thought corner.

Unbelievable… lots and lots of absurdities piling up… again. People living in islands in the sky, golden cities nobody knows if they actually exist, super-powerful priests out to get our heads (for a change), guerrilla warriors set on overthrowing the island's God… who is an actual person, apparently… and, to top it all off, the fact that this very island has been thrown all the way up here by a stupidly huge and stupidly powerful geyser in the sea!

Truly, a collection of bizarreness I will take a long time to assimilate…

"Heheh! Gold, huh?" On his part, Luffy was excited, as he almost always is. He stood up confidently, clenched his fists and smiled broadly. "I was dying for an adventure like this!"

"Now you're speaking! So, have we got a deal?" Just mention the word 'gold' and see Nami get all excited herself.

"Oi, oi, Luffy… have you forgotten the warning from that guerrilla?" The more-than-scared Usopp alerted, with a somber face.

"God's gonna get angry! He's scary!" Frozen in place, Chopper didn't like the idea too.

"Sounds interesting, don't you think?" Robin smiled. A piece of beauty and rarity.

"More than that… besides, pirates can't just turn their backs to the chance of grabbing some treasure." Sanji got bitten by the bug of curiosity too.

"And there are lots of enemies out there. It will be a matter of survival. I'm looking forward to it!" Zoro, more than ready to dive head-first into the challenge.

"Guys…"

"Let's go. We made the move to jump at the call, now our only option is to keep going forward." I said, standing up and gathering the pieces of my determination. "It can't get any worse than this!"

"Guys!" Usopp lamented desperately. "Seriously, we're supposed to _fear_ this island's God! FEAR! I won't be responsible if we end up dying!"

True. It won't be your fault, Usopp, but it's also true that we will face this challenge, whether you want or not. It's useless to stop and just think about what to do. We make our road by walking on it!

"ALRIGHT, GUYS! GOLD, HERE WE GO!"

…

…

…

"Hmmm… perfect! Just you wait, Nami-san~~…" Sanji whispered lovingly as he carefully crafted a soup for his maiden, peppered with carrot slices shaped like hearts.

"Hmm…" Meanwhile, Luffy watched the pot warming.

"Nami-san… lalala~…" Sanji cut the fish…

"Hmm…" And Luffy watched…

Sanji put the carrot slices in the cauldron…

"Hmmm…" And Luffy watched…

"Hey, Luffy. Are you going to stay there watching the pot? Your face's going to burn if you're too close!" I said.

Nami and I sat around a small box-turned-table, discussing the information everyone gathered and analyzing the maps. Well, she's the geography expert around, so I mostly listened and just recalled some things that could be useful. I just watched her work out of curiosity.

"Aaah! How boring!" Luffy finally got tired, rolled away and whined.

"Who told you to keep staring?" Sanji argued. "When you see the purified water gather on that plate, pour it on the bottles! That's all I asked. We have to give everyone enough water at least until tomorrow."

"Sanji! We got lots of things!"

Chopper screamed, as him and Zoro returned from their hike through the forest. They searched for ingredients and got plants, fruits, mice and frogs. Everything went straight to the cauldron, to get mixed in the so…

Wait, what?

"Hold on, there's some strange stuff in there!" Nami spotted.

"Ah, yeah! How silly of me… you don't like garlic, right?" Sanji tried to apologize but…

"NO, NOT THAT, IDIOT!"

"Sanji-san, are you sure you want us to eat mice & frog soup?" I asked.

Robin then walked in carrying a heavy salt crystal she found near the lake. Meanwhile, Chopper used the supplies he found to prepare burn medicine and infection medicine. Also, Sanji requested Zoro's help to cook the food, although in a very unorthodox way…

"See…my swords aren't meant to be used as cooking tools!" Whined Zoro as he had to hold his swords with a rock burning on top of them…

"Quit grumbling, ok? Disobey the cook and you get no dinner." Sanji didn't care.

As the rock was hurled inside the cauldron, Sanji closed it.

"Wha~t? We're gonna eat a rock? Can you chew it? Is it good?" Luffy asked, innocently.

"Of course not, idiot. The heat of the stone helps cook the soup. That's why it's called stone soup." Sanji happily explained. "Stew is such a magnificent dish. It keeps all the nutrients of its ingredients. Nothing is wasted."

"Cool… I can barely wait to dig in-"

"HANDS OFF IT, LUFFY!" Before the captain could actually dig in, Sanji kicked his head.

"Come on, I'm hungry~~~…"

"Hungry?! After you ate one of those huge celestial sharks whole?! You only left the bones, to boot!"

"Ah, that… that was just an appetizer!"

On our side, do I need to say something?

"Like hell that was an appetizer…" I grumbled.

"I still can't understand this guy's stomach…" Nami commented.

"It's way beyond understanding." Robin said.

…

…

…

Dinner ready and shared between everyone (with Sanji's huge heartbreak, as the heart-shaped carrots failed to go into Nami's plate), we started to discuss the plan of action Nami was working on.

"Just to recap, guys: Norland discovered the City of Gold 400 years ago. However, a few years later, when he got back to Jaya, the ruins were gone. What means that, at some point during those years, Jaya was cut in half and this part was thrown up here." Nami explained.

"It got here by the Knock-Up Stream?" Chopper asked.

"That's the only way possible, it seems, as much as I'm reluctant to believe it." I replied.

"Not only that. Cricket-san said the blast never happens twice in a row at the same part of the ocean." Nami recalled.

"By the size of that thing, no wonder it hurled an entire chunk of an island up here!" Usopp said.

"Still, this forest looks nothing like the one down in Jaya, does it? Why are the trees so huge up here?" Zoro asked, staring up high.

"It must be due to the composition of this place's sea clouds and island clouds." Robin theorized. "The atmosphere must trigger a fast growth of the fauna and flora. If that's the case, it'd explain how the forest grew over the civilization."

"Oh right, I remembered the southbirds that helped me escape the lake were really huge!" Chopper demonstrated by opening his arms.

"They must've grown together with the forest in four hundred years' time." Zoro replied.

"Another thing I'd like to know…" Sanji joined the conversation. "Why did those giant southbirds save you?"

"I still don't understand why… but they kept calling the Knight of the Sky and saying 'God, God'…"

What?! God?

"Wh… whoa, y-y-you mean the guy I'm supposed to punch is him?!" Luffy swallowed hard.

"OF COURSE NOT, NUMBSKULL!"

Just as he heard it, Pierre instinctively protected his ailing partner.

"A~nyway… does anyone remember what was written about the City of Gold on Norland's diary?" Nami asked, pulling the conversation back to the essentials.

"If I'm not mistaken, there was something about a giant golden bell and some things about the southbirds…" Sanji recalled.

"There was a quite unusual phrase in the last page, though. The last words Norland said before he died, remember?" Robin wondered.

"I saw gold in the right eye of the skull, so it said." I said.

"Exactly." Nami confidently confirmed, pointing her finger forward. "I analyzed the maps of Jaya. Putting the map Robin found back at Jaya over a piece of Skypiea's old map, we get… Jaya's topography of 400 years ago!"

Piecing both maps together, the island looked exactly like a skull.

"How about that, guys?"

"Incredible!" Luffy shouted.

"As expected of you, Nami-san!" Sanji too.

"And the skull's right eye… is here." Nami pointed to a spot completely separated from the rest of the island, circled by a section of sea. "Norland talked about the island as a whole. Now, there's only half of it. That was why we couldn't solve the puzzle. Now all we have to do is head straight to this point. Meanwhile, we still need to watch our ship so, tomorrow, we will split into two teams."

Nami straightened her glasses and smiled, shimmering with restrained excitement ready to get loose.

"I am 100 percent certain. There's a boatload of gold just waiting for us!"

* * *

**Nami's certainty and the curiosity and determination of the rest of the group will kickstart another vital stage of the Straw Hats' adventure through the celestial land, Skypiea! However, the threat of God Enel and his remaining three priests still looms around the group and the battle for survival will soon begin!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapters!**


	106. The skull's right eye

**106** **– A mysterious apparition! The race for the gold begins!**

* * *

"Tomorrow… gold!" Chopper happily exclaimed, carrying away the empty dishes.

"That's right!" Nami followed him, taking the cutlery.

"Is the sun going to come out again tomorrow?" Luffy asked, looking to the sky.

"Of course it is! We're above the clouds! We have a whole blue sky just for ourselves!" Usopp said, playing near the fire.

The moon shined high up in the sky. After that hearty dinner feast, Robin reminded us of a problem as we were getting ready to sleep.

"It's late already, guys. Put out the campfire, we don't need it. We'll only let the enemies know where we are with it."

Since we're smack dab inside a dangerous forest, those concerns are spot-on. Not for Luffy and Usopp, though, who faced her warnings with a disagreeing smirk.

"How foolish… did you hear that, Usopp? 'Put out the fire' she said…" Luffy scoffed.

"Well, it can't be helped." Usopp stood up, in the same tone. "Don't be so harsh with her. Robin lived her whole life in darkness. She just doesn't know."

For the first time in a long while I saw her face light up with genuine surprise.

"Huh? What do you two mean?"

The two stared intently at her and…

"Come on, we need a campfire~~!" Luffy whined, punching the ground.

"Humans need campfires and tents even if their lives are at stake!" Usopp did the same.

Suddenly, all that confident discordance melted into childish begging… and Robin's brief moment of surprise turned into a light smile. She must've known inside that she was dealing with simple-minded demands.

"_You_ are the idiots here…" Nami, on the other hand, was more openly irritated. "Hey you, stop fooling around! Have you no idea how dangerous this forest can be?"

"I don't care!" Luffy replied.

"There're priests out there, guerrilla out there, and even without them, giant forests like this are dangerous by themselves! There must be wild beasts and monsters lurking around!"

"MONSTERS?!" Chopper jumped.

"Oi, Luffy! How'bout this wood? Is it enough?"

Zoro barged in the conversation, back from his trek with Sanji to the forest. The problem: they didn't bring simple firewood, that's for kids. They brought about a dozen full-grown logs to burn. That's more like a MAN's campfire.

Doesn't stop being stupid though.

"You're in it too?!" Nami angrily screamed.

"Chill out, Nami-san. Beasts fear fire, no matter how scary they are…" Laidback, Sanji held a lit torch when…

"Uh… Sanji-san, tell that to the beasts behind you…" I said, pointing to several glinting pairs of eyes slowly approaching us from the bushes… and by the growls of whatever was coming, they didn't sound very friendly…

"Huh?"

Then they appeared. Frightening wolves slowly approaching our group. Surprisingly, instead of lunging at us and devouring our meat, one of them simply stepped forward and began to growl as if it was talking.

"Ya're too damn noisy fer some outsiders! Keep it down n' go to sleep, stupid humans!"

"SAY WHAT?!"

"No, _he _said that, not me!"

Chopper just translated their Wolf-ish but didn't escape the earful…

Continuing… "Hey, y'all better not be thinkin' about causin' turmoil in our territory, huh?"

"No, we were forced to come here and…"

"I don't care, this area's ours! Ya think y'all can come here and light a fire just like that?!"

"Uh… sorry…"

"Ev'rythin' since the trees, bushes, it's all ours and—"

That was the last we heard of him before he was another one on the receiving end of Nami's punch to the head.

"I do _not_ give up on my treasure!"

As they saw their leader taken down, the other wolves began to snarl, preparing for further hostilities.

"Ugh… great, Nami, you angered them! What do we do now?" Usopp shivered.

"Like I know! Get us out of this!" Ahah… that's adorable…

"W-who, me?! You started it!"

However, the alpha-wolf barked louder than everyone else and stopped his underlings.

"Shut up, y'all! Even if ya guys got all together, ya wouldn't touch her." The alpha-wolf again approached Nami, this time with seeming admiration. "Hey lady, I never knew ya packed such a strong punch… I like ya!"

And so, kids, the man… er, the woman has tamed the beast. A simple exchange of glinting stares was enough to establish the friendship. Now to something completely different…

"Great! Now guys, let's get the bonfire started!"

…

…

…

"All aboard! All aboard! It's the Golden Eve Festival!" Usopp cheered, beating the drum.

A giant, shining bonfire was the sole light contrasting with the darkness around us. A whale of a time… dancing with the wolves, sharing a drink and a laugh (with the wolves), having a talk… with the wolves… In a circle, everyone got together in some sort of tribal dance around the bonfire. For those fleeting moments, all worries got thrown to the corner. For now, the goal: have fun and let the joy roll around!

"Ahahaha! Awesome!" I admit, even I got sucked into the mood and let myself go all out. After a round of dance, I couldn't help but notice Robin just watching us as the only one on the sidelines. I left the circle and walked to her.

"Robin-san! Come on! Wanna join us?" I said, trying to get her attention.

"No, thank you." She replied. "I'm not much into parties. I'm happy to see you're all having a great time."

"Hmmm… if that's ok to you, fine! But I don't want to see you all by yourself. So, I'm sitting beside you. Can I?"

"Do as you please." She moved a little aside and I sat down. "Besides, I'm not alone. Zoro's here too."

I spotted him a bit away, sharing a drink with a wolf that seemed to behave just like our resident swordsman.

For some moments, Robin and I watched and admired the ongoing celebration.

"Did they master even the clouds?" A voice wondered. "I know no one who can cause such an uproar in Enel's sacred land…"

It was Gan Fall, already awake. Draped in the blanket-turned-robe, he decided to come see the party in the middle of the forest.

"Ah, you're awake." Robin spotted.

"Gan Fall-san! You're alright?" I asked.

"I've been such a burden to you." He said. "I wanted to help you…"

"Burden? What do you mean? You've done so much for us. Thanks for saving Chopper and our ship." Zoro thanked.

"Well…" Gan Fall sat down.

"We still have some stew, sir. Do you want?" Robin offered.

"No, thank you. As much as I'd like to…"

"Oh? Hey, old man! The old man's up, guys!" Luffy spotted. "Hey! Come dance with us!"

"Yeah! Let's dance!" Even the doctor invited him…

"Hey, gramps! How is Conis-chan doing?" Sanji asked while jumping on the back of a wolf who jumped on Luffy's back…

"You can rest at ease. She and his father are safe back at my house."

"Good! I was getting worried-"

And then Usopp leapt to the fray. "Let's play 'Throw Chopper'!"

"Wha-what?! Me?!"

No whats, no buts. They hurled Chopper in the air many, many times, all in the spirit of the party. All seen by Gan Fall, who let out a relieved smile.

"I listened to your talk earlier this evening. You said this island used to be named Jaya?"

"Yes." Robin confirmed.

"Ok. Still, I do believe you need to hear the story of how it became sacred land."

Yeah… How was Skypiea before God Enel took the throne? Hold on… wow, just treating a _God_ like he was some sort of king is food for thought…

"For you dwellers of the Sea Below, earth is a normal thing. But earth is something not usually seen in sky islands. Island cloud is capable of sustaining vegetation only, not growing it. Green plants and fertile land are impossible to find up here." Gan Fall then grabbed a handful of dirt. "We call this… 'Vearth'. The eternal desire of all who live here."

Vearth… what a strange name… it's not far from 'earth' but it does sound weird… plus, it's a wonder how people from different places treat the same thing differently… Who would know the very earth we step on everyday, the earth in which we grow our food, would be sacred in another place…

…

…

…

Festival over, everyone exhausted their energy. Wolves and humans peacefully shared the same space and fell to the deepest of slumbers. The girls slept in the tent all to themselves as the rest of the bunch had to protect themselves against the fresh, no, cold Skypiean breeze with blankets they asked me to materialize.

Peace and silence, in the de~~epest of slumbers…

"Hey."

Until a strange voice gets in the way.

"Hey! Dan!"

And keeps meddling with my sleep!

"Hmnn~~" Sleepy enough not to open my eyes, I turned to hear the dimwit bugging me.

"Come with me over there quick!"

"Usopp-kun? Hmmnn~~… man, what do you want?" I said, mostly asleep still.

"Come with me to the shore, I need to pee!"

"Hu~~~h? Pee~~? Go by yourself, man…" I whined, rubbing my eyes. "What are you, a kid?"

"It's too dangerous to go anywhere alone around here! No way! Now get going, I REALLY need to pee!"

"Huh… damn…" Rolling left and right, I reluctantly got up. "But only this time, ok?"

End result: I gave in and followed the coward to shore, albeit very slowly, gaiting like a sleep-walker. There, he emptied his bladder. However…

"What's that noise?"

I couldn't help but hear a rhythmic sound, seemingly the one of a hammer."

"Hey, Dan, are you catching this?"

"Aahahamnnn… I am… why?" Sleep took me over and made me try to ignore it.

"The ship should be… no, it _is_ empty!" Still, the sound did appear to come from it. "Crap, the fog's so dense, I can't see anything! Come on, Dan!"

"Huh? W-w-wait…"

As much sleepy as I was, I ended up following Usopp to the tip of the shore. There, curiosity got the best out of me and took my sleep with it. Or part of it.

As we slowly approached the Sacrificial Altar, the sound became more flagrant. There _was_ someone working on the ship. Now, you probably won't believe this, but I swear to all gods out there, I saw, with these two eyes, a small figure near the ship. Clearly visible, even through the dense fog. A figure, armed with a hammer, working in Going Merry's hull!

"Usopp-kun… do you see what I see… Usopp-kun!"

Just as Usopp realized what he was seeing, he turned blue. He tried to scream but his throat betrayed him. Then, he belted out a high-pitched screech and wavered in the legs before he passed out.

"Usopp-kun!" I called out repeatedly. No avail. He fainted and laid there, unconscious.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Zoro-san!"

Moments later, Zoro appeared to check in on us, also out of sleep.

"What's up with Usopp, Dan? He's out to pee and now he's sleeping?"

"Uh… yeah… er…" I said, trying to come up with a believable story, but knowing Zoro wouldn't buy it.

"G-g-g-g-g-gh-gho…" Oh, Usopp still could breathe something out…

"Gho? Gho-what?" Zoro asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Gho-gho-ghost!"

"Zoro-san, I know this is ludicrous, but we… saw a ghost!"

He paused. "What? Are you hung over or what? Where the hell is the ghost?" Zoro asked, not believing in a word.

"I saw it! I saw it with these eyes, Zoro-san! There was someone, I don't know who, don't ask me, but there _was_ a figure hammering at the ship's hull! If you don't believe, see for yourse—"

Problem: the figure was gone.

"Huh? But…"

"We're all out here, Dan. There's nobody on the ship. Come on, drag the zombie back and get back to sleep, ok?" He walked back to the tent. I knew he wouldn't believe it.

Defeated, I resigned myself to carrying Usopp's empty shell back to the camp and try to sleep again. I laid in the ground, but with eyes wide open, trying to process what I've just seen.

I am sure of what I saw. Although it never ceases to weird me out… Was it true? Or is it me just being hung over…

Amongst those thoughts, I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

…

…

…

Morning of the next day. As we woke up and got back to the Sacrificial Altar, we were greeted with an incredible surprise.

"See?! Just as I told you! Someone _was_ here last night!"

Through the mostly silent Altar, we all let out a surprised gasp. Why? Well…

"GOING MERRY WAS REPAIRED!"

In all the places where the damage was visible, metal plates were there, affixed with nails. Even the mast that was torn up was put back in its place, in the correct position!

"I knew it wasn't a dream! Somebody fixed our ship!" Usopp screamed, bawling right there.

"True. But carrying the mast and putting it back upright must've been a grueling task…" Robin wondered, smiling in admiration.

"But… I have to say, as much as it may hurt… his work kinda sucks." Sanji said, putting a hand to his chin.

"Doesn't matter! What_ does_ matter is that he repaired our ship!" I said, relieved. "And… I told you! That was not a mirage after all! Did you see, did you see, did you se~~e?" Only to then rub on Zoro about it.

"Ok, ok, I believe now! Happy? Get off my face!" He replied, stepping away. "Still, man… who would come here just to fix our ship? There's only enemies beside us in the Upper Yard."

"Hey, Usopp… he took out the Flying mode." Luffy noticed.

Indeed, neither the damaged wings, nor the rooster comb or the tail were present when we returned.

"Yup, I noticed it too. That's what's bugging me the most about it." He replied, walking around, trying to piece everything together. "What I want to know is: how the guy who fixed our Merry knew about its original appearance."

"It has to be a dream… there's no other option-oh!"

Zoro soon had to worry about a reindeer swinging out from a loose rope right to his face…

"How can you act like buffoons in a moment like this? We have a lot to do now, guys." Nami said, overly annoyed.

"Doesn't it bother you, Nami?" Chopper asked.

"What?"

"Someone we don't know just fixing our Merry like that." He leapt to the ground.

"Having a damaged ship is one thing, but now that it's fixed, what's the problem? Do you want to go through the trouble of finding the guy just to say thank you?" Nami shoved the subject to the corner just as easily as she breathes.

…

…

Now that our ship is back on track, the next step is to drag it out of the Sacrificial Altar and back on sea. Using the Little Crow, Usopp and Chopper volunteered to execute the plan as the rest of us stayed on the stairs, with a watchful eye.

They sailed around the ship a few times until, all of a sudden, Chopper took the helm and Usopp launched his "AAaaaAAaaaAA" or whatever it is he calls his rope, which hooked right on the sheep head. Oh, I see.

"Chopper! Full speed ahead!" Usopp screamed.

Slowly, they sailed away from the ship, as the boat gained speed. Throttling up to reach the top speed of 'slow as a turtle' and stretch the rope to the fullest. They floated in mid-air as the engine tried to pull Merry out, but it didn't move an inch. Instead, it was the Little Crow who broke apart.

After a long pause to fix the rather extensive damage to the boat, the Little Crow was back in action. Commander Usopp and Sub-Commander Chopper had a new secret plan up their sleeves… a bit unorthodox one at that.

"Don't tell me he's…" I wanted to ask, but I knew it already.

"A~~yup." Zoro completed.

No more was said. It turned out Commander Usopp's plan B involved using Sub-Commander Chopper as bait. It didn't take long until a celestial shark took his cue, accepted the deal and tried to attack our reindeer. As expected, Chopper was none too happy with the strategy.

"HE~~LP! GET ME OFF! USOPP~~~!" And by "none too happy", I mean he flailed about, screamed and almost had a stroke right there.

"Sanji! Now!" Usopp called.

Immediately, the boat sped away from the shark as Lieutenant Sanji shot Usopp's "AaaAAaaA", slightly adjusted with a pointy tip tied to an end. The rope flew out and pierced straight through the shark's fin, becoming stuck. A scream of pain and the shark was back on water, but the struggle was not over yet.

It lunged again at Usopp, who wiggled the bait (Chopper) around, speeding away from the Altar. Then, the rope began to stretch… it stretched… until the ship began to move!

"Zoro-san! Your turn!" I screamed.

As soon as Merry began to crawl down the Altar's stairs, Zoro rushed to cut the rope, letting the shark go back to the sea (and freeing Chopper off the bait nightmare…) Just as quickly, he rushed out of the way and watched our ship finish the fall and be greeted by the white waters.

…

…

"Alright guys, check this map." Nami called our attention. We were all huddled together around Skypiea's old map and tried to decide our route. "Exploration team will head directly south. There must be some ruins in the skull's right eye. Watch out for any enemies in your way there and bring the gold back to the ship!"

"Huh… you say that like it's easy…" Zoro scoffed.

"If it's about researching ruins, I'll gladly do it." Robin said.

"What about you, huh, Nami? You keep saying 'gold, gold' but why are you not going?" Luffy asked.

"Of course I'm not going! That place's scary!"

Great, I should've known… she wants the gold but doesn't want to risk her butt to get it… clever girl…

"You said something?"

"N-n-no, nothing!" She did catch my aside glance. I tripped up and tried to wave it off.

"But you thought it." What is she, a mind reader?!

Well, telepathy aside, she stared at me for a few seconds before going on with her exposition. "Alright, meanwhile, we will take the Merry out through the island. It is going to be dangerous for us too, see? We're heading out to the shore as fast as we can… and then we will meet up here."

She marked a spot in open sea, relatively close to shore.

"Then… it's our escape from Sky Island! We'll be super-rich pirates and buy everything we want!" She said, grinning.

"Cool! And get all the meat I can eat!" In his case, multiply any weight you're thinking by infinity.

"Escape… finally!" Usopp breathed in relief.

"As long as I'm not the bait again!" Chopper pleaded.

According to Nami's master plan, the teams would be split as follows: Zoro, Robin, Chopper and Luffy would trek through Upper Yard's forests in search of the gold, while Sanji, Usopp, Nami and me would be tasked with taking Merry to the meeting point.

"Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

Luffy and Chopper worded the signal before we set off.

Even with all I went through already in the past, I felt another round of anxiety coming up inside. I can't help but feel that whatever is coming is going to be a lot worse. Still, I can't help but be curious too. What else could happen to us? Who is this God, invisible to us, yet able to see us all? The race for the gold, the danger of the remaining priests, an imminent war between the painted-face guerrilla men and the greatest peril: this island's God…

The true adventure begins now!

* * *

**Straw Hats' plan is beginning to be put in motion! The daring pirates will face enormous dangers in their search for the City of Gold. However, Skypiea holds many more secrets. How the island witnessed Enel's arrival? What happened for the guerrillas to be so hostile toward anyone not belonging to their race? What someone can do to fight against an enemy which sees and hears whatever they're doing?**

**All this and much more in the next chapter!**


	107. Why HIM of all people?

**107 – Sail forward, Merry! The dangers of the Milky Road**

* * *

"Wind: Good! Direction: Good! Hmm… I like it, our trip goes on undisturbed! But we're quite slow… Hey, navigator! Do something!"

Breathing in relief, crossing his arms and puffing with confidence, Usopp was standing in the front of the ship, talking to himself and trying to give the impression he assumed the position of substitute captain.

"Sorry, there's nothing we can do, Captain Usopp." Nami replied, mock-obediently. She stood in the lower floor deck.

"Ca-can you repeat that?" Oops, he did like being called captain…

"There's nothing we can do!"

"Not that!"

In such a dense and giant forest like this, winds rarely blow by, not to mention that the Milky Road's water is too wavy. That forced us to come up with a way to dock Little Crow to the ship and use its Dial's power to move it in the right direction. We lost quite a lot of time sticking the little boat in Merry's rear, but we did move from the Altar, back to the endless Milky Road.

"Huh… more two years round that road from hell…" I thought, leaning on the rail on the upper deck. I and the 'substitute captain' Usopp kept a watchful eye on the recovering Gan Fall, followed by his faithful falcon partner, Pierre.

Sanji was occupied carrying barrels to the storage room, while Nami went to the upper room to get the medicine doctor Chopper left to his patient. Sitting leaned on the rail near the stairs, Skypiea's previous God kept his eyes closed, with a frown in his face, despite the worst of ordeals being behind him.

"Gramps, you look better now, don't you?" Usopp asked.

"Yes, and I'm very grateful for your help." Gan Fall replied.

"If you want someone to thank, do it to our doctor. His medicines work better than anything else!" Usopp said, cheerfully.

"No, _we_ should thank you too." I joined the talk. "Thank you very much for saving Chopper and our ship… I believe I talk on everyone's behalf when I say we wouldn't know what to do without either of them, Gan Fall-san! Er… -san? -sama? I don't know…"

It still didn't sink in that I was talking with someone who'd been God…

"No need to be so formal… be at ease. In my current state, I'm no different of a mortal…"

"Gan Fall-san…" I whispered.

"I shall tell you a bit of this land's history. It's better for you to know how things got to the state they are now."

Sit down, story time!

"Until six years ago, I was God." Gan Fall started.

"Yo… did you hit your head, gramps?"

Of course, that remark rewarded Usopp with a bite to the head by Pierre, the falcon… uh, horse.

I facepalmed at the scene, pausing to sigh and clean my throat. "Ahem… don't mind him, Gan Fall-san, that guy never does things seriously. Please go on…"

"Hold on a damn second! Who said I never do-OOOWW!" Not to mention Usopp still battled to get rid of the horse biting him.

Alright, back to the story…

"I heard the Upper Yard appeared in Skypiea four hundred years ago, as you must know by now…"

Gan Fall started by saying that Skypiea was a sky island where peace reigned absolute. People's only concern was to get on with their lives and be happy.

However, every once in a while, artifacts from the Sea Below would get to celestial shores, brought up by the Knock-Up Stream. Things as simple as toys or musical instruments that the sky people would treat as valuable treasures.

Even chunks of dirt would be thrown up and get to the sky. All this island's "vearth" got up here the same way. But to see such an enormous amount of "vearth", equivalent to what is the current Upper Yard, be shot up here still was stuff of miracle. And the miracle did come.

"The sky people worshipped it like it was a design from the skies. However, together with the vearth, the citizens living there got shot up here as well. As soon as both groups began to contact each other, the conflict for possession started. The tribe is named Shandia." Gan Fall said.

"Are you talking about those guerrillas?" Usopp asked.

Gan Fall nodded in confirmation.

"They were the ones living in Jaya when it got here?" Sanji asked. He was done with his chores and joined us. Nami did the same, bringing the medicine with her.

"Yes. They were thrown up here against their will." Gan Fall replied.

"And yet, your people kicked them out of their own island?" Nami asked.

"Yes." Gan Fall admitted, letting his shoulders sink. "The sky people invaded the land of the shandians for selfish purposes. In the four hundred years that followed, the war between the shandians and the sky people never ceased. Still, what all the shandians wanted was their home land to be theirs again."

"HEY, SO IT'S YOUR FAULT—OOWW!"

Sanji and Usopp arrived at the exact same conclusion, being rewarded with a bite from Pierre, the winged… uh, horse.

"Indeed." Head down, Gan Fall owned up to the mistake. At the same time, Pierre stopped his angry fit.

"So, it was the Skypieans who invaded foreign land. What about you? Did you do something to avoid all this?" I asked. All Gan Fall did was to take his medicine.

"Ah, sorry. I almost forgot my medicine. What was the question?"

"Ugh…" A bit annoyed, I repeated the question anyway. "Did you, as God, do something to alleviate the tensions between Shandia and Skypiea?"

"I was about to get to that part." He stared directly at me. After a short, but extremely uncomfortable pause, he continued. "I dedicated my entire reign to bring peace back to this island. I struggled so Shandia and Skypiea could live together but…"

"But?"

"Here's where Enel gets in. He came from another sky island, with a group of soldiers under his wing. They defeated most of my troops and of the shandians who tried to fight them. They ousted me from my throne and took control of the Upper Yard. That was six years ago."

Six years that must be like an eternity…

"Since then, the troops are forced to accomplish missions under his watch. That's all I know about them. For the shandians, however, no matter who is God, their attitude will be the same. All they want is their land back."

"If that's what they want, why did they attack us when we got here? We have nothing to do with what happens here." Sanji asked.

"The forced-to-work troops sometimes manage to smuggle a ship and try to escape. Shandians consider them to be enemies and try to eliminate them before they run away. They must've thought you were soldiers on the run."

"No, come on, it's too unfair to be killed by mistake!" Sanji protested.

"But that's a thing that happens, Sanji-san. There are lots of people down in our seas who get killed without even knowing why. It's horrible, but it happens." I said, looking down.

"Another reason I became a Knight of the Sky was to help these refugees escape. There's no more place around here that criminals can escape Enel's watch." Gan Fall explained.

"Is that God Enel some sort of lord of evil or something?" Sanji speculated.

"Oi, oi, oi! Watch your mouth!" What only unnerved Usopp more. "Almighty Enel hears every-thing!"

"Hey, since when you started to act like one of the people here, huh?"

"Thing! Thing! Thing! Thing!" Still, Usopp kept slapping Sanji's arm…

"Evil? No." Fortunately, Gan Fall got the conversation back on track. "It's more than simple bad character. Enel practically forces all outsiders to become criminals. Until they get to the Judgement, it's Skypieans' civic duty to guide them here. That's what awakened in them… the concept of crime."

The concept? You mean…

"Y-you mean… up until Enel took the throne, they had no idea what that was?!" I asked, baffled.

"Yes, they didn't. That's why they break down whenever they feel they're acting criminally. Enel knows how to play with that. That's how he controls them like cattle."

Controlled by a god they've never seen, yet they know is there… and punishes any and all who partake in his definition of "crime"… that bastard's taking advantage of people's innocence to control them like puppets!

"Hmmm… just as we thought we got in paradise back at Angel Beach…" Nami thought over aloud, sighing with disappointment. "What a terrible place the old City of Gold chose to hide itself in…"

"Oh, that reminds me…" Gan Fall said, all of a sudden. "You seemed to be lively with this 'g-gold' thing last evening, but… w-what is that?"

"HU~~H?!" All of us jumped at the same time, in complete disbelief.

"Y-you don't know?!"

"N-no, I do not." A bit put off, Gan Fall retreated.

"H-hold on guys, think for a second." I said, quieting the buzz. I put a hand on my chin and thought aloud. "It shouldn't be surprising. Everything up here is made of clouds. Houses, bridges, tools, everything. Gold doesn't exist naturally here, just as the metals we know. It's only natural for the people not to know about it."

"Hmm… on second thought it does make sense…" Nami concluded, albeit indecisively. "Still, it sure sounds weird to have people who don't know what gold is…"

"Not to mention that Dial stuff…" Sanji joined the conversation. "There's a weird seashell for almost anything!"

"Indeed. Our entire civilization was built with the materials found in the clouds." Gan Fall intervened. "Dials have many varied uses unknown to common citizens. For instance… when we met back in the open sea, I acted as a mercenary because you Sea Below dwellers did not know about celestial warfare."

"C-celestial warfare? What would that be?" Usopp asked.

"It's easier to demonstrate than it is to explain. If you don't mind, lad, could you move that barrel over here?"

Usopp did as told while Gan Fall told me to bring him one of his armor's gauntlets to the main deck. A little investigation revealed it to contain a bright pink shell full of tiny holes in one side. According to Gan Fall's instructions, I placed it on top of the barrel.

"Does any of you have a hammer? A giant one, for that matter." Gan Fall asked.

"N-no." Usopp replied. "What, I don't see why would we carry a giant hammer in our-"

"Fear not."

I quickly whipped out a sheet of paper, sketching a giant hammer in a thin stick. A simple drawing which quickly materialized. I grabbed hold of it before it hit the ground and handed it to Sanji.

"Ready." Sanji said.

"Very well." Gan Fall replied.

"Uh, why are we doing this again?" Nami asked.

"As I said, demonstrating is easier than explaining. Watch it and you will understand. Now, lad, please hit the shell as hard as you possibly can."

That sure doesn't sound like a good idea…

Usopp was quite nervous about it. "Hold on, go easy on it, Sanji! If you blow a hole in the deck, I'm gonna blow a hole in your—"

"_As hard as you possibly can_." Gan Fall insisted.

"DON'T ABUSE OTHER PEOPLE'S SHIPS, DAMN YOU!"

"Calm down, Usopp-kun! Calm down! He knows what he's talking about… I guess…" I said, unsure myself.

"Uh, ok, if you say so, here I go…" Sanji said, gripping the hammer.

"Oi, oi, oi! Don't take that much impulse!"

Usopp wanted to stop him, but Sanji swung way back before bringing the hammer forward against the barrel. However, instead of barrel bits – and a huge hole in the front deck, for that matter – we just heard a weird bouncing noise and nothing else.

"Hey now, what was that?" Asked Usopp, a bit bummed out. "I told you to go easy, but that was just ridiculous. You didn't even scratch it!"

"No, I… I know I tried to hit it full force… like I wanted to blow a hole through the deck—"

"HEY!"

Still, both the barrel and the shell remained intact. Exactly how that happened, nobody was able to answer.

"But I did feel as if the shell absorbed the blow." Sanji speculated. Indeed, the shell let off a small trail of vapor. I decided to check it up close.

"This thing? Hmmm…" I picked it up, turned it around and examined it.

"There's more to it, lads. You, point the side full of holes of the shell against the barrel and press the button on the other side. I suggest you use your palm to do it. And brace yourself."

I crouched and pointed the shell as per the instructions.

"Pochi… tto!" Just as I pressed the button… "UWA~H!"

A huge blast fired from the shell and trashed the barrel. The impact's recoil was powerful enough to fling me backwards against the railing. Nothing was left of the barrel beyond its shattered remains – still, no hole in the deck – and four people scared out of their wits, almost thrown out of the ship…

"Ow… ow… my arm…" Lying on the ground, I suddenly felt my arm hurt a lot! "What the hell's up with this thing?"

"This is an Impact Dial." Gan Fall explained. "It absorbs impacts inflicted against it and releases the stored energy upon activation."

I sat back up, still tending to my hurt arm and trying to wrap my head around what happened.

"It's usually attached to the palm with a tape or put inside a glove. When it's full, it has enough power to kill a normal human with a single strike."

"Usopp… that thing…" Sanji muttered.

"I remember! That ball-priest used one of those!" Usopp recalled.

"That was the guy you fought when I was down?" I asked, which Sanji confirmed. "Wow, for him to have such a weapon… and, before I forget… Gan Fall-san! Don't make me do that ever again! I almost broke my arm in this mess!"

"I did warn you." That was his answer. "This Dial's only drawback is that the blast recoil tends to hurt the attacker too. I heard that, in times past, there was another Dial with more terrifying powers. The Reject Dial, which releases ten times the stored energy as a normal Impact Dial."

"Eeek!" Usopp swallowed hard.

"Though, as you may figure out, it was a double-edged sword which put the user's life at grave risk. For that exact reason, it was rare to see anybody use it."

"You mean there are such outrageous shells out there?!" Usopp asked immediately. "No wonder it's called 'warfare'!"

"Geesh, I thought Dials were more like objects of daily life…" Nami mused, disturbed.

"They are. But objects useful to us can be modified for combat purposes, depending on the user." Gan Fall continued. "Dials are handy for everyday use, but they're valuable in war as well."

True… it's not that different than what happens down there…

"The same way a kitchen knife can be used both to slice food and to slice someone's throat." I said.

"For instance, a Heat Dial can cook food and it can be put inside a spear to generate heat. Thus a flaming weapon is created: the Heat Javelin. Or there's the Flame Dial, which stores fire. If put in a bird's mouth, it creates a rare being: a bird who can shoot flames."

"That's it! That's what Chopper told it happened to him!" Usopp recalled.

"Huh… common objects which can be used in war…" I said, mulling over it. "So, this is what's called 'celestial warfare'?"

"Indeed." Gan Fall said. "Whoever comes from the Sea Below, without knowledge of the Dials, does not catch these tricks. Besides, there are lots of manufactured clouds. The celestial warriors who made them have the mastery over them and any uninformed person who faced them would suffer a tragic fate."

"Ok, something I wanted to know." After wiping off the barrel remains, Sanji intervened. "Does that have anything to do with that 'Mantra' thing they use to predict our attacks?"

"Mantra?" Gan Fall sighed and thought for a few seconds. "That's a power I cannot use. Explaining it is complicated too. Anyway, long story short, Mantra is the 'power to listen'. It seems that the body, while it's alive, emits a voice. By listening to this inner voice, you can predict your opponent's actions. If you train this skill, you can hear these voices from greater ranges."

Which means?

"Then, Enel's been training his Mantra long enough for him to be able to punish all those labeled as criminals?" I asked.

"Yes. Enel hears everything going on in this island. Priests are capable of hearing the inner voices inside Upper Yard."

"How did that power first appear? Who and how can a person obtain it?" I insisted.

"I praise your persistence, but for both of your questions, the answer is the same: nobody knows. And because of it, the people will not enjoy a single day of peace."

Before these words and the unending mysteries they carry, I just had to accept and reflect. With the thought in my head, I walked away to a corner, leaning on the railing next to the figurehead.

"Mantra. To hear our inner voices…" I drifted off mentally. "Hmm… What about Zoro and the others out there… I wonder if they are alright…"

"No need to be so worried."

"Really? That's a relief…" I turned to the others, who looked strangely puzzled.

"D-Dan-kun, who are you talking to?"

"Who? To you, of course."

"None of us said anything!"

"Then…"

Who was it just now?

"I won't let any of your friends escape this forest."

Thunder.

"Who's there?" Frightened, Nami asked.

More thunder. Soon, a bright blue light shined right on our faces, blinding us for a few seconds. It was fleeting, but when it went away, we found out that the ship had one unexpected guest.

"Yaahahahah… how are you?"

Sitting in the railing, a pale man smiled maliciously and glared at us. Shirtless and barefooted, he had a very athletic physique and wore what appeared to be large tribal, multicolored-but-mostly-orange pants. He wore a bandanna on his head and a strange set of small drums stuck to his back.

"Enel!" Gan Fall roared.

"What?! E-E-E-ENEL?!" Usopp shivered right there.

I swallowed hard. Is this it? Were we in the presence of the God who can hear everything? The God nobody can escape from? The Almighty God Enel?

"It's been a while, hasn't it… Gan Fall. Who would think that the man who once ruled this land would sink to the point of helping a bunch of nosy foreigners…"

"You bastard…" Sanji growled immediately. "It was you who terrorized Conis-chan so much?! You're the one ruling the people as if they were puppets?"

"Yes, it's me." Slowly but authoritatively, he replied. "Got a problem? You talk as if you can do something against me…"

"Grrr… DAMN YOU!"

The straw that broke the camel's back. Sanji didn't think twice before lunging at him. Just as he was ready to swing his leg at him, though… thunder and cracking claps. Soon, another blue punishment would rain down and elicit pained screams from our cook.

"SANJI-KUN!"

Nami desperately cried out for him, before the figure of a burned Sanji, head to toe. He stood there for a few seconds before his body went limp and he fainted. The only silver lining in all this is that he wasn't reduced to mere ashes after such a powerful electric shock.

"Sanji-san!" The three of us rushed to his aid and tried to wake him back up.

"Hang in there! Sanji!" Terrified, Usopp screamed for him, not receiving any hints of a response. "No… I can't hear his heart beating!"

"You…" Nami paled.

Who wouldn't? That overwhelming power… one hit was all it took…

He can't be dead! Sanji, hang on!

"Hmhmhm… Ya~hahahah! What a fool… and I had no intention of hurting you…" Enel, for his part, only giggled and scorned. He probably knew in advance he would face five mere mortals, one of which he just… he just… I don't want to say the word killed! That's just too sudden!

"Then why are you here?!" Gan Fall roared again, seething with anger.

"Wow, talk about a cold greeting…" Now seriously, what were you expecting?! That we invited you for a spot of tea after you straight up fried one of our own?! "It's been six years, huh? Former God…"

"Enel…" Such was his anger, Gan Fall could barely speak…

"Aw, come on, don't be so resentful." It was jarring to see the stark contrast between Enel's never-ending serenity up against pretty much everyone else's fury. "We haven't seen each other for quite a while now! Aren't you happy to meet me again?"

"What do you want here?" Gan Fall asked.

"For the six years I've been controlling this island… your former subordinates worked exceptionally hard for me." Enel said.

Words that hit the previous god particularly hard, it seemed.

"The soldiers I was head of…" Gan Fall replied, visibly shaken.

"Their power is impressive. Truly talented. However, as much as it pains me to say it, these six depressing years of heavy labor are coming to an end. As is the purpose of me ruling this island. I'm here just to say goodbye."

How dare he… after leaving Sanji in the critical state he's in now… does he really have the gall to say he's just here to say goodbye?!

That's just so confusing! So, he's the current ruler of Skypiea, and so he has been for the past six years, terrorizing his citizens with a deadly punishment coming from the skies and now he just comes here and says that he's_ leaving_? What the hell's up with this guy?!

It was so puzzling I couldn't help but clench my fists…

"I have to say, though…" Slowly, Enel continued his reminiscing. "The Skypieans are really happy in their ignorance. They see this island only as a clump of vearth…"

"What are you implying?" Gan Fall asked.

"The reason I conquered this island… the reason that brought the people of the Sea Below up here… and the reason why the shandians want their home back at all costs. In short, the reason why so many people want this island is this: the city which blossomed here, very long ago, back in the Sea Below… the legendary City of Gold. The last trace of Shandra!"

T… the City of Gold? Hold on a second… that means he also knows of the (supposed) existence of the City of Gold? Something absolutely unknown to all Skypieans! So that was why…

"Yahahah… ignorance must be the greatest of their blessings… the only people who doesn't know the existence and the immense value of gold… is exactly the one who has it right under their ingenuous noses. Quite interesting, isn't it? Now the time is right for our final game… Whoever survives it will have all the gold for themselves! Yaahhahahah… Can you hear it? The jubilant sound of our festival!"

"Festival…" My anger reached the critical point too. That was the last straw. "ENOUGH OF YOUR SHIT!"

"Hm?"

"Dan-kun! No!" I still heard Nami and Usopp screaming, but the rage was such I didn't pay attention.

"So, this all boils down to a mere festival for you?! To playing with fragile human lives?! Can I seriously believe you used an entire island's citizens for six years as mere pawns to your little board game?!"

Enel remained silent.

"So much work Gan Fall had to try and revert four centuries of hostilities between Skypiea and Shandia… and there comes scoundrel like you and hurls it all to hell just because you're after some gold?! And stop with that 'foreigner' deal because you're just as much of a foreigner as us!"

"How insolent…"

"Huh?"

When I was done, I noticed I was ranting to the wind.

"DAN-KUN! WATCH OUT!"

"What?"

In a moment, he was gone. In the next, he was right beside me, with one hand in my shoulder. Needless to say, my heart skipped a beat right there.

"For your words, you deserve the eternal slumber."

"No…"

Then, an intense electrical charge surged throughout my entire body. The pain was beyond undescribable, and I only remember screaming my loudest, in unbridled desperation while the shock lasted. For moments, I felt my entire body go numb, standing there immobile and defenselessly before going limp and fainting beside Sanji's charred body.

"DAN-KUN!" I still heard Nami's tearful shriek…

"If you promise to stay quiet… I will do nothing more."

That was the last I heard before everything around me went black. _Again._

* * *

**Enel leaves his royal throne to surprise-visit the Straw Hat ship! Is it a sign of the God himself entering the war? Or was it just a warning? Sanji and Dan fell before God Enel's overwhelming power... who will be next? The only sure thing is that Enel is the final obstacle to overcome for the Straw Hats to escape Skypiea!**

**Stay tuned to the next chapters!**


	108. The most important treasures

**108 – I must protect them! The struggles of Nami and Robin!**

* * *

**Dan and Sanji were electrocuted and are in grave danger. However, Merry's remaining crew doesn't have the time to treat them! Nami, Usopp and Gan Fall have been caught by the surprise appearance of Priest Satori's younger brothers, who are bent on seeking revenge!**

* * *

"Hohoho~~!"

"Why, you…!"

I rushed to swing my staff at them, but I only hit the air. I quickly turned around to see the two fatties dancing on the other side. The other fatty took the time to land a hit square on Usopp's face, flinging him to the ground. He slid 'til he stopped beside me, grunting with pain.

Even his pinballs didn't land a single hit on either of the two fatsos.

"You won't hit us~~!" One of them said before, without so much as a warning, kicking Dan's charred body!

"STOP IT!"

My nerves almost surfaced out of my skin when they began whirling around, spin-kicking Dan and Sanji left and right like they were worn ragdolls.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" I screamed in terror.

"Dan! Sanji!" Usopp growled. "You cowards! If you want to fight, fight us!"

"I SAID STOP IT! They're unconscious!" I kept shrieking, but it looked like I was talking to the wind.

"So what? We don't care! Those are the bastards who defeated our big bro Satori!" One of the fatties said.

"You did! You defeated him!" The other one agreed.

"WE WON'T FORGIVE YOU!"

Hotori and Kotori… Right after that scumbag Enel basically fried Dan and Sanji only to leave, the fatty duo jumped out of nowhere inside our ship and went after us! I must deserve it… right when the ones who had the power to defeat them are out of commission!

Words won't change a thing! I might as well beat the shit out of them!

"You… pile of scum!"

"Nami! Watch out!" I still heard Usopp calling for me, but I'm far too angry to think twice about what I'm doing!

I just ran and tried again to hit these idiots with my staff, but one of them stepped up to stop my blow with his hand.

"Thanks for the smack!" Oh God… "Impact!"

No… anything but an Impact Dial to the face!

"Nami!"

"Aack! Ugh, what's this stench?!" My heart almost stopped with the fright. I was expecting a fistful of Impact Dial but only a pungent stench of rotten egg came out. Still, it was enough to stun me and make me fall on my ass. Just as I flinched…

"I'll take care of you!" The other fatty rushed to attack Usopp. "Flavor!"

"Huh, smelly fart again? Hahah, you won't scare me with—"

And that was the last thing Usopp would say before he was violently flung backwards to the lower floor.

Damn it, the other one had the Impact Dial!

"USOPP!" I screamed, horrified. He crashed against the wall, grunting. He still tried to stand back up, but ended up fainting. "No, no, nononono! Get up, Usopp! I need help here! Get up, get up, get up!"

"Young lad!" Gan Fall looked too. "So that's it… they have four different Dials in their gloves…"

"That's right! Axe! Flame!" A fatso said.

"Impact! Flavor!" The other completed. Come on, they're identical! I don't have the patience to keep telling them apart!

"You won't know the difference!" One said.

"Who's Hotori? Who's Kotori? Is it me? Is it him? Is it you?" The other said.

Uh, like I care about that! It's not me for sure!

"It's so fun to see what will come out! SURPRISE DIAL ILLUSION!"

Fudgemuffins… things keep going from bad to worse… I'm alone! Gan Fall could give me a hand, but he's still recovering too! Alright… one day the time would come. I'm tired of feeling weak and useless! Since the day I asked Usopp to build me this Clima Tact… I've been preparing for the time I had to defend the ship by myself.

The journey is bound to get even more dangerous from now on… I have to be up to the challenge!

"That's what they're about… we know the types of Dial, there's no time to waste!"

"I don't care about telling you apart! Just bring it!" I bellowed, breathing out and gathering my courage.

Going Merry… Dan… Sanji… Usopp…

I have to protect them!

I crossed two sections of my staff together and clicked them back to it.

"Typhoon warning!" I then swung my staff, throwing the crossed tip at the fatty duet.

"Haha! Missed!" It went right between them.

Gan Fall leapt to the attack, but one of the lardballs caught him and stuck his hand at him. Another blast of stink. The knight drew out his cloak in time, expecting something stronger, but managing to deflect the smell.

"Hahaha! It was my farts again, fool!" He said.

The other one stepped forward. "You thought fire was going to come out, didn't you? The fire's from MY right hand!"

He outstretched his hand and out of it came a jet of fire. Hold on… fire, gas… not good!

"The gas will ignite!"

And ignite it did. The gas-flame combo made a huge blast.

"Weird knight!"

After the wind blew by and the dust cloud dissipated, there was a huge hole where the handrails used to be and the knight was nowhere to be seen.

"Aha! What an idiot! Vaporized!" To boot, the balls of fat kept dancing and hopping around!

Luckily (for me), the knight escaped in time, hanging over the edge of the ship. He backflipped back inside and prepared his spear.

"EEH?!"

In swift movements, he rushed to the attack. A quick swipe of his spear and he blew one of the lardballs away from the ship.

"KOTORI~~!" The other one screamed.

"Such childish tricks… that's what you get for underestimating me." Gan Fall quipped.

Oh, look, here's my boomerang coming back…

"Cyclone Tempo!" My makeshift boomerang's impact against Hotori's head flung him far away, to fall on the sea below, together with his brother. And my staff is complete again!

"You… young lady…"

"Hm?"

"Get my gauntlet and finish this…" Clutching his shoulder and talking through grunts, the knight was far from able to stay fighting…

"Weird knight! Your wound opened again—"

"Don't worry about me! He will soon be back!"

"A-ah, right! Ga-ga-gauntlet…" I went downstairs when the question mark popped up. "Wh-what are you talking about? What's a gauntlet?!"

The knight's mascot falcon would swiftly answer my question, handing me the gauntlet. Just as I first picked it up, one thing popped to mind.

"Whoa, so heavy!"

"It's made of iron from the Sea Below. There's an Impact Dial attached to it. Use it as I told you."

"Ok, I get it, but this thing's too heavy for me to use it!" I said, trying it on. "Wait a second… Impact?!"

Just moving the fingers was a bit sluggish and the glove itself is too big for a delicate hand like mine! And if I'm not wrong, Dan almost broke his arm firing this thing!

"Help…" I thought to myself.

"YOU WILL PA~~Y!" The talk had to end right there as Hotori jumped right the fuck back inside! "You trashed my big bro Satori and now my little bro Kotori too! YOU WON'T ESCAPE MY WRATH!"

Ok, that's the guy who can shoot fire, probably… his body's soaked wet… and the air is quite humid. I know what to do.

"Cool Ball!" Spinning a section of my staff, I hurled little blue cool air balls at him.

"It's getting chilly here… that's it?"

"Yeah, that's it. You use fire, don't you? Come on, show it to me."

He growled. "Grrr, don't you dare mock me! That won't do a thing against my Flame Dial! I WILL BURN YOU ALIVE!"

I jumped out of the way of his stream of flames, not before watching the puffs of smoke forming around him. Just how I like it. The hot air's colliding with the cold air… it'll soon condensate and form…

"FOG TEMPO!"

Time to finish this!

At my command, a thick curtain of fog rose up and surrounded him. Stunned, just how I wanted it to be.

"Aah! I can't see! What are you doing?! What trick is this?!" Soon you will know, my dear!

Silently, I front-flipped and sat right in his chubby face.

"Ugh! What are you doing! Get off me!"

"Taste this… IMPACT!"

Pressing my hand against his face, I let out the blast. The recoil sent me flying backwards, but I did land the definitive blow on him and fling him off our ship! But…

"Ow! Owowowow! It hurts! This shit hu~~rts! You wanna crunch my arm, you crazy old bag?!" Laying on top of the knight's falcon pet, I tended to the pain, but it was strong enough to make me weep. That shell's got a powerful kick!

"Hang on, young lady, it will pass soon. You have been wonderful."

"I was?" Gan Fall simply nodded. And it was plenty enough. I sighed in relief and took the time to rest, proud at what I just did. "Awesome… I just protected the ship all by myself! I can't wait to tell those three about it!"

I can't possibly be an equal to the Monster Trio… but I want to be strong enough to stay alive!

"Well, young lady… now that the danger is over, if you excuse me, I have to leave."

"What?!"

The pet falcon hurried to bring the knight's armor.

"Wait up! Where are you going?!" I asked exasperatedly.

"I do apologize, but I need to settle some things with Enel and—"

"No, no, no way in hell! Hold it right there! Are you seriously going to leave a fragile lady like myself alone in this dangerous forest?!"

"You just proved you're anything but fragile, believe me. I'm deeply sorry, but I have to figure out why Enel came down to this forest. Maybe…" He paused.

"Maybe?"

"When Enel first appeared, the 650 soldiers under my watch got captured. I have no time to explain in detail, but the thing is they're in grave danger. Plus, this entire land might be in peril too. Can you fly, Pierre?"

The falcon screeched in response. I don't know, but he might've said he was ready. But…

"What about me?!"

"I will trust the gauntlet and the Impact to you. Use them if you get attacked again."

"Oh no… Ah! No! Don't go away!"

He just left, riding his falcon. And leaving me alone. For real this time.

"You heartless old fart! And you still call yourself a God?! Get back here! Think again!"

Nothing.

"I'm gonna cry~~!"

Nope. Gone on the horizon.

"Geesh… now I'm truly screwed…" The scenery around me in no way helped to cheer me up. Two charred (albeit still alive) remains of human bodies and a knocked out long-nosed liar lying there in the lower floor… I can't believe I have to do things all alone!

"Phew… I have to treat them first… you're alive, aren't you?" I asked, although not really expecting an answer… "Aahhn… Chopper! Where are you?! Please come back—uwah!"

I felt a chill course through my spine when a huge blast echoed nearby…

"Aah! W-w-w-w-what was that?!"

Strangely, after the explosion, a really loud horn began blaring as if it was coming here.

"Nami-san! Heso!"

Hey… that voice…

"Conis?"

"Heso."

"Pops? What the hell are you two doing here?"

Yes, it was them indeed! They were riding a weird motorboat, careening down the Milky Road! I'm stunned they managed to find us inside this gigantic forest! But what are they doing back here again? And why won't they turn off the goddamned horn?!

"Enough of that! That horn's driving me crazy!"

"Ah, I'm sorry." Then, Conis's pops turned it off. "Ah!"

"Let me go!"

"I can't do that! You can't go, it's too dangerous!"

"I have to go! You have to let me!"

"If you head in there all by yourself, it's guaranteed you will die!"

For some reason, he was arguing with a little girl they brought along… Plus, what the hell is the old man doing in a helmet and with a freaking bazooka strapped to his back?

"We promised we wouldn't stay here for long!"

"Hey… who's that child?"

So, after lots of resistance, they brought (or rather, dragged) the little girl onboard, but from the first moment she kept staring at me with a mean face… Come on, I'm far from having the patience to deal with bratty half pints…

"Her name's Aisa and…"

"Don't come near me, ugly hag from the Sea Below! I'll burn you! I'm a proud warrior of Shandra!" She said, trying to keep her mean face and holding a Dial in a stick.

"U-huh? Wanna fight me, is that it? I'm gonna Impact the crap out of you."

"Nami-san! We have to take care of them immediately!" Upon seeing the boys' current state, Conis panicked instantly.

"Hold on you two!" The old man interrupted. "For now, I'm sorry, but could you please turn the ship to the road we just made?"

"Huh?"

"We used a Milky Dial to build a new river." Indeed, there was a new 'right exit'. "If you go through here, you'll go straight to the White-White Sea! Let's get going before the enemies find us!"

"Uh, if you didn't want them to know where we are, don't you think you should move _more quietly_?"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot." Listen when I'm talking to you! "I have something to give you."

"What, for me?" In a moment like this, what could it be? Well, if I had a million guesses, I would never get it right. "A Waver?!"

"Yes. I fixed the Waver you brought from the Sea Below. Come now, take it. It's yours."

"Mine?! YOU'RE SERIOUS? Awesome!"

"Yes!"

I can't believe it! I'm going to have my own vehicle! And a Waver, to boot! Since I first knew what it was, I was itching to have one of those!

"Plus: this one's power output is extraordinary. Sorry."

Why are you apologizing? This is fantastic!

Not skipping a beat, I grabbed hold of my newest gift and took it to the test drive! The sensation was simply wonderful. The handle was perfectly suited to my needs. I could control the throttle input just right, it was beautiful! Just thinking how far I can go when this cutie gets back down with us… I can't wait!

"It is rightfully yours! You're mastering it very well!"

"Thanks, pops! I loved this one! It's wicked fast!" I said, patting my gift.

"Yes! The Jet Dials have been extinguished a few centuries ago." I heard the old man talk as I returned to the ship. "I was surprised to find a Waver equipped with one."

Plus, it's really light and easy to carry around! I can take it literally wherever!

"But… what are we going to do now?" He said, turning us back to the important matters. "If everyone was together, we could take you to Skypiea's borders."

"Hmm…" With the excitement waning away, it was time to discuss our next moves. "First we need to take the Merry to the shore. We agreed to meet there. I believe they'll be alright until then… Huh, if the four of them are together, they can make it somehow."

"There's no group of four in this island."

Hm?

The little girl seemed to know more than she appeared.

"The largest groups are pairs. If there were people moving in groups of four, I would know." She said, curled up.

Yeah… she too has that Mantra power. Who would guess that a little girl would possess the fearful Priests' hidden skill…

"You possess the power of this land's God?"

"I was born with it! That's why I live scared of everything… you don't understand how horrible it is to listen to a voice disappearing…" Her own voice trembled as she said that.

"You're gonna cry again?"

"NO, I'M NOT! YOU STUPID FOREIGNER! IDIOT!" Don't need to pretend being tough, okay?

"We found Aisa-chan boarding a damaged Waver and we saved her before she was eaten by the celestial sharks…" Conis said.

"What on earth were you going to do here?" I asked the girl.

"I don't know… I just know I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Are things so serious that a little child wants to get in the war? Geesh, look at what kind of trouble we're dealing with…

Suddenly another explosion echoed from inside the forest.

With it, came a question to bug my mind…

Zoro… Robin… Chopper… Luffy…

Is everyone safe?

* * *

**Meanwhile, in the middle of the forest, Nico Robin ran into the head of soldiers of God Enel's army. The "mountain-man"'s tremendous raw strength puts Robin in a big pinch! Yama has only one mission in mind: taking Robin out, whatever the cost!**

* * *

"Beeeeeehh!"

Curse my luck…

"Very well, little lady. I guess they overestimated your strength."

I'm tired, my whole body hurts, and I still have to deal with a four hundred pound mountain trying to kill me?

As if the rubble this scoundrel is turning the ruins of Shandra into… I must think of a way to lead him away from here!

"STOMACH MOUNTAIN!"

And worst of all, he's immensely strong_ and_ extremely agile! I don't remember ever seeing someone with his body fat doing the flips he's able to do… God Enel's head of soldiers… not by chance, it seems…

I'm so exhausted I can only dodge and try not to fall in a bad way…

The attacks are relentless. The longer I try to run away from him, the raw speed with which he flings his body forward is enough to make him catch me back. I tried to retreat further, but I made a grave mistake…

"The monument!" A column with text in Poneglyph was directly behind me… and right in the path of his kick!

"Veinte Fleur… CALENDULA!"

These ruins are far too important for me to just stand there and watch this moron destroy them further!

Hana Hana no Mi… don't let me down!

"Beeeh!"

I sprouted twenty extra arms to form two circular shields, only to immediately regret it upon taking the impact of his kick… the sheer pain almost blinded me… it was like someone hurled two boulders at my arms and expected me to stop them. I think I'll come out of this with broken arms… or worse, without either of them attached to my body…

I was flung backwards again, only to hear his snickers…

"Beeeh… for how long are you going to protect this moldy city anyway?"

"It seems…" I took the time to recover how little I had left of strength. "You don't have a single shed of respect for the history we all inherited, do you?"

"Huh? I don't give a damn about the past. That's what museums are for!"

"Words fitting of a simpleton like you."

Needless to say, he got angry. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO?! PUNCH MOUNTAIN!"

I swerved out of the way of his punch, which hit the ground. Thank goodness I'm still swift enough to keep up with him…

I have to take this idiot away from the ruins at any cost… or else he'll obliterate whatever is left of it!

In a mad dash to get away from him, I couldn't help but cringe at the thought of the irreplaceable traces of history this moron is destroying… I grinded my teeth, trying my hardest to make my legs run faster…

Unbelievable that I'm still here…

That day… I thought my reason to keep living crumbled together with the underground sanctuary at Alubarna… I decided to follow Luffy just because I had nothing else to lose back then… But still, even if the untold history is gone from the Sea Below, these ruins might have some clues I'm yet to find!

I have to protect them!

"Beeeh!"

Suddenly, a giant boulder swoops right beside me and crushes another column… Get back to the real world, Nico Robin! There's a four hundred pound man trying to crush you too!

"Grrr… how far are you going to run away?!"

Far enough for you to stop destroying pieces of history, you moron!

Damn it… he runs just as fast as me… flips in mid-air and has an impressive jump power… Wait until our writer knows there is someone who's not a wall of strength without agility… or whatever he was trying to tell me…

An entire history… the remains of a perished civilization… and a mad man is destroying everything for absolutely no reason.

_I will not forgive him._

I finally got to an area with nothing valuable. A partially-destroyed field. Partially destroyed by the very same head of soldiers I'm trying to defeat.

"That's it? You can only run until here?" He caught up with me. It doesn't matter anymore.

"Yes." I threw my bag to the ground. I don't have a vein bulging in my forehead because I'm not that kind of person. But that doesn't make me any less angry.

Yama. You will pay with your life.

"There's no turning back now. Try and say sorry all you want, I won't listen." I took my hat off.

"Oh, is that so? You're really hell bent on protecting a pile of rubble… it isn't yours, you know?"

"Indeed, it's not. Ruins don't belong to anyone. But I'm not willing to talk to you any further."

"Don't worry about that." He said, preparing to attack. "Even if you want to, you won't be able to talk anymore! I will crush you to death here and now! DROP MOUNTAIN!"

"We can fight freely here." I crossed my arms… "TREINTA FLEUR!"

I sprouted thirty arms from the giant vine up in the tree, to grab Yama by the legs as he flipped in the air.

"You run around like an enraged bull. Now you will feel the weight of the history you have just erased!"

Taking advantage of the momentum he had, I swung him against a tree trunk.

"POUND!" He crashed face-first.

Soon after the impact, I had to dissolve the extra arms before my actual arms broke in half…

"How heavy!"

Yama hit the ground like dead weight. Despite that, he still had power left. Angrier than before, he got back up and got back to his flipping.

"Take this! TEN-FOLD AXE! AXE MOUNTAIN!"

"Come."

Power. Speed. Agility. None of those things have any meaning before my power.

"Aaah! My eyes!"

Just two arms in front of his eyes to block his vision. Two more to turn his belt inside out. You can see now.

"Huh? No! The axes are backwards! Hold on! The Dials! AAAHH!"

Too late.

He crashed against another tree trunk and the impact triggered the axe shells. He will get back home with lots of deep cuts to tend to. Oh, wait, no. He won't.

I won't let him escape my anger.

Walking to this fallen body, I grabbed him by the hair. "You do realize you've destroyed priceless historical artifacts. Important treasures whose value cannot be measured. History can repeat itself, but people cannot go back to the past. But I guess none of that matters to you, does it?"

"I… understand… I… won't… do it… again…"

"I told you, I'll show no mercy."

He got angry again. "THEN I WILL KILL YOU!"

"Let me go." With the swing of my arm, I sprouted four more to break his fingers.

"Cien Fleur!" A pathway of arms flourished. "Delphinium!"

Now roll. Roll away like the ball you are. Roll to the tall cliff over there.

"STOOOOP!" Even mid-fall, I could hear his screams.

"Sorry. You made me angry today."

In the final coup de grace… "Clutch."

With the sound of bones breaking, the matter was settled. I then sighed and put my hat back on.

"How cruel of you…"

I slowed my walk to recover some of the stamina I burned trying to fend Yama off, but without losing track of my way around the ruins. Notebook in hand, filled with notes I wrote about the island as we explored it, I could then get back to my research about the lost city of Shandra.

In my journey, I bumped into very interesting things…

"Hmm… this should be the city center… but the monument doesn't look in any way similar to what's drawn in the map. Maybe the sheer force with which it was launched up here scattered the buildings around."

Ahead of me was an entrance to a dark corridor. Driven by my curiosity, I entered it. Slowly, my mind slipped back to that chance encounter back at Alubarna…

…

_"Hope and expectation are two different things… I hoped to find the Rio Poneglyph… Of all the poneglyphs found in this world… this is the only one with the True History."_

_"The True History? What would that be?" King Cobra asked._

_"It doesn't matter anymore. I searched for the last twenty years and this is the only clue I found. This place was my last hope… and it turned out to be a failure. If I happen to die here, well then, that's it. I'm tired of the path I've been treading. All because I wanted to study a piece of history… there are too many enemies in this dream of mine…"_

…

I thought those would be my last tears… and yet, I'm here. Without the faintest idea of what the future might bring me…

Amid my thoughts, I found the other side of the corridor. The light guided me to another part of the ruins, filled with tumbled buildings, consumed by the vegetation, whose most striking element was a gigantic beanstalk. I'll admire it later. For now, I resumed my journey until I found another monument with ancient writing.

As I wrote down another set of notes, questions began to appear in my mind.

"This doesn't feel right. Am I really in the City of Gold?" Judging by my notes so far, it didn't seem likely. "As I thought… the width and topography are way off."

I sat in the bottom of a long stairway, leading to an entrance gate, when all of a sudden, a stray idea came to my mind.

"Is it…"

Possibility moved me forward on a run through the stairway to the gate. Inside it was a wide chamber, filled with island cloud. Armed with my knife, I began cutting the cloud, block by block. Slowly I could dig deeper before I felt the weight of my body pressing down against the cloud. Upon cutting another layer, I opened a hole. There's more to find on the way down.

I cut another piece of cloud and hopped down on it as a cushion. A quick glance around revealed another very spacious chamber, full with buildings and sculptures.

"I knew it… these ruins have lots more things to find… They came from the Sea Below, but they do look like they were built on top of the island clouds. I knew something was off."

The ruins above the clouds are only the top layer of the city's buildings. Below there were countless many more. Suddenly I felt like a little ant treading my way through the massive cathedrals buried under the clouds. Amazingly, the buildings looked reasonably well kept for something that slowly sunk under the clouds since the civilization vanished many centuries ago. All this despite the vegetation encroaching everything…

"Hold on… a light?" Yes, there was a corridor with a light at the end. Was there something else at the end of that tunnel? Good food for my curiosity… I have to find out with my own eyes!

"I can't believe it!"

I had to sit down. The landscape was too imposing to be seen standing up. It all felt like a dream.

The city which disappeared for no reason eight centuries ago… is here, intact! Magnificently well preserved! The true City of Gold…

Shandra!

An entire new, untouched land… so many possibilities… I have to get down and research!

Walking through the boulders and stone buildings, I bumped into an object hidden inside a chamber. My jaw would drop slightly at what I just found.

"This is…"

…

_"Let me ask you this… you're telling me the strings of an untold history can be woven together? And that the poneglyphs are a registry of that?" King Cobra asked again, in complete disbelief._

…

So visible… So well preserved… the monolith with the ancient poneglyph writing!

"Only those who built the poneglyphs would be able to use this language." I said to myself, attracted by the writings. "Keep thine desires in thine hearts and keep thine mouth well shut. We art those who shalt weave history together upon ringing the Great Campanile."

Great Campanile? A giant bell! Just as Norland wrote in his diary!

All books were burned… the history of this city was eradicated! That can only mean one thing…

The poneglyph was brought up here! Then there was a battle to protect it… the people of the sky fought to protect the poneglyph and perished! If so, the Great Campanile lying in the center of the four altars… might tell the True History!

I may have found the Rio Poneglyph!

* * *

**Nami and Robin overcame their challenges, but the war between Shandia and Skypiea is about to escalate! How is the survival game masterminded by God Enel going to end? More importantly: where is he? Why did he take part in the war?**

**Stay tuned for the next chapters!**


	109. Dangerous rescue at the flying ark!

**109 – Return of the fallen! High-risk rescue at the flying ark!**

* * *

"Dan… Dan… Dan!"

"Hmhmhm… who is that…" Something was shaking me. I turned to a side, still sleeping.

"DAN! THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO STAY SLEEPING! GET UP NOW!"

Completely out of the blue, that same something began kicking my stomach, a quite rude way to interrupt my slumber.

"STOP KICKING ME, GODDAMNIT! Ah… Sanji? You're awake?"

"That's what_ I_ should be asking, huh?" He said, frowning at me.

"Wha-wha-what happened?" I stuttered. "By the way… STOP KICKING ME, GODDAMMIT!"

"Shut up, that was necessary! Forget it, we don't have the time for that, Dan! We have to hurry!" He said, hastily dressing himself in a blue shirt. Only then I noticed that he had bandages all over his chest.

"B-b-but hurry? Where to?"

With his sudden kicking, I got up in a hurry and I was so confused nothing made sense. Then, I noticed that I myself was bandaged neck to toe. I suddenly felt my body hurt all over, staring at the burn marks in my skin and, looking around, seeing lots of first aid kits and medicines beside our beds.

Beside me, Usopp still slept, snoring and turning from one side to other. He too was riddled with bandages all over his body. Another thing that got me was that neither Conis or Pagaya were around. Only their pet fox circled us, looking deeply concerned with something.

"Ah, I remember! That God! The God Enel was here!" I immediately felt a shiver down my spine… "Oh no…"

"Relax, he's gone. But he kidnapped Nami-san and they are in that ark up there, I'm sure about that!"

"Hey, shouldn't we wake Uso…" I suggested. Or rather, would suggest if… "Wait a second… ARK?! Sanji, you're just confusing me with all this! What on earth is going on?!"

"Look outside!"

Following his suggestion, I walked to the door. Right away, two things caught my eye. First, the sky was way darker than it used to be, in all directions. Second…

"WHAT THE UNHOLY FUCK IS THAT?!" I hollered. "A ship… floating?!"

My eyes went super wide when I saw a ship of giant proportions, moved by dozens of enormous fans… uh, _literally flying over the trees_! For some reason, black smoke was coming out of the giant chimney at the top… and that was the culprit of the darkening clouds!

"But… w-w-what?! What sort of contraption is that?! What the hell's going on in this island?!"

"I said, I have no idea, but…" Sanji started. "I saw Nami-san in there!"

"What?! She's inside that thing?!"

"Yeah! And my instincts are telling me she's in grave danger! We're running out of time, we have to save her!" Sanji hurried down the stairs when I stopped him. "Let's go!"

"Hold it, hold it, hold on a second! Are you telling me we have to go up there and rescue her?! You have to be kidding me!"

After I almost shat my pants when I myself was kidnapped by that weird-ass Priest and almost died A) by electrocution or B) by being thrown off a good two kilometers into the ground? Ha-hah, fat chance!

"No way! Wake Usopp-kun up and you two go!" I screamed.

"I can't! I tried everything to wake him up, but he doesn't listen to me, no matter what I do!" Sanji said, in exasperation. "I don't know whatever happened to him, but… it must've been serious!"

More serious than being fried by an electric discharge at point-blank range? I can't possibly imagine what could've that been…

"Plus, seeing the way he's 'courageous'…" And here, Sanji stressed out the sarcastic quotation marks. "He would be crying all the way up there. Dan! You're my only hope! Be courageous and work with me!"

"B-b-but… it's too high up there, San―"

"Do you really mean you don't want to rescue Nami? You wanna leave her at the mercy of that crazy-ass god?!"

I froze right up. I've been through so much in this trip, it wouldn't be now of all times that I would leave a friend to die just because I'm afraid of high places!

"Ah… that's bad too, but…"

"Then stop crying and let's go already!" He ordered, turning to the flying ark.

Flying. Ark. I can't believe I just wrote that.

"Whatever that may be is not important to me, but…"

I stayed silent. Sanji only made a thumbs-up gesture to me.

"Nami's only in a bikini…"

"THAT'S WAY LESS IMPORTANT NOW, IDIOT!" I slapped his shoulder.

Closing my eyes, I gathered my courage. The mission is dangerous indeed, but it's for the sake of a comrade!

"Ok, ok, I'll go too! Let's rescue her!" Reluctantly, I agreed. "But h-h-how exactly are you planning on getting up there?!"

Sanji growled. "Damn… good point…"

He stopped, beating his head for a few moments. "Goddamn it! Usopp had that weird rope of his, but he's out of commission!"

Weird rope? Hmm, never heard about that… oh, wait a second, where's my pencil?!

"Sanji, hold on a moment, I'll be back!"

At that moment, I rushed back to the room, almost turning it upside down to find it. "Phew…" Grabbing a couple of loose sheets from my sketchbook, I began to rush back out.

"Oh, I almost forgot…" I whispered, turning back in. "Better leave a message for Usopp-kun in case he wakes up…"

Hurriedly writing…

_"Dear Usopp,_

_Sanji and I left to rescue Nami. Enel kidnapped her and they're now in a giant ark flying in the sky. Ok, what I've just wrote may sound absurd, but I'm out of time to go into detail. For now, stay here and guard the ship and little Suu. We'll be back. That is, if we survive._

_Dan."_

"Suu-chan, keep this message and hand it to Usopp-kun in case he wakes up, alright?" Albeit a bit hesitant, the little fox nodded positively. Message written, I went back out.

"Dan! So, any solutions?"

"Yes, I have one." I said, taking a paper sheet and tearing a chunk out. "If we don't have a rope…"

"I cry out for your arrival…" I concentrated for a few moments… "COME FORTH…"

隼"FALCON!"

As soon as I was done drawing the character, the sheet flew out of my hand and began to float around, glowing a bright blue light. Slowly, it converted itself in a giant, snow-white falcon, that kept circling the ship.

"Your powers just keep surprising me…" Sanji sighed.

"If you want, I'll tell all about them later." Putting my white shirt back on, I rushed towards the front of the ship. "For now, let's save Nami-chan!"

Sanji soon followed me. The two of us ran over the sheep figurehead, jumping to the sea. Before we actually fell in the water, the white falcon scooped us and then we set off on our journey to reach the flying ark.

"Wait for us… we're going to rescue you! Nami-swa~~n!" Sanji screamed.

By now, Enel must be already aware that we woke up and are in our way to his ark. That doesn't matter anymore! Even if we have to leave our blood over there, we won't leave our comrade to die! We'll use our bodies and the utmost maximum of our powers to escape from this nightmare!

God Enel… you will pay!

"There! Let's get in over there!" I pointed.

Hidden between the trio of giant fans spinning at the left side of the ship, there was an entrance tunnel.

"Oh falcon! Fly us to that entrance!" Upon my order, the falcon began to pick up speed, zooming past the giant fans until a few feet away from the door.

"Sanji! Get ready! We're about to land!"

"Alright!" He replied.

Just as the moment felt right, I let go of the paper slip, watching as the falcon slowly dissolved in thin air. Taking advantage of the momentum created by the trajectory, we crouched before touching down and sliding to a halt. Thus, we had arrived in God Enel's flying ark.

"There… we're in." I said, looking around. "Wow… just wow. I had no idea how big this thing actually was… I can't believe this ship was hidden from everyone all along!"

I sincerely thought the entrance would be smaller, but it was an authentic chamber, dozens of feet high. Standing up in that room I felt like we were two minuscule flies. The force of the wind the fans spun behind us was so tremendous it was tough to just keep standing.

"Nami… I wonder where she is now…" I asked to the wind.

"We won't know if we don't search for her." Sanji replied.

"What do you suggest we do?"

"Now that we're in here, let's split up and try to reach the main deck. She's definitely there!"

"S-split up?! What if Enel brought his warriors in with him? We don't know how many people are operating this ark! Aren't we better off sticking together and―"

"Think for a second!" He interrupted, turning his back to me.

"Huh?"

"If we stick together, we both might die."

"What? So… you're saying that by splitting up, there's the chance of either of us dying? As much as I'd possibly want to, I can't agree to that, Sanji!"

He turned back to me with a brave face and putting his hands on my shoulders.

"Listen, Dan… if it's for Nami's absolute well-being, I won't care if you end up dead!"

"SCREW THAT! SAY THAT AGAIN AND I WILL KILL YOU!"

"Now let's go! WE'RE COMING, NAMI-SA~~N!" Wooo~~~ah!" Screaming to the skies, he went running like crazy inside the ark.

"No, wait! We aren't finished! Get back here, idiot!" I tried to follow him, but he was already far away. "For the love of… this ark's too big, I'm going to get lost in here!"

Splitting up to try and reach the main deck… just thinking that there will most definitely be the lightning in human form… it's enough to make me shiver all over!

My whole body hurts… my legs are still trembling… I'm sure that if I happen to face that Enel, I'll end up dead!

…

No.

I can't go on like that. Neither Sanji nor I came here to fight him! We're here just to rescue Nami! We just need to get to her and find a way to escape! Maybe they're in separate rooms altogether!

But that wouldn't make any sense… what Enel would possibly gain by chucking her into a room and taking his eyes off her? But he has the power of Mantra, so that point is moot… aaaah! I can't waste time thinking about "what ifs"! I have to act!

"Please…" Firmly closing my hand, I whispered. "Nami… stay alive!"

Thus, I began to run, entering the innards of the giant ark.

…

…

…

"Orya~!"

Busting a door open, I'm greeted with a confusing sight. A long corridor, crossing through a rather complex engine room. Dozens of gears, valves, pistons and tubes connected together, working in rhythm… but the scariest thing of all was that there was absolutely nobody supervising all that.

"What on earth is this?"

Resuming my desperate dash, I decided to just climb all stairs I could find, that led me to higher floors. Yet, I couldn't help but keep staring at the components of this unholy engine room, working perfectly, despite not a single intervention of a human hand.

"Everything's… automatic? But how does this all work?"

Hearing the stray sparks that time and time again would shine amongst the darkness, the engines made the answer click in my mind.

This ark moves itself powered by Enel's very own electricity! And since the source is practically infinite, he doesn't need anyone to operate it! But wait…

"If nobody's operating this… then Enel doesn't have the time to repair his ark if someone destroys everything!"

Now… what do I do? Do I stop to wreck this room, possibly endanger myself and leave Nami to die at his hands? No, that won't do! I came here to rescue her!

"Get running, Dan!"

And so I did.

"Damn… where's the damned main deck?"

I can only hope Sanji had the same thought… please, Sanji!

Running through the endless moving gears, I couldn't stop thinking about what I've missed. How long have I been unconscious? What happened with the island in that time?

I wonder if the others are alright…

Captain… Zoro… Robin… Chopper… I hope they've defeated the priests… but what if any of them is here? It would be good not to have to face anyone of them in here…

Plus… why is that ark launching that dark cloud of smoke? What does Enel want by making the sky get dark? Is that some sort of pollutant? That looks more like a…

Aaaaah!

This whole mess is getting me more desperate at every second!

…

…

…

I opened dozens of doors, went through I don't know how many rooms, but where's the damned main deck?!

"Nami… where are you?!"

I need to keep going… I need to stay calm and not lose my hope!

Desperately running through yet another corridor, I noticed it ended in a sort of small-dome like structure, whose only exit was a door. From the other side, I heard noticeably stronger thunderclaps, very different from those coming from the engines.

"Creating a way for the lightning to go through… good strategy."

What?

Walking towards the door, I could clearly hear a voice… was that the voice of… of…

"Is… is that him?!"

Yikes… through sheer coincidence, I'm a few steps away from the main deck!

After all, I will have to face the guy who almost electrocuted me… the one who sees and hears everything… the living embodiment of thunder and lightning… God Enel?!

Slightly opening the door, at a glance, I saw Enel walking to the deck floor.

"It shows you have an advanced understanding of the properties of weather."

Damn… he's fighting Nami!

"Yahhahahahah… but, you should've realized by now…" He charged his hand with electric energy… oh no! "If I simply change my attacks, your plans go straight down the hole."

He's going to attack her! I have to stop him!

"I NEED YOUR POWER! ENPITSU… TSURUGI!"

Concentrating my energy, I turned my pencil in a sword, busting the door open.

"I'm a little busy now. _Vanish!_"

"GO! PIERCE HIS HEART!"

Before he could shoot his electric attack, I threw my sword with all my strength in his direction, praying that it hit him. And that's what actually happened.

Just as his electricity died down, I realized I was standing before God Enel… with a sword piercing his chest

"The one who will vanish… IS YOU!"

I immediately gulped hard when I saw that, even with a goddamned sword stabbing his chest, he didn't seem the least bit fazed by it. In fact, I think I saw a couple of sparks crackling at the point where his heart is supposed to be.

"Shit… it didn't work…" I growled.

He's lightning incarnate… bladed attacks don't hurt him one bit…

"Dan-kun!" Nami screamed. I felt a huge surge of relief upon seeing her alive.

"It was you… that boy from the ship…" Enel turned to me, calmly taking the sword out of his chest and throwing it on the floor.

In a short, but tense pause, looking left and right, it clicked.

"Wait a second… where's Sanji?!"

"Sanji-kun? He's here?" Nami asked, surprised.

"HE DIDN'T GET HERE YET?!"

Crap… and I thought I would lose myself forever… he's the one who's lost in here!

Silence…

To rescue Nami… I have to go through Enel… and I just hurled my sword at him, with no effect whatsoever…

What do I do… what do I do… what do I do?!

"Back in five." I closed the door.

"HEY!"

Leaning against the door, sweating waterfalls, I felt pure terror striking me in that few tense moments.

"What do I do… what do I do… whatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo?!"

If I run, Nami dies… if I stay, we both die…

…

…

I can't abandon her!

"HEY, GOD, WHY DON'T YOU GO FUCK YOURSELF―"

Ah, look, a bright blue lightning is here to greet me…

"AAAAHHHH~~~…"

With no other choice besides dodging the hell away from it, I jumped as far forward as I possibly could. Just as I landed, I was met with another lightning, dodging it as well and landing back down with several tumbles. I stopped right beside Nami. She was indeed wearing only a bikini with her brown pants…

Facing the enemy, only one thing crossed my mind.

"Nami…"

"Yes?" She anxiously replied. "What do you want me to do?"

"We're gonna die…"

"CUT IT OUT!" She immediately hit me. "Aren't you here to rescue me?!"

She then began shaking me senseless.

"Uh… I did, but I'm not so sure now―"

"THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE ANYWAY?!" She shook me even more.

"Umm…"

"UMM… MY ASS! SAVE ME, DAMMIT!" I almost passed out such was the force she was shaking me…

Recovering my breath, I tried to explain myself. "Er… I do want to save you, but we are fighting against a God, remember?"

"That's right, ahah-hahah…"

We shared a laugh together…

"And also, my sword's over there―AAAAAAHHH~~~!"

All that before we both got fried by that lightning again, having to dodge at the last second. Tumbling to our temporary safety, we stopped on a crouch and then I noticed she had Luffy's straw hat on her belt.

"Hey, Nami… that's his…"

"Yeah, he left it with me." She confirmed. "He was here up until a while ago, but he was thrown down below! It's him we're talking about, so he's certainly not dead…"

Crap…

"He's coming back here, I'm sure of it." I said, mostly trying to reassure myself of that. "Until then, we must find a way to survive and get away from here! Dying is NOT an option!"

"Right!"

Another powerful lightning shot forced us to move apart.

"Damn… if I could only get my sword back…" I whispered, spotting it on the other side, right past Enel. "I have to goad him!"

Serving as bait, I plunged head-first into mortal danger and called his attention.

"HEY GOD! TRY TO SHOOT ME DOWN FROM THERE IF YOU CAN!"

Sort of accepting my challenge, Enel outstretched his hand, shooting lightning bolts one after the other. I used all my power to make my legs accelerate faster than the attacks. When I was close enough, I simply jumped down, sliding to retrieve my sword.

"Your tricks are so obvious…"

In a moment, he sort of teleported and floated right in front of me. Not even bothering to use his electricity, he just hit me square in the stomach with his golden staff. I was flung several meters backwards, falling flat on my back.

"I suppose you're already aware that I can fry your brains out whenever I want… right?"

Standing up once again, I gripped my sword, hastily running away to hide behind a giant, sort of round-hourglass-like piece of apparatus that stored a huge amount of electricity.

"Nami! Come here! He can't attack us if we're near this thing!" Converting my sword back to a pencil, I called her. She immediately hid beside me.

I presume it must be vital to the proper functioning of the ark; he won't possibly risk destroying it with his lightning!

"Damn… I'm far from being at full power…" I put a hand in my chest, panting. "Nobody can even touch him… we have to figure out whether he has any sort of weakness!"

"He does!"

"What?! What could that possibly be―"

"Rubber. That's how Luffy was able to fight him!"

"Rubber?! But how… oh…" I couldn't help but widen my eyes at the (re)discovery.

Wait a second… _of freaking course!_

_Rubber is an electrical insulator!_

For the love of… if I just stopped and thought about it for two minutes I would have remembered that! Luffy's rubber all over, electricity has no effect whatsoever on him!

"And he was winning actually… but Enel molded a giant ball of gold around Luffy's arm and threw him down below!" Nami finished.

"That doesn't matter right now… what matters is that we have to escape!"

"Dan-kun, my Waver's down those stairs…" Nami pointed. "Our only chance is riding that and jumping out of here!"

"Jumping?! From this height?! Are you nuts?!" I retorted.

"There's a large patch of island cloud around that giant beanstalk! If we fall over there, we might survive!"

Might…? Anyway, it's either that or dying by shock to the face. Might as well give it a try!

"Alright. Let's do this, I'll distract Enel and you will rush to your Waver. Then we can get the hell away from here!" I said, gripping my pencil.

"Ok!"

"And for that… I have the perfect distraction."

Tearing another slip of paper, I wrote…

胶 "Rubber!"

A rectangular block of black rubber materialized in my hand. At that moment, I tore another slip, writing in it…

盾 "Shield!"

As it glowed, I pressed it against the rubber block. The slip enveloped the block, there was a bright blue shine and then transformed into a chest-height rubber shield.

"I get it… a rubber shield!" Nami smiled.

"I don't know whether it'll be useful… now go! I'll call his attention!"

"Dan-kun! Watch out!"

Just as I heard her cry, I saw a blue bolt falling directly above me. I instinctively hid behind the shield. The electricity was completely nullified.

"A-HA! You missed!"

In the following moment, he teleported again and was directly in front of me. Again, he hit me vigorously with his staff. The hit projected me dozens of meters backwards and made me let go of my shield…

"Dan-kun!"

"Don't… care about… me―"

While I tried to stand back up, he just walked towards me and hit me again with the staff. And another one to make me roll in the ground.

I'm far too weak… I'm not completely recovered from that shock and now he's beating me around with a stick…

"I grow tired of your stupid games."

He grabbed me by the shirt, pressed it and unleashed another powerful electric discharge. As if the pain I already felt wasn't enough, now there was the pain of a shock coursing through my body… again. Completely out of strength to even stand, I fell on my back, with my vision severely blurred.

"DAN-KUN!"

"How I loved to watch you scrambling to escape from me…" I heard his voice… "But even that's impossible when your enemy is God."

That's it… now I am definitely going to die…

I still watched him walk away from me, slowly approaching Nami… and then the powerlessness hit full force.

"N… no…" I can't… my body doesn't move!

"You still want to try?" I heard him say towards her. "Risk your life in a little game of hide-and-seek against me?"

Then I heard the rumble of Nami's Waver coming close.

"Dan-kun! Here!"

Oh no… Nami's coming…

"HOLD MY HAND!"

With the little of strength I still had, I raised my hand towards her, hoping to be rescued…

Only to watch helplessly as a staff pushed my hand back down. I only saw another blue bright shine and… Enel's shadow. He was primed to give his final attack and end my life, once and for all.

"It is too late for you to be saved."

So that's how I go… goodbye, cruel world…

"DAN-KUN!"

"Uwaah!"

…

I only know I felt a vigorous impact in my hip, being sent flying… right towards the Waver's space behind the driver…

"Go." This voice…

Sanji… he… he saved me?

"SANJI-KUN!" Nami slowly braked…

"EL…"

"HIT THE GAS, NAMI!" I lurched to grab the handlebar, moving it forwards. The Waver throttled up, away from the incoming attack.

"…THOR!" A giant beam of intense blue light crossed the sky, right behind us.

"Wait! Dan-kun?! Why are you speeding it up?!"

"DO NOT STOP! WE HAVE TO RUN AWAY!"

"What about Sanji-kun?!"

"DO NOT LET HIS RESOLVE GO TO WASTE!" With a tear in the corner of my eye, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I felt the Waver hit some sort of obstacle and be thrown over the main deck's handrails… towards a freefall a couple hundred meters tall… towards freedom.

She, the Waver and I separated during the fall. As for me, I just know I closed my eyes and felt a strange sensation of tranquillity. At that moment, there were only two possible outcomes. Either I would be graced by the island clouds of salvation and survive, or would hit a tree down there, break several bones… and die.

I had no power whatsoever to try and draw anything. Or to even move and find the best way to fall and get the least hurt.

Now everything was literally handed to luck.

If this is in fact how I die… I am grateful.

Sanji… thank you.

* * *

**Dan and Nami successfully escaped the almighty God Enel... although not without Sanji sacrificing himself for their sake. Now both of them are in a freefall towards freedom... or towards their deaths in the forests of the Upper Yard! What about Sanji? It's doubtful at best he survived such a powerful blast of lightning!**

**The uncertainty over Skypiea's ultimate fate grows at each second!**

**Stay tuned to the next chapters!**


	110. The destruction of Skypiea is near!

**110 – The lightning of destruction! The imminent fate of Sky Island**

* * *

Sanji… thank you. Rest assured, your sacrifice will most definitely not be in vain.

I guess…

"Island cloud, island cloud, island cloud…"

I could still hear Nami's prayers, as we still fell down the hundreds of meters separating the ark from the ground. She, the Waver and I separated during the fall. I was too weak to do something other than just being brought down to earth by gravity. My life was totally at the hands of luck.

Either we fell on top of the clouds and were saved… or we would hit the trees around the beanstalk, break our bones and die.

I just closed my eyes… and hoped for the best.

…

…

Say… when is this fall going to end?

…

…

I just remember I felt the shock with the ground. Only it wasn't really much of a shock, but more like falling on your back on top of a giant pillow. A giant pillow that cushioned my fall, before I bounced several meters to a random side. Touching back with the earth, only then I halted to a complete stop.

The only thing crossing my mind at the time was…

"I… sur… vived…"

I survived. My heart practically wanted to jump out of my mouth, my legs were extremely weak… but I am alive.

Slowly, I gathered the little I had of strength to prop myself back up and sit on the soft soil. I grabbed my pencil and stored it in my pocket. Looking around, I let out long, relieved sighs. I realized I fell on a patch of island cloud surrounded by a dense forest. Only then I realized how lucky I really was.

"Ho~ly shit…" It felt good to just belt out at the skies… "I survived so much I could finish my book and publish it right now!"

I guess that by the time this adventure is over, I'll have enough material to write not a single book, but an entire collection…

A few minutes later and before I began to lose myself in my own thoughts, I heard the sound of a motor rumbling through the forest.

"DAN-KUN!" That scream… "DAN-KUN! Are you there?"

"Nami!" I replied, screaming back. "Where are you?!"

"I'm coming!"

The motor kept getting louder, when all of a sudden, a vehicle bursts in high speed out of the darkness of the trees surrounding me. It was the Waver… being piloted by our orange-haired navigator. As soon as she spotted me, she began to brake until coming to a halt near me.

"Thank goodness you're alive!" She said, in a mix of concern and relief.

"I should say the same… about you too." I said, slowly standing back up. "I can't imagine how damned lucky we just were… we really did fall on the island cloud."

"Well, luck or whatever, the truth is we are alive. But what about Sanji-kun?"

"Sanji? Oh crap!" I smacked my head with my hands. "He's still up there! Damn it…"

I kneeled once again, feeling the relief turn back into utter desperation. It's hard to tell whether he survived that giant beam of lightning… it was a direct hit! Now he might be up there, all by himself, unconscious… at the complete mercy of Enel's power, or… he may be dead already!

"C-calm down, Dan-kun! We don't know for sure if he stayed up there! What if that humongous beam flung him out of the ark too? We have to look for him!

"In a forest this giant?!" I retorted. "That's the same as trying to find a needle in a haystack! No, worse, trying to find a needle in a godforsaken giant forest!"

"What sort of alternative do you think we have?!" Equally stressed out, Nami replied. "Sanji and you went through so much trouble to rescue me… now it's time we returned the favor!" She calmed down, continuing. "Anyway, for now, let's just meet up with the others. I'm sure Zoro and the guys are nearby. Now… wanna come?"

She reached out for me. Trying to relax myself, I decided to just go along with her suggestion. Grabbing her hand, I stood up. "Alright. It's better to think in group. Let's find them!"

"That's the spirit! Ok, hold on tight now!"

Riding shotgun in her Waver, I fought a blush as I held onto her waist. Seriously, of all the times to get embarrassed, it had to be now?!

Only I had no time to think about it as the Waver sped up through the trees, in search of the rest of our group.

However, during the trip…

"You're blushing again?"

"You know pretty well I'm not comfortable with―"

"Is this really the time to think about stuff like that?! Just hang in there! I'm hitting the gas!"

"But Nami, for that I really need to hold onto your―AAAAAHHH!" Without so much as a warning, she moves the handlebar forward, accelerating the Waver even more.

That's why I would like that whoever built this thing would have thought of putting grip handles in the passenger space…

Anyway, we left the forest. Now, this begs the question: where do we go?

"Hey, Nami… any ideas on where the others might be?" Getting more comfortable in the ride, I asked.

"I do… but I'm not completely certain." She pointed to the giant green beanstalk we were passing through, before braking until the Waver circulated at slow speed. "You see this beanstalk? If it is the same as the one I saw when I was down there, it means that this island cloud is right above the ruins."

"Ruins…? Hold on, don't you say you've already found the City of Gold?"

"Yeah… we did, but… Enel got all the gold. But nonetheless, gold or not, I sincerely believe we are right on top the city's ruins and that's where Zoro and the guys might be now!"

"I see… but hold on, there's no way we can actually get down there!" I replied. "If we really are on top of those ruins, we would have to dive right in through the island cloud, fall in there and search for them! I don't see how we're doing that!"

"Well, I don't either, but we have to try!"

"I suggest we go around the beanstalk first! What if they are up here too?"

Nami thought for a few seconds. "Ah, screw it! If they are here, that's great, but if not, we're diving in!"

"Whatever! Let's go!"

Accelerating around the giant beanstalk, soon I would realize I just talked like circling said beanstalk was easy. Or quick.

That thing is HU~~GE!

We spent around ten minutes going around it and no sign of the rest of the guys. Slowly, our patience began to dwindle and it was about the time we were thinking of diving through the clouds, towards the ruins of the City of Gold. When…

"Hold on… someone's over there!" I spotted to a little black dot far away. Or rather, several black dots. That, when we got closer, were revealed to be…

"There they are! It's them! Bullseye, Dan-kun!" Nami screamed.

"Hey! Guys!" I screamed, waving at them. "Robin-sa~~n!"

"Hm? Huh?" Robin spotted us. "Navigator-san? Writer-san! You're here?"

Tch… again with that 'Writer-san' spiel…

Anyway, we managed to reunite with the group that went to explore the ruins. However, most of the guys were lying on the clouds. Zoro, Chopper and Gan Fall were all passed out, with burns from head to toe. In the same state was one of Shandia's warriors, the same one who chased us at the beginning of our foray through the Upper Yard. Only Robin was standing, albeit still charred herself.

"Zoro… Doctor Chopper… Gan Fall-san… how cruel…" I whispered, looking at the bodies splayed on the clouds and feeling a pang in my heart.

"Aisa! You're alright!" I turned as I heard Nami screaming happily before she sprinted to meet a little girl that was also there.

"Nami!"

Dressed in a simple light brown dress and carrying the traditional wings of the sky people, she ran too, jumping in Nami's arms, to a heart-warming hug.

"You have met before?" I asked, walking towards them.

"Yeah… Dan-kun, this is Aisa. Aisa, Dan-kun."

"Aisa-chan, is it?" I crouched to talk to her. "Nice to meet you. You're her friend?"

"Yeah!"

"We met when a pair of priests attacked the Merry back at the Milky Road… they knocked Usopp out and…" Nami paused for a few moments. "By the way, where's Usopp?!"

"He was sleeping when Sanji and I left the ship… now I believe he is awake, but…" I replied. "So that's what happened to him?"

"Yeah… two fat guys said they were Satori's siblings or whatever and began to attack us right there…"

Wait, wait. Satori? That talking ball? He had siblings?!

She let out a quick smile, flexing her (almost invisible) muscles. "But I kicked both their asses and saved the ship!"

"Nice one! You're getting strong, huh, Nami?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but… where's Cook-san?" Robin interrupted.

"Ah… he's still up there in the ark… we guess…" Nami replied, unsure.

"That's not possible." Aisa stepped in. "I can hear only one voice in the ark."

"One voice?"

"So he did fall after all! Aisa, can you figure out where he is?"

"Where he…"

The little girl paused for a few seconds. Before she said whatever she was going to say, I interrupted, lost as all get-out.

"Hold on, hold on just there… what on earth are you going on about? A voice? Sanji's not up there?"

"No…" Aisa replied. "I can hear voices in my head… they tell me where people are."

"In short, she was born with the power of Mantra. The same that Enel has."

"Really?!"

"And to prove it…" Nami turned to the little girl. "Can you tell where he is?"

"He's nearby, more or less in that direction. You just have to go straight through that area that he might be in some place around there!" Aisa pointed to a point roughly south from where we stood.

"Alright!" I said, cheering. "This is awesome, Aisa-chan!"

"By the way, does anyone know what Luffy's been up to?" Nami asked.

"He just ran out from here… to save you, Nami!" Aisa replied. "He's climbing the beanstalk to fight Enel!"

"What?!" Nami groused. "Damn it, we missed each other!"

"By a matter of minutes." Robin said. "I tried to stop him, though."

"Man… he'd better not take too long taking care of Enel… we're running out of time!" I said, staring at the dark and ever so gloomy sky of Skypiea. "There's no longer any safe place to stand here…"

Nami stared at the top of the giant beanstalk. "No problem. I'm going after him in the Waver! You go get Sanji and run to the Merry as fast as you possibly can!"

"A… after him? Have you gone objectively crazy?!" I said, stunned. "Nobody has any idea of what is going to happen next―"

And before I could prolong myself in an increasingly meaningless tirade, a powerful lightning hits a tree a couple hundred feet away. Quickly enveloped in a curtain of fire, the tree falls and the resulting fire lets out a dark smoke cloud. Moments later, another lightning strike hits and the actions repeat themselves. Little time later, several bolts hit in scattered points across the island.

A truly apocalyptic scenario just began to unfold right before my eyes.

"No… this can't be…" I kneel again, with my eyes going wide. "Enel… he's… _he's destroying the island!_"

Completely out of the blue, a giant lightning hits a group of trees… _right ahead of us_.

"Eeek!"

The power of the impact was such that the very air the lightning pushed away projected me several feet backwards. Again the heart was beating so fast I was about to have a stroke right there…

"What… what-WHAT WAS THAT?!" Shaking, completely taken by fear, I screamed. "We have to get away from here NOW! What's up with these giant bolts?! We're turning into dust if anyone of those hits us!"

"Guys…" Nami turned her Waver on, getting ready to climb. "Get Sanji and run back to the ship! I'm going after Luffy!"

"Nami! Wait…!" Without waiting for an answer, she departed, beginning her climb on the beanstalk. "Good luck…"

As for me, I couldn't just stand and watch. The island is most definitely not going to last much longer and, if we don't save ourselves, we'll be destroyed along with it!

I ran towards the trees in the general direction Aisa pointed to.

"Writer-san! Where are you going?"

"To rescue Sanji! Back in five!"

A few minutes later, already in the dense forest, but heading straight since the beanstalk, I let out a huge sigh of relief upon spotting the fainted body of our cook.

"Man, oh man…" I smiled to myself. "I owe you one."

Slinging him over my shoulder, I rushed to get back to the group.

"Let's hurry, Robin-san!" Arriving there, I shouted to her.

"Writer-san!" I wish she would stop calling me that… "Is Cook-san alright?"

"He's not Cook-san. He's Sanji. Anyway, his heart's still beating. By some miracle I will never be able to understand."

"Thank goodness, that's relieving." She said.

"Now, we have to find a way to get them back to the ship!"

"Wiper!" I heard Aisa's scream.

Only after I put Sanji on the ground, I realized the guerrilla man was already standing. Hearing a cough, I turned to Zoro. He too was waking up.

"Zoro!"

"Swordsman-san!"

At the other side, Gan Fall moaned in pain, but slowly stood back up.

"Gan Fall-san!" I cheered. "Alright, everyone's awake! Can you walk straight?"

"Yeah…" Zoro replied in his stead. "Not very fast, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say we can."

Well, everyone except Chopper, who still slept peacefully in Robin's lap.

"Enel… he's started…" Gan Fall mumbled.

Yes. It started. Whatever is that he's doing… it started.

"We have to hurry." Calmly, Robin stated. "Even if we stay here… we're too powerless now."

Gradually, the lightning bolts began to get stronger and make more noise. Multiple beams, or rather, giant pillars of blue light descended from the dark clouds of Skypiea, completely pulverizing the trees, the boulders and everything below, filling the landscape with a curtain of fire that quickly spread around.

A true divine punishment. For what crimes that punishment was being doled out, nobody knew.

"He's way too high now…" Robin stared at the sky. Doing the same, I saw the ark slowly flying away from us, toward the charged clouds. "It's a matter of time before the ark gets to the top of the beanstalk."

"What…" Gan Fall started. "What does Enel want up there?"

"The golden bell rested at the top."

"Bell?" Gan Fall replied, in disbelief. Wiper, who stood with his back facing us, turned his head and grunted in recognition.

Yet another powerful lightning descends from the skies. It hit the patch of cloud stuck in the beanstalk, floating roughly halfway from where we stood to the top. The lightning pierced through the cloud, coming down to the base and further below. There was a huge boom, followed by a tremor, roaring right below our feet.

"Good lord… he's destroying Shandra too!" I exclaimed, watching as the lightning went straight through the ground. "That bastard… he's going insane!"

"Golden bell…"

I heard Wiper stepping in. It seems the conversation at last picked up his interest.

"You were talking about that, weren't you?"

Wait a second, he's close enough to hear us, isn't he? Or is it that he was lost in his own thoughts and didn't pay attention?

"Yes." Robin replied.

"Before he hit you with an electric shock, you seemed to be well aware of what he was after. Enel's looking for that, isn't he? Where is he now?"

"Uh…" I tried to stop the talk. "Hold on a moment, Robin-san, don't you think that we should try to get away from the giant bolts instead of just sitting here and talking about―"

"Up there. At the top of the beanstalk." She merely pointed up with her finger.

"What? How come you know that?" He replied.

"HEY! Didn't we promise we would go to the ship and wait for Nami?! What are we still doing here?! She's going to get Luffy and follow us―"

"Shandra's ruins are right below us…"

"ARE YOU DEAF?!" Apparently, she is. No reaction at all.

"This beanstalk still goes down, straight through the city center."

Speaking of city… I went to check on what remained of Shandra after that giant bolt. Crawling on the clouds, I peeked through the hole by which the lightning passed. It's safe to say not much remained intact. Of what I could see, practically everything was destroyed.

"The city's blown to bits… he destroyed it! And the same is bound to happen to all of us if we don't run away this moment―"

"The city center…"

"LISTEN TO ME!"

"…it was the place of the Great Belfry, where the golden bell was located." No use whatsoever… they're too focused on their conversation to notice me. "That's what a map I found in the ruins indicated. In short: I think the impact with the beanstalk threw the bell further up in the sky."

I give up… if we do die here, I won't be at fault! Mostly because I'll be dead.

But…

How the hell is it possible for a bell as huge as I believe this one is, to fall right on top of a beanstalk?! Of all the places the damned bell could fall, why did it have to be on top of a goddamned beanstalk?!

Seriously, there's much that'll be left unsaid…

"Oi! Wiper!"

All of a sudden, the warrior kneels down, covering his mouth and coughing blood.

"Don't tell me you're thinking about climbing the beanstalk?! Don't be crazy! Wiper!" Aisa screamed, in desperation.

She tried to talk with the warrior… and I still learned to cope with my own hopelessness…

When…

"Oh holy shit! GUYS! SOMETHING BIG IS FALLING! GET AWAY FROM THE BEANSTALK!"

I sweated waterfalls when I spotted a giant object falling from the sky at high speed, right above where we stood. Hurrying out of its way, we saw it crashing against the island cloud and projecting a burst of wind that flung us several feet away. When we recovered and the smoke scattered, only then we could see that it was…

"The tip of the beanstalk!" Robin exclaimed. "What happened up there?!"

"Whatever it may've been…" I said, standing back up. "I hope Luffy and Nami haven't fallen with it!"

"No! Absolutely no, Wiper!"

Meanwhile, Aisa kept trying to convince him not to climb the beanstalk. He was struggling seriously to even stand straight.

"You're too weak! Even if you did climb, you wouldn't get to Enel! He's flying!"

"It's… it's right above us!" Wiper insisted. "The bell that the Great Warrior Calgara… wanted to ring!"

Calgara? Another one nobody told me about… there are lots of things that'll remain unclear when we leave…

"Calgara's bell?" Aisa asked.

"Yes. That was… our true goal! Enel… we're not going to hand it to you!"

You can scream all you want… the way things stand right now, neither he nor anybody can do anything to stop the impending apocalypse… we're all powerless. The only one who can try and prevent the catastrophe…

"Please…" Looking at the somber skies, all I could do was pray. "Luffy…"

"Guys! What is that?!" I heard Aisa's scream.

I turned, seeing as everyone was staring away… only to spot a huge hole on the sky, through which the sunlight was coming… before a gigantic ball of charged, dark clouds began to appear in our sights. Slowly, the ball would come out of the hole, letting out a few scattered bolts here and there.

Suddenly, my stomach began to ache. The heart jumped. My legs gave up. The harbinger of destruction was right there. It's not the end of the world, but all the signs are there. I was witnessing the last moments before an entire civilization would be exterminated…

All thanks to a complete maniac with delusions of power.

"It's right above… the Angel Island!" Aisa whispered, in complete shock.

"He gathered the clouds in a sphere…" Robin whispered, equally distressed.

Words completely escaped me at the time. I only could stop and watch the horror unfold in its most pure form. It no longer mattered whether we escaped to our ship or not. It doesn't matter where we are now. Everything will be exterminated.

I was about to freak out right there. With the grip on my sanity slowly slipping away, I just sat down in a fetal position, getting ready to die.

Again.

"Sky Island scary, Sky Island scary, Sky Island scary, Sky Island scary…"

I whispered to myself as I watched the ball get closer and closer to Angel Island. Slowly, it descended until it engulfed the island completely… and detonated.

"Skyislandscaryskyislandscary skyislandscaryskyislandscary …"

Closing my eyes again, anticipating the blinding light that would soon come to exterminate us, I heard the sounds of the final lightning.

…

The sounds dissipated.

…

Silence…

…

"Angel Island… is gone…" I heard Aisa whispering.

She's still alive…

It turned out… all of us were still alive. Despite my serious belief that we would all die, the lightning ball disappeared completely… taking the entirety of Angel Island with it… and everyone who remained in it. In its place, there was a gigantic crater, from which a few sparks would flare. Now the Milky Road ended in an authentic hole in the sky.

"Angel Island… was destroyed…" I wasn't the only one on the brink of insanity, it seemed. Gan Fall kneeled as well, in complete disbelief at what he just saw. "That's… that's… such savagery! ENEL!"

"Nami… Luffy… please come back!" Recovering from the shock, I bellowed to the skies.

"Honestly…" Zoro started, albeit without a single hint of the scoff that's unique to him whenever he starts a comment like this. "I don't know what Nami's going to do up there." Looking at the sky, he continued. "Luffy's only going to leave when he rings the bell."

"Hold on." I looked at him. "Ring? He wants to ring the…"

"Yeah." Zoro said. "When we still walked around the forests of the Upper Yard, he came up with the idea of ringing the bell. That way, he would let the monkeys and that guy we met at Jaya know that there's really a Sky Island up here."

"Now he's…"

"Yup. When he says he's going to do something, he won't give up until he _does_. And that's what he's doing now." Zoro finished.

"Yes, he did tell us that." Robin confirmed. "But… looking at things as they are now…"

"The bell…" Only then Wiper picked up on the conversation. "He wants to ring it?"

"Yes." Zoro replied. "As much as Nami wants to bring him back here, he's not coming until he manages to ring that bell. It is the thing that Enel wants, after all."

Of course…

Those monkeys… and Cricket! The only ones who fought to prove Sky Island's existence! Disgraced by the whole world… victims of a lie that History made sure to distort and perpetuate for the past four centuries… condemned to a life of loneliness and misery…

Now is the moment! We can be one-hundred percent sure that we were here… that we went through all the tribulations… that we survived being here! But the world down there will not believe in a single word we eventually come to say about it if there isn't definitive and irrefutable proof that the sky island exists! And that proof is…

The golden bell!

* * *

**God Enel's giant ball of lightning completely vaporized Angel Island and all inhabitants that didn't manage to escape in time. Now there's nothing stopping him from, in his delusion of power, destroying the Upper Yard as well!**

**Luffy's making his way towards Enel's ark, but will he be able to stop him? Will he be able to sound the Great Belfry's bell and end the terror in Skypiea?**

**Stay tuned!**


	111. Fall down, Giant Jack! Decision time!

**111 – Knock the Giant Jack down! The last hope of escape**

* * *

"Luffy…" I whispered quietly to the wind.

That was just about the only thing I or any of the people standing next to the giant beanstalk could do.

Wait. Passively witness what would happen next.

Nami just rushed up the beanstalk to rescue Luffy… but Zoro is absolutely sure he's not going to escape before he rings the bell. He absolutely won't escape before he tells Cricket and the monkeys waiting 10 kilometers below us… that the Sky Island and the City of Gold really exist.

Knowing Luffy the way he does… the way we all do, really… that's what he'll do.

The same way Norland condemned his descendants to a miserable life when nobody believed him, maybe we will end up subjecting ourselves to the same destiny if some day we try to prove we actually were at the Sky Island and nobody believes us. And the definitive, irrefutable proof that the Sky Island exists… is the Golden Bell. A bell that's been silenced by war. Silenced by discord. By four centuries of a conflict caused by the forces of nature and sheer coincidence. And taken advantage of by a man without a hint of compunction in his soul.

As much as Nami wants to bring Luffy back so we can all escape safely… however powerless we may be right now… I sincerely hope he reaches the skies and rings the bell. I hope he, by whatever means, defeats that "God" Enel once and for all and purges the evil that has been plaguing this island for so long. I hope he echoes the sound of victory throughout the whole world and tell the four corners of this earth, even if they don't get the message, that there is life up in the sky.

"Get going…" I whispered again, closing my eyes and clenching a fist.

"Guys, over there." Hm? "Something's coming."

Robin's warning took me back to reality.

Turning my head upwards, I saw another object coming down. I prepared for the worst, but I loosened up as soon as I noticed that it fell way more slowly than the giant chunk of beanstalk of earlier. It was a giant leaf, that peacefully landed right amongst the group. It seemed to carry a message.

"What's this all about…" I wondered, walking towards the leaf. "Hmmm… north, south… east… a circle on the west… ah! It's from Luffy and Nami!"

"What does it say?" Zoro asked.

"Knock the beanstalk down… towards the west."

Knock it down? West? What on earth do they mean by that?

"Wait a second…" Zoro stepped in. "Where is west anyway?"

"Good question…" I said, disheartened.

I would love to help, but I'm not that much better than Zoro when it comes to orientation in space…

"It can only be the direction in which Enel's ark is." Gan Fall deduced.

Looking up, at the spot where the ark rested, the gears in my brain finally moved.

Of course! That's bloody obvious! If we find a way to make the beanstalk fall towards the ark, Luffy and Nami can launch themselves in its direction! Which means…

"Wait, so Luffy did convince Nami to take him to Enel! Fantastic!" I said, filled with enthusiasm.

"Hold on a second!" Aisa interrupted. "Knock the beanstalk down? This thing is enormous! How does she think we can do that?"

"I don't know either, but it won't hurt to try―" Zoro would continue, if a blinding light didn't shine right above us all of a sudden… "Now what?"

Turning my eyes back above, I realized it wasn't just a light shining over our heads. Little by little, several bright spots opened across the sky, showing that the clouds were being pushed away. It didn't take long for most of the dark clouds to disappear and give way to a large hole…

"No…"

…from which came another giant ball of charged clouds.

"That bastard…"

And that ball was about ten times as big as the one that vaporized Angel Island.

In a matter of moments, I felt pure terror taking me over again, when it all clicked together. I kneeled again, widening my eyes, and staring the true harbinger of destruction.

"Enel… that demon…!" Gan Fall limited himself to whispering incredulously.

"It can't be… the thing that decimated Angel Island… was just a sample?!" I said, slowly. "He's going to wipe out the whole Skypiea with that one!"

"Maybe that's what he intends…" Robin replied. I stared at her and noticed the sweat running down her face, despite the lack of visible reaction. "Now that the Golden Bell is at his mercy, he's got no more use to this island."

At that moment, I couldn't help but have a question running in my mind: if he got what he wanted, why doesn't he take the damned bell and just… y'know,_ leave_?! Does he really have to go through the trouble of destroying a giant chunk of rock just because it's become useless to him?

Oh, yeah. You can't find the term "mercy" or any of its synonyms in his vocabulary, I guess. He had to treat the islanders as brutally as he did in the past six years for some reason. And he just couldn't leave them alone in the time to say goodbye.

"We've got no other choice, guys." Zoro said. "We have to cut down the beanstalk."

I swallowed hard. "Y… are you really sure, Zoro? I can't really see how we're ever going to do that!"

"There must be a way!" He insisted. "If they want us to cut it down towards the west, it's because they want to launch themselves to Enel's ark! Crazy or not, this is their only chance!"

Well, Zoro had the same logic as me…

However, before I could throw my arms up in the air and voice my agreement, I spotted Wiper jumping to save Aisa from a giant lightning.

"Aisa-chan!" I screamed.

"Writer-san!" Robin shouted. As I turned, I saw Sanji being hurled at me. By pure reflex, I caught his body and began to run away from the beanstalk, just as everyone else was doing.

Because the sky decided to fall down on us again.

"Seems like he's not going to let us do our things!" I said.

"Thought so! He noticed that we're still here!" Zoro screamed, tossing the unconscious Chopper back to Robin's arms. "If we stay here, we're gonna get thrown down to the ruins! Get away from the stalk and find somewhere with land!"

Running further away from the stalk, we had to weave through a succession of lightning blasts, that pierced holes through the clouds.

"Stay safe, you guys, I'll handle this! Just gotta cut the beanstalk, huh?"

"Zoro!" I turned back to him, still disbelieving. I stared at him, who in turn stared at the sky.

"If there's anyone who can still get to Enel before he drops that thing down on us… in this whole Sky Island…" He turned to face the stalk.

"…are those two!" Then, he began to run back towards it, gripping his swords and mustering up his courage.

"Writer-san!" I heard Robin's shout.

Wasting time would mean wasting my life. Running through the clouds again, I trembled all over with the thundering sound of every lightning blast flashing behind me, until I got to a piece of land where the rest of the group were. Resting Sanji in the ground, I soon turned back to the Giant Jack… and to the dark blue little dot running towards it.

"Be careful, Zoro… you're the only one who can do it!" I shouted to the wind. "I can't see how, though…"

Escaping the death coming from above, Zoro approached the beanstalk. When he was close enough, he leapt in the air and swung his sword as hard as he could. The air blast hit the stalk, apparently to no effect. Only a few moments later would the result manifest, when a huge chunk of the stalk's base began to detach itself out and slowly fall in the ground below.

"Compressed air slash…? Wow, awesome, Zoro!"

The others didn't react as happily, because the joy was short-lived. Soon after Zoro cut the stalk, he was hit by a lightning blast. Enel saw what he did.

"ZORO!" I screamed. "Damn… just when he was vulnerable! But he did cut it! He cut a chunk of it!"

We stared at the beanstalk, hoping it would at least crumble, but…

"No… it's still standing." Robin noticed.

It didn't work. Watching from our spot, only then I noticed that the base had the shape of two wavy and entwined trunks, just like giant hair braids.

"That thing's too tough! Is it really a plant?!" I asked, incredulously.

"Indeed it is, Writer-san…" Robin replied. "A plant several centuries old… it was already this big when this piece of Jaya was tossed up here… it's not going to fall with just a single sword cut."

Zoro… he must've fallen to the ground below too! What, who's going to try and cut the stalk now?!

"He got what he deserved."

Hm?

"Damned foreigners… putting your nose in things that aren't your business!" Wiper grunted as he stood back up.

Seriously, of all times to come with this talk, _why now?_

"Wiper! You're not in good health yet!" Aisa tried to call him.

"Shut up!" In vain. "That bell carries the spirit of Calgara and we, the Shandians, are the ones who must ring it! What does that Straw Hat know for him to want to ring it?!"

I opened my mouth to reply, but immediately thought twice about it. This is the worst time ever to argue. With the lightning of final judgment floating over our heads, all the rest becomes trivial.

"Robin-san…" I said quietly. She just stared back at me. "Please don't say anything too. Better than talking about the past, we have to talk about surviving."

Closing a fist, I felt a growing certainty of what I needed to do. And the fear of what could happen if I tried.

"Zoro did well in slashing one of those trunks… The stalk must've tumbled just a little!" I said, gripping my pencil.

"Writer-san… is it your turn?"

"I'm gonna do it. I have to try!" I replied, staring at my target. "Compressed air slashes… maybe if I try to imitate what Zoro did, I'll be able to cut the other trunk!"

Just as I was finished, I swallowed hard.

"Robin-san… take care of our friends. Zoro did what he could, I gotta do my part! Wish me luck!"

That was the last I said before I set off back to the beanstalk. I still heard a weak "Good luck" from her before running away from the group.

Running through the island cloud, I took out a page of my pocket sketchbook. I had to stop so I could write on it, only to notice that the God standing above me wouldn't just sit there and watch.

"Bring it on, goddamned Enel!"

Escaping the first blast, I kept on writing.

"Focus, Dan… it's time to use an element you never mastered before!"

Another lightning blast interrupted me, but I escaped with a quick flip to the side, running again as soon as I was finished scribbling.

As I approached the beanstalk, I focused my energy.

"COME FORTH! ENPITSU TSURUGI!" Stretching an arm forward, I turned my pencil in its sword form.

"Thanks for the idea, Zoro… your air attack, I'll try and replicate it!"

I pressed the small sheet against the blade of the sword, stopping just as I arrived near the stalk.

風 "WIND!"

The sheet began to glow, tore itself to pieces, unleashing a furious stream of wind that engulfed my sword. I tried to prepare an attack pose, but even holding my sword with both hands, the stream grew too unstable.

"Control it… control it, control it! The lightning's coming! RAZOR―"

Right before I could finish my call, the lightning did come. It didn't hit, but was strong enough to hurl me several feet backwards.

"Damn… I still have to deal… with that bastard up there!" I grunted to the sky as I slowly stood back up.

Turning my pencil in a sword again, I tore another sheet from my sketchbook and repeated the process.

"ENPITSU TSURUGI!"

風 "WIND!"

Again the sword was enveloped in a stream of compressed wind. Which didn't take long to become unstable.

"RAZOR BREEZE!"i

I was able to swing the wind away, but the stream just spread itself in several directions, not doing any damage or even hitting the uncut trunk of the beanstalk.

"Damn it! I never cared about mastering the wind before... how the hell can Zoro make air have cutting power anyway?!"

I can't even move my sword as fast as he does… much less launch an air slash!

And I had to dodge the lightning coming from above, to top it all off…

Several hops and tumbles back, I recovered and went to try again.

"I'm gonna do it this time!"

If we manage to get out of this alive, I swear I'm going to get training hard. I have to put developing new and powerful attacks back at number 1 on my list of things to do on free time. Plus, master the elements and combine them with my weapons. I might've had the spark to defeat that priest, but I feel my imagination's getting kinda rusty.

"Right when things are really getting dangerous! You are going to fall, you damned stalk!"

Start all over again.

"ENPITSU TSURUGI!"

風 "VENTO!"

Filled with grit, I pressed another sheet against my sword, watching it disintegrate and unleash another wind current.

I can't give up now. Nami and Luffy are counting on us!

Gathering my strength, I gripped my sword and dashed to the beanstalk. Jumping as high as my legs would allow, I faced my target and…

"RAZOR BREEZE!"

I swung my sword as hard as I could, releasing a wild, yet focused stream of air, pointing it at the still-intact trunk. I let myself fall on the soft clouds, hearing a loud noise.

The attack hit!

As soon as I was back up, I stared up ahead to see the damage…

"Hell yeah! Fall, Giant Jack! I command you to―"

…that didn't go beyond a large scratch.

"Shit! Again―"

I would keep trying if a powerful quake didn't come from below. I lost my footing and fell on my butt.

"Whawhawhawhat is happening?!"

I kneeled, feeling everything shaking around me and watching the beanstalk waving from side to side. It swayed for a few seconds, but remained the way it was when the shaking stopped.

"What was that all about?! This kind of shock… it can only mean something below us hit the beanstalk! Whatever it was, I can't believe it didn't work!"

I stood up again, turning my sword back to a pencil.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this attack―"

"Out of my way!"

I felt a hand shoving me aside. Soon I found it belonged to Wiper, the feisty Shandian warrior. Stumbling towards the beanstalk, he approached the gap between the soft clouds and the entwined trunks, hopping on top of one and slowly climbing it.

"What… what is he going to do?"

I could only watch and try to guess. Slowly, in a struggle painful to even watch, Wiper climbed the giant trunk incessantly until he became just a little dot far in the distance. Just moments later, he was completely gone from sight.

…

…

A few tense moments later…

…

…

"REJECT!" His scream echoed through the air.

What followed was a very powerful blast and the shock wave pushed a brief, but intense gust of wind. For moments, I covered my eyes with one arm, but soon the force dissipated. The once-intact trunk had now a huge tear, shaped like the bite of a hypothetical giant beast that took a huge chunk out of the stalk just with the power of its teeth.

It didn't take long for what remained of the blasted trunk to begin undoing itself…

Which meant…

"It's falling… IT'S FALLING! THE BEANSTALK IS GOING TO FALL!"

I have no idea what that guy did up there, but… whatever it was, it freaking worked!

Not wasting a moment, I grabbed my things and ran away to the rest of the group. While I sprinted, I looked over my shoulder to the giant stalk slowly tumbling down… and up to the little piece of cloud about halfway to the top.

Nami…

Luffy…

Now's your chance! Dash to the ark!

As I got back to the group, I only watched and hoped for the best. Agony grew as fast as the trunk was falling, brought down by gravity.

"Guys… we're counting on you!" I whispered to myself. "Ring the Golden Bell… Ring it so Cricket can hear down there!"

Wiper… I can't forget to thank him when all this is over… if he's still alive, that is…

"Let's go! GET'EM, NAMI! LUFFY!" Aisa screamed to the heavens.

However, anxiety took over me again when I stared at the sky, switching between the dark of the clouds and the blue sparks of lightning.

Oh yeah… I almost forgot that Enel's still charging a blast dozens of times bigger than the one that vaporized Angel Island…

Again, Enel wouldn't just stand there and watch, so he went right back to shooting his lightnings with a more intense charge, attempting to destroy whatever remained of Skypiea – although there was still _quite a lot_ to go. The ground under us trembled with every lightning hit, which poked holes through the clouds and revealed the destruction going on beneath us.

"The lightning is hitting the ruins…" Robin whispered worriedly, frowning deeply and slightly clenching her teeth.

Her facial expressions are so subtle, yet reveal so much… Maybe her heart is hurting more than ever upon seeing a place so precious being destroyed right before her eyes…

"Damn it… he's not going to leave even the ruins standing!" I said, angrier.

"He wants to destroy the island's soil…" Gan Fall whispered.

"But Wiper's unconscious down there!" Aisa screamed in anguish.

"Zoro…" I hissed, angry at our powerlessness. "We can't do anything for them now, we have to make sure to get ourselves out of this alive―"

My heart skipped a beat when another lightning fell just a few feet away from our position, setting a nearby tree on fire. Looking around, it seemed like the blasts were closer and closer.

He didn't forget we were still here too.

"And if we don't get to a safe place now, even that isn't going to happen!"

"Wiper!" Aisa screamed.

Through the dust, the lightning and the destruction, I managed to spot a little moving brown dot down at the ruins. It turned out that Wiper had regained his consciousness. But what could he do? In his awful condition, he was just as much a hostage to destiny as the rest of us.

"RUN, WIPER! YOU'RE GONNA DIE―"

"Aisa, no!"

The little girl wanted to commit the lunacy of jumping down to the ruins, but Robin stopped her before she did anything reckless.

"Let go of me, you idiot! Let go!"

However, we ended up staring to the sky again, when Enel finally decided to do something about us. And when I say "something", I naturally mean he sent down an especially large divine bolt towards us.

It didn't hit, but the shock wave was powerful enough to hurl us several feet backwards.

"Guys! Are you alright?!" I screamed.

Slowly, everybody recovered from the scare and stood up again. Nobody had been vaporized.

But the grim spectacle continued.

As I recovered, I noticed Gan Fall staying kneeled, bringing his hands to his head and trembling all over, while muttering things to himself. It wouldn't be strange for him to have a full mental breakdown with all the hell going on before him…

Beside me, Chopper still slept peacefully, despite all the noise around him. Honestly, I gladly wanted to be in his spot. Just ignore the pure terror I felt, close my eyes and wait for death to come and take me without pain.

Looking back to the falling beanstalk, I widened my eyes upon spotting a small trail of blue smoke coming out of the top.

"They've… leapt already…" It was hard to make the words come out…

Soon after, the shine of the sky intensified… because the giant ball of doom began to move down. Slowly, the true harbinger of apocalypse moved towards Skypiea.

Only then it hit me. Again, the waterworks were running again on my face.

That was the final moment. Either the Captain saves us all or we all die.

"Writer-san!" Robin screamed. "Get away from there! Giant Jack is about to fall!"

Her shout jolted me back to reality, as well as the sight of the giant stalk uncomfortably close to us. We ran away as far as we could, watching the beanstalk, that once stood tall in the dead center of the island, finishing its permanent fall, raising up humongous clouds of dust and forcing us to retreat in the forest until they were gone.

A long while later, the landscape cleared again. As soon as we could come back out, a resounding scream echoed throughout the whole island…

"GOMU GOMU NO… HA… NA… BI!" (Gum-Gum Fireworks)

Luffy…

"OUGON BOTAN!" (Golden Button)

Completely out of nowhere, the giant ball of dark cloud hanging in the sky began to shoot lightning wildly in all directions.

"What on earth is happening?" Gan Fall wondered aloud.

"Hell if I know…" I replied, just as confused. "Is that supposed to happen anyway?"

Curiously, the bolts of lightning didn't actually hit the ground. It was like they were being released…

Wait a tick.

"Luffy… no, I can't believe it!" The thought was too shocking to understand.

No pun intended.

"What's wrong, Writer-san?" Robin asked.

"Luffy! Huh! That's it! Maybe!" I smiled a shaky grin. "It's just an educated guess, but, I think that instead of the ark, Luffy hurled himself from the beanstalk to the clouds! And he must be doing something to release the bolts stored up in that ball! He's immune to electricity!"

"I know he's immune, but… how?"

"I wish I knew too, Robin-san, but… whatever he's doing up there… it's working!"

The discharges continued, however, the ball began to move down faster. Fear hit me once again as I watched it get distressingly close to us.

At that time, I closed my eyes and left it all in the hands of fate. Again.

I kneeled and clasped my hands really tight.

Come on Luffy… unload it all! Fire the bolts before the ball touches the ground and everything explodes!

Let's go! MAKE THE MIRACLE HAPPEN!

…

…

…

…

A little while later, I felt a strong, blinding light, despite having stayed with my eyes closed. I covered them until the light was gone, slowly opening them back to see a surreal sight.

"Wh… w… w… where is it?"

What I saw was absolutely unreal. Too good to be true.

The giant ball of lightning and destruction… was gone.

Instead of complete darkness and doom coming down on us, the sunlight bathed us in all its splendor. The clouds too, became all white and puffy, like they were purified.

_An outright divine miracle had just happened._

The entirety of my vocabulary disappeared in that single moment. The only thing I could do was stare in complete shock at the sky, slack-jawed, with tears running down my cheeks. Everybody around me just stared above, not a word coming out of anyone.

"Ring it…" Until Gan Fall broke the silence. "Make it be heard! The song of our island!"

"200 million…"

Huh?

"…volts! AMARU!"

I noticed a growing spot of blue light, standing on top of the ark.

Enel… he's absolutely not going to give up…

"You will not ring this bell! I AM THE LIGHTNING!"

And then, a gigantic blue beam of lightning crossed the sky.

"THAT WON'T WORK ON ME!"

Up until now, I never thought how awesome it is to be absolutely immune to electric shocks of any sort…

As I spotted Luffy flying in the sky, I clenched my teeth, took a deep breath before belting out a loud scream…

"GO~~~~~~! LUFFY! TEAR HIM APART!"

I don't know if my scream reached him or not, but regardless, it was time! Finally, the time to unleash the finishing attack!

…

"Gomu Gomu no… OUGON… RIFLE!" (Gum-Gum Golden Rifle)

…

All we heard was a powerful, loud rifle shot noise and a scream of pain echoing through the sky.

And then…

The sound everybody wanted to listen. The sound that signaled the end of six years of utter hell in heaven, nay, of four centuries of war and suffering. And, most importantly, the definitive proof… that the Sky Island does exist!

The sound of the Golden Bell!

* * *

**After a grueling fight... after so much suffering... it's all over.**

**The Straw Hats triumph in their battle to the death with God Enel and his followers! Plus, they are able to fulfill the wish of all citizens of Skypiea! The song of the Golden Bell is the symbol of peace returning to the celestial kingdom!**

**Will the hostilities between Skypiea and Shandia finally cease? It's still unknown, but... now it's time to see the Straw Hats celebrate their victory!**

**See you in the next chapter!**


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